Who Is Guy Montag In Fahrenheit 451

The conflict in the story is that Montag’s job forces him to burn books. This wasn’t a problem for him at first, but then he met a young girl. The girl seems to live an old school life, and it makes Montag question himself and his job.

The consequence of this behavior could send Montag to prison, which Montag does not care about. After reading several books Montag talks with his close friend, Faber, and says to him "We have everything to be happy, but we're not happy" .What Montag tells Faber at that moment is really an expression of how he started analyzing more after starting reading books. Although Montag's love life changes and his view of society are changed too, this is not the only change Montag must admit. In the start of the book Montag is delighted in the work of burning illegal books and the homes of where they are found. However, as the book progresses, Montag becomes increasingly disgruntled, as he realizes that he has an empty, unfulfilling life. A point that shows that Montag in the start of the book is happy about his job is when he hangs up his helmet and shines it; hangs up his jacket neatly; showers luxuriously, and then, whistling walks across the upper floor.

Guy Montag, on the other hand, is a fireman who starts fires, rather than stops them, in order to burn books, which are banned. Anyone caught with books are reported and their house and sometimes the people themselves are burned to the ground. People in his society don’t read books, enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think independently, or have meaningful conversations. Guy is struggling with the meaninglessness of his life. His wife doesn’t seem to care and when he meets a seventeen year old girl named, Clarisse McClellan it opens up his eyes to the emptiness in his life. After this Montag becomes overwhelmed because of the stash of books in his house that he stole while on the job. Beatty, the fire chief, says that it’s normal for every fireman to go through a stage of wondering what books have to offer. Beatty gives Montag the night to see if the books have anything valuable in them, and to return them in the morning to be burned.

Being a fireman, Montag is often times seen surrounded by light; this profession also creates a dueling identity- a man that sees the truth and the façade he must create to disguise him when he is working. Subsequently, Montag is shown continually putting himself at risk to practice what he believes, as he knows that being found out would mean his death. The English professor Faber recognizes Montag as a beacon of hope, he guides Montag and acts a mentor much like God to Jesus. The fire captain Beatty, a well-read and charismatic man, tries to tempt Montag away from books and forces him to question his beliefs. “Hold steady. Don’t let the torrent of melancholy and drear philosophy drown our world. We depend on you. I don’t think you realize how important you are, we are, to our happy world as it stands now” (Bradbury 59), the speech Beatty gave almost caused Montag to lose hope, this acts as evidence of his persuasive abilities and supports him being a Devil-like

During an answer to an alarm, Montag witnesses a woman with a hidden collection of books choosing to be burned alive along with her house. A few days later, he discovers that Clarisse was killed by a speeding car and Montag becomes sorrowful. He begins to act upon Clarisse’s advice. When Montag fails to show up to work one day, Beatty, the fire chief, visits Montag and explains how it’s natural for firemen to become curious about books and what they have to offer. Beatty understands Montag’s situation and gives Montag twenty-four hours to determine if books are worthwhile and then turn them in once the day is up.

Throughout the novel, Montag evolves as a character, he slowly comes to grips with reality. He begins the story as a happy, content, and everyday member of society, and after a few choice interactions, begins to feel progressively unhappy. In search of a solution to this confusing and growing unhappiness, Montag becomes rebellious towards the value of the commonly accepted facts of his society. This is most clearly demonstrated by Montag’s opinion of books. As he slowly eases into reading books, Montag comes to the realization that despite him not knowing the meanings of the books he reads, they do have a profound and deep impact. Once

Dynamic characters undergo inner change. In Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag, a fireman, whose job involves finding “forbidden” books and burning them, along with the house, and residents if necessary. This futuristic society has given way to ignorance and hatred of literature. They freely gave it up for the quick fix of simpler technological entertainment. Through Montag’s interactions with other characters, he learns and grows from a close minded worker who enjoys burning books, into an open minded intellectual. Clarisse, an old woman, and Faber help Montag’s character change over the course of this novel. Montag's personal growth as a dynamic character comes in the form of an awakening.While walking to work, Montag meets Clarisse, a nature loving, seventeen year old.

In a conversation with his wife, he said, " ‘There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing’ “(Bradbury 51). By saying this, he is showing that the old woman really got to him. The woman challenged his viewpoint of books by staying in her house because she believed the books were more valuable than her own life. After witnessing this, Montag begins to steal and read the books that he is supposed to burn, and starts to understand their purpose. The old woman’s actions challenged his viewpoint which started his character change. Ultimately, through the first part of this novel, Guy Montag is depicted as a law-abiding citizen but later starts to change when an old woman challenges his viewpoint of books.

Some people were really passionate about books, but it was rare, because if you wanted to be able to read books, you had to keep them hidden. One day, the firefighters discovered a woman who had been hiding books in her home. The lady refuses to leave the house without the books so they burn the house, books, and the woman. After that, Montag was traumatized. He couldn’t stop thinking about the horrible incident. He began to question himself, and his individuality. That night Montag kept complaining to his wife Mildred, “‘There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay

Montag grows consistently dissatisfied with his life and work the more he talks with Clarisse. He starts to ponder if perhaps books aren’t so bad, and even snatches one from one of his book burning missions. Meanwhile Clarisse disappears, which I assumed she was dead and his boss, Captain Beatty, is growing suspicious. He lectures Montag on the potential hazards of books and explains the origin and history of their profession. Far from rejuvenated, Montag feels blazing anger and becomes more dangerously rebellious than ever. He spends one afternoon with his wife reading his secret stash of books he’s been storing behind his ventilator grill and decides he needs a teacher. He takes a Christian Bible and tries to memorize some of it on his trip.

Despite the firemen’s efforts to force books into irrelevancy, the opposite effect happened; books became even more valuable, to the point of risking oneself’s life to not save the books, but to die with them. Bradbury’s use of books represent two contradictory significances: damnation and salvation. On Montag’s first mission in the novel, he confronts a woman that continues to confuse Montag even further than he already was about to truth of a roles of the firemen, and the value of books: “She was only standing, weaving from side to side, her eyes fixed upon a nothingness in the wall, as if they had struck her a terrible blow upon the head” (cite). It is heavily implied in the novel that Montag has never felt the emotion of passion. Witnessing a scene such as this, Montag is in disbelief at the thought of a person sacrificing their life for worthless and blasphemous things such as a books. This is essentially the turning point in Montag’s mentality, for it is also implied that the old woman’s death is the first that Montag ever witnessed in his ten years of being a fireman. For his entire life, Montag had been taught to be turned away from books, and that the possession of books leads to death. This sacrificial act towards books is Montag’s first exposure to the fiery passion of martyrdom, and it confuses him. During his conversation with Millie, he tells her that “[people] need to be really bothered once in

While Montag was with his fellow firemen, he opened his mouth to say something but it “was Clarisse McClellan saying” words for him (34). Clarisse’s thoughts and ideas have influenced Montag so much that now he starts to think and even talk like her. Moreover, after Montag reveals his secret book collection to Mildred, he explains that he was thinking about Clarisse and “suddenly realized… it would be best if firemen themselves were burnt” (67). With this statement, not only has Montag changed his stance because of Clarisse and now trying to convince Mildred, while he was with his forbidden books he was still thinking of Clarisse. Furthermore, Mildred is still strong on her anti-book beliefs, which irritates Montag enough to say that Clarisse is ”the first person… [he’s] really like” and that all books “point… to Clarisse” (72). while Mildred and Montag argue over books, she asks why books are important. This comment makes Montag realize how much he admires Clarisse’s genuineness, and concludes that her and books are somehow the

The first character in the novel Fahrenheit 451 who influences Guy Montag is seventeen year-old Clarisse McClellan. The first time Guy and Clarisse cross paths occurs when Guy is walking home from work close to midnight. They meet on an empty sidewalk and quickly begin conversation. As they continue talking, Guy notices that Clarisse is not an average teenager because of the deep questions and thoughts she has. Clarisse questions Guy’s contentment and makes him realize the absence of love and pleasure in his life. Clarisse acts as a goad to push Guy towards a much needed self-examination that later helps him overcome his fear of bringing out the books he has collected over the years and start to look for the meaning in them. Because of Clarisse, Guy is able to transform into a more self-aware man who can now decode his feelings and realize what he needs to have a flourishing life. The second character I chose who impacts Guy Montag is Professor Faber. Guy met Faber in a park a year before this novel takes place when Guy suspected Faber of having a book. When Guy finally builds up his interest in wanting to know more about his secret books, he calls Faber for aid. With Faber’s knowledge, Guy is able to understand viewpoints from different authors and eventually escape the city after he is reported for having books. Alongside Clarisse, Faber is able to help Montag from being completely molded into an average city citizen who is isolated from the knowledge that books are,

The story mainly focuses on a fireman named Montag, one of many who burn books. The head of the fire department, Beatty, burns books, but also reads them. After Montag meets another character, Clarisse, his eyes are opened, he becomes moved by books, and now tries to protect them. His wife,

Mr. Montag is being hunted down for having books in his possession when he hears about runaways living along the river. Left alone because the government does not see them as important enough to catch, they welcome Guy in. They go on the explain that they themselves are books- they have memorized important works of literacy. Montag discovers that he himself is a book- the book of Ecclesiastes. At first he does not remember what is written in “his” book, but just as Fahrenheit 451 is ending, his memory returns. The other men welcome him into their secret society, the future of books.