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Fahrenheit 451 Montag, a fireman who ignites books into glowing embers that fall into ashes as black as night. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury expresses a message in which society has opened their doors to mass devastation. Guy Montag, a “fireman”, burns houses that have anything to do with books instead putting fires out like the job of a real firemen. In Montag’s society, books are considered taboo, and owning books can lead to dire consequences. Ray Bradbury portrays a society in which humans have suffered a loss of self, humanity, and a powerful control from the government resulting in a fraudulent society. The questioning from Clarisse has lead Montag to a loss of self. Clarisse, Montag’s new neighbor, starts a conversation with him. Clarisse has a different personality than the other people Montag knows at the fire station. She is very outgoing, likes nature, and is not into vacant socializing. When Clarisse asks about Montag’s job, she says that Montag is a fireman without the typical fireman qualities. Then she asks “Are you happy?”(14) Clarisse runs away into the moonlight...
The book “Fahrenheit 451” was about this hero named Guy Montag who in this book is a fireman. In his world, where television and literature rules is on the edge of extinction, fireman start fires instead of putting them out and Guy Montag’s job is to destroy the books and the houses which they are hidden in. Montag goes through “hell” in this story but he meets a young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and where people see the world in books instead of the chatter on television.
Clarisse shares with Montag that her entire family was almost killed by the government for knowing too much. The government said we were a threat to society and needed to be eliminated. Clarisse’s Uncle was very educated and knew the things they had to do in order to live. They then escaped in the night, but the government did not seem to care. The government then tried to cover it up by saying that she got hit by a car. Clarisse’s family then made it to the same intellects that Montag had been with, and they directed them to the city. Their family then reached the city, where Montag is now. They realized that books were allowed and accepted in that society, and have been living there for the ever since. About three hours go by of Clarisse pouring her brain out to Montag, and finally they look around and see that it is nighttime. The two of them gaze at the stars and let out a small
With pride, Montag carries out just that. Until one day he meets a young girl of seventeen who changes his mind about everything. Clarisse McClellan knows many things that Montag has never considered. For instance, she recites poetry, the ideas of great philosophers, and most importantly, facts about the world’s history. When she first speaks to Montag of these illicit things, he is taken aback and begins to question all that he has been told.
Montag, Beatty and the rest of the firemen expected it to be just another burning. They did not expect an unidentified woman to commit suicide along with burning her books. As the firemen attempted to save the woman, she told them to “go on.” Within a moment, “The woman on the porch reached out with contempt to them all and struck the kitchen match against the railing.” On the way back to the firehouse, the men didn’t speak or look at each other. While Beatty began showing the knowledge he has gained from books, which along with the death, firemen begin to show that they are thinking and showing emotions. While listening to Beatty, Blackstone passes the turn to the firehouse, while Montag is amazed at his intelligence.
However, both characters return home with new-found knowledge about the world, but cannot share it with society. In spite of the similarities, they did have a minor difference in how they completed this journey. Montag receives constant help and support from characters such as Clarisse and Faber. Clarisse is the first character to open Montag's eyes to the truth, but only when she disappeared did Montag take action against the society standing between him and knowledge.
The protagonist is Guy Montag, who is a middle aged fireman that burns books for a living. Montag’s description is given on page 33 that says “Had he ever seen a fireman that didn’t have black hair, black brows, a fiery face, and a blue-steel shaved but unshaved look? These men we are all mirror images of himself”. All the fireman looked like each other including Guy Montag. He also had the smell kerosene, which they used to burn the books.
In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, irony is used to convey information and it contributes to the overall theme of the novel. Written during the era of McCarthyism, Fahrenheit 451 is about a society where books are illegal. This society believes that being intellectual is bad and that a lot of things that are easily accessible today should be censored. The overall message of the book is that censorship is not beneficial to society, and that it could cause great harm to one’s intelligence and social abilities. An analysis of irony in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury shows that this literary technique is effective in contributing to the overall theme of the novel because it gives more than one perspective on how censorship can negatively affect a society.
The two observation Clarisse makes about Montag’s conversational mannerisms are that Montag laughs when Clarisse haven’t been funny and unlike other firefighters, Montag listens to Clarisse’s story without considering them as jokes.
Throughout thousands of years, fire has affected society in both positive and negative ways. It has lots of meanings and uses, whether it is used to take away someone’s life or to improve the way people are living. Ray Bradbury effectively demonstrates the versatility of fire as a symbol, using its many meanings throughout Fahrenheit 451 to effectively mirror Guy Montag’s character development. Guy Montag’s character development mirrored fire as a destructive force, a tool of hope and passion and the symbol of renewal and comfort. The different meanings and uses of fire have been demonstrated by Ray Bradbury throughout Fahrenheit 451, which is shown in the character development of Guy Montag.
Montag is influenced by Clarisse a lot. And, her impact on him is tremendous. She questions his whole life, teaches him to appreciate the simple things, and to care about other people and their feelings. “You're peculiar, you're aggravating, yet you're easy to forgive..”(Bradbury 23) Through all Clarisse's questioning, Montag knows that she is trying to help him. Because of her help and impact on him, Montag is changed forever.
Clarisse is the happy one in the book. She is a young girl who meets Montag one day when he is taking a walk. She can tell that Montag doesn’t look happy. “He wears his happiness like a mask.”(pg.5) This is saying that his happiness was just to cover up his true discontentment inside of him. Because he is wearing his happiness just to cover up his discontent, Clarisse tries to show him that he is truly not happy. He tries to say that he is happy, but he knows that he really isn’t happy after all and he thought he was. The Healthy Living Website says ...
Clarisse is a young, but intelligent girl that, unlike many children in the novel, was raised with discipline. “I was spanked when i needed it, years ago.” Clarisse said to Montag referring to how she was raised. Kids used to be loving and caring, but now it’s not like that anymore. The world is a dystopia and everyone has lost hope, but Clarisse, her family, a group of hobos who want to join the fight for books, and a secret team of Harvard graduates. Clarisse met a man named Montag, who is a firefighter that burns books down along with the house they were in if the owner of the books refuses to reveal their location. Clarisse walked with Montag, right after they had met, and told him of the many things life has to offer that he doesn’t see because he is caught up in burning books for a living. She caught Montag’s emotions and this is what ultimately ended up with Montag deciding he was going to stop burning books and even help the Harvard graduates memorize and spread the words and knowledge of the books that remain. Clarisse filled Montag with empathy and this changed Montag’s view of life
Clarisse is Montag’s first mentor in his journey; she is the one who first opens his eyes to the world around him, as well as asking the ultimate question “Are you happy?” (7) To which Montag cried “Am I what?” He never gave whether he was actually, truly happy a real, legitimate thought in his entire life. He just woke up, ate breakfast, went to work, ate lunch, went home, ate dinner, and went to sleep; and all with a big grin fixed on his face. But now, after a bit of consideration he came to the realization that “He was not happy…. He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask a...
Monsters under the bed, drowning, and property damage are topics many people have nightmares about; nightmares about a dystopian future, on the other hand, are less common. Despite this, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and George Orwell’s 1984 display a nightmarish vision about a dystopian society in the near future. Fahrenheit 451 tells of Guy Montag’s experience in a society where books have become illegal and the population has become addicted to television. Meanwhile, 1984 deals with Winston Smith’s affairs in Oceania, a state controlled by the totalitarian regime known as the Party. This regime is supposedly headed by a man named Big Brother. By examining the dehumanized settings, as well as the themes of individuality and manipulation, it becomes clear that novels successfully warn of a nightmarish future.
Bradbury's novel, Fahrenheit 451, was written at the onset of the fifties as a call to the American people to reflect on how the dominant social values of their times were effecting both the lives of individual Americans and their government. Fahrenheit 451 attacks utopian government and focuses on society's foolishness of always being politically correct. (Mogen 113). According to Mogen, Fahrenheit 451 depicts a world in which the American Dream has turned into a nightmare because it has been superficially understood. (Mogen 107) In order to understand Bradley's social critique, it is essential to realize that he wrote Fahrenheit 451 in the wake of World War II and the early days of the Cold War, in a political climate that was increasingly favoring security over the civil liberties of individuals (Mogen 124, 114). Due to the Cold War, Americans continuously felt threatened by the idea of communism and the idea of hostility from communist countries (Mogen 115). Any association with communism would immediately ostracize an American politician (Mogen 115). In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury displays a futuristic utopian society where "the people did not read books, enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think independently, or have meaningful conversations." (Mogen 111). About sixty years later, some would argue that our society has been guilty of similar downfalls. (Book Rags) The government in Fahrenheit 451 bans books because they do not appreciate the thoughts books created peoples minds. Bradbury's society was to afraid to offend groups of people through literature.(Challenging Destiny). Bradbury's has an excellent pulse on the faults of American society such as its censorship. The government in Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 is full of flaws because it searches too hard for the greater good for everyone and neglects many aspects that make a human being.