Have you ever changed your opinion on something? If so, then you would be in the same boat as Guy Montag. Montag, a character from the novel Fahrenheit 451, transforms from being a book burner into a book activist. In part 1 of the novel Montag is a dedicated fireman, who enjoys burning books for a living. In Montags society, it's a normal event to have books burned. Montag states, "It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed." When he says that he's expressing his love and excitement for burning books. Montag did not think twice about his job, he had no remorse for his actions. He did not think at all, until he met Clarrise Meclellan. Clarrise was a character in the novel who was not like the basic member of society. Clarissa took time to think about things that other people failed to even realize. The night Montag met Clarrise she asked him a question that made him mad but made him think. She asked, "Are you happy?" . This made him realize he wasn't happy with the way he was living his life. After this encounter, Montag started being more curious about things such as : his growing friendship with Clarrise, and his ignorance about books and their value. Montag's curiosity got the best of him and he did something that the society did not condone. He realized he valued the books enough to steal them. …show more content…
Montag stole a book.
He didn't quite understand why he did it though. Montag says, " So it was the hand that started it all." He believes that this his brain had nothing to do with the decisions, but that his hands with free will,grabbed the book. Montag is now transforming into a new person. He reveals himself and his wrong doings to Mildred, his wife, and she doesn't know how to react or accept the news. Montag becomes distant to her and the rest of the people in his society. Now, Montag is free of the society's
influence. Montag changed his opinion on burning books. He was so influenced by the society and their ways that he didn't know his own thoughts. He didn't know how he felt about certain situations other than to do what the rest of society would do. Now, Montag is a book advocate. He stands up for what he believes and his own curiosities.
In every book, characters go through times where they challenge themselves. In Fahrenheit 451, a book written by Ray Bradbury in October 1953 Guy Montag faces several challenges throughout the book, just like any other character, but every event he faces changes him, his way of thinking, how he sees his surroundings, and even starts to doubt if the people closest to him are actually good people. Montag changes a lot, and his experiences and events faced lead to a new person.
In part one, “The Hearth and The Salamander”, Montag hasn’t really taken an interest in the books he’s burning. All he really knows is that he must burn every house
“It was a pleasure to burn” (1). Montag never thought much of his job, to him, it was merely his duty. Meeting Clarisse starts Montag's revision of life. Her interest and questioning is so unique that Montag is intrigued by her. He had never met someone who asks "why" instead of "how." Soon, Clarisse disappears, and is then presumably dead for the rest of the book. Shortly after his disappearance, Montag to begin smuggling books during work, hoping to learn more by himself. From the old woman’s house, Montag steals a book and hides it. At first thought, Montag believes this act of defiance to the law is wrong, and that he should end such rebellious thoughts. Soon after, however, he thinks that it is possible that taking the book isn’t such a bad thing. The ability for Montag to find the courage to break the law, after 10 years of obedience shows significant development in Montag as a whole. This is because he knows he is doing something wrong, but he does it anyway. By doing this and not burning the book, he inadvertently is changing his opinion on fire. Although he doesn’t know it, he is starting to change his opinion towards fire being destructive rather than cleansing.
In the end of the book we learn that the city Montag once lived in has been destroyed. It’s here where we get the end result of Montag, the man who once took special pleasure in destroying books now takes pleasure in preserving them. If not for Clarisse who opened his eyes to the truth through questioning life, or Faber who revealed the truth and magic in the books, and Granger who taught Montag how to preserve the books Montag could have very well been a victim of his cities destruction. It’s clear that Montag was heavily influenced by these three Individuals changing him from a once law abiding citizen of the futuristic government to a refugee of the law discovering reasons worth fighting for regardless of outcome.
In class we read the book Fahrenheit 451. The main character Montag has several qualities that change his views and decisions throughout the book. In the beginning of the story Montag was very confirmative and just went along with everything the government and didn’t really question anything but by the end of the book he was completely different. He had changed his views completely. One reason that motivated Montag to change so drastically was his curiosity. This caused him to question things and that led to some of his other qualities such as his open-mindedness. Questioning everything and talking to new people for information allowed Montag to become more open-minded and become open to more ideas. Another quality that Montag has that lead to his in change in the story was his change over time was his childhood memories.
The first line of the book reads, “It was a pleasure to burn” continued with, “It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (1). Clearly Montag enjoys his work and seems to have no remorse for what he is doing and the damage he is causing by burning the book.
Books are banned by the government in the dystopian society that brings the unstable perspective of not knowing what is good and what is wrong. The people of this society think that books will take away their happiness and ruin their lives. However, the government hides a secret that it uses to gain control over the citizens and change their minds. At the beginning of the book, Montag starts off by revealing his perspective on burning, “It was a pleasure to burn” (1). At this point it wasn’t clear who said this but whoever it was, they seemed to like burning.
Above all things, Montag loved to burn. It was pleasurable for him to set aside his ignorance, watching as the little papery ashes shrivel up, and wisp into the air like fireflies. But that was before he took the time to ask why. Montag had to ask himself why he was burning these books, when he didn’t even know what they were. So he decided to take action and read them. Where he lives, this is illegal. Reading these books brought misfortune, like loosing his wife, house, and being forced to become a nomad. But he also benefited from this. By reading these books and ruining his life he also gained many things. A few of these are knowledge, feelings, and understanding.
As I have mentioned, Montag is like all the others at the commencement of the novel: loving his job, never questioning an authority that has never given him any reason to obey. This all changes though when, while walking home from work, he encounters a young girl named Clarisse, who, through her innocence and oblivion to the world around her, shows him that society is crumbling around him and that he can be a part of the solution, not as everyone else is-the problem. For the first time in his life, he questions what he sees around him: his wife overdosing on pills, Clarisse getting hit by a speeding car and killed, and even the book burning which he does every night for money. Or was it amusement? Either way, curiosity gets the better of him as he "steals" a book from a raging fire during one of his raids.
He seems to be content in his life and is infatuated by his job. The opening line in the novel is from Montag’s view point and says, “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.” (Bradbury, 1). The reader is led to believe Montag believes whole heartedly in what he does for a living. However, when Bradbury introduces Montag’s first antagonist, Clarisse McClellan, Montag begins to question aspects of his life. Clarisse is young, full of ideas, different from the rest of society, asks a lot of questions, and has her own views of life. Clarisse was interesting and brought light to their dark world. The second antagonist is Montag’s wife, Mildred. Mildred on the other hand is not quite as interesting. She is egocentric, unhappy, and concerned only about the walls (televisions) in her home and the characters from the shows being referred to as family. Beatty, Montag’s boss, would be the third antagonist of the novel and he is portrayed as a loud over bearing man. When Clarisse McClellan dies and Montag is forced to burn books, a home, and the occupant that refuses to leave, Montag goes through a change in character. This is the point where the reader would categorize Montag as a round character. Montag begins to question his life, work, society, and all that surround him. Montag had actually been sneaking books from fires over the past year out of curiosity but had never actually read them up until this point. Montag goes against all that firefighters believe in and starts to read the banned books. Mildred filled with fear of discovery and retaliation begs Montag to not bring about such a risk. However, against his wife’s wishes, Montag chose not to listen. Montag got a professor named Faber to help him better understand the books he was reading and that is when Montag realized
People nowadays have lost interest in books because they see it as a waste of time and useless effort, and they are losing their critical thinking, understanding of things around them, and knowledge. Brown says that Bradbury suggests that a world without books is a world without imagination and its ability to find happiness. The people in Fahrenheit 451 are afraid to read books because of the emotions that they will receive by reading them and claim them as dangerous. Bradbury hopes to reinstate the importance of books to the people so that they can regain their “vital organ of thinking.” In Fahrenheit 451, Montag steals a book when his hands act of their own accord in the burning house, regaining his ability to read and think on his own (Bradbury 34-35; Brown 2-4; Lee 3; Patai 1, 3).
Within the many layers of Montag lay several opposite sides. For example, Montag is a fireman who burns books for a living but at home, spends time reading novels, poetry, and other written material. Although Montag could be called a hypocrite, he does not enjoy both the reading and the burning at the same time; he goes through a change that causes him to love books. Humans have the power to change and grow from one extreme to another, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. In addition, when Mildred is with Montag, Montag does not have feelings for her but thinks of her as she is killed by the bombs. He possesses both the knowledge that Mildred does not love him and the heart that truly cares, but he knows not how to deal with this. His feelings are oppressed; it takes a major event (the bomb) to jolt them from hibernation.
The stress of the situation made him appear old and frail, “then his eyes touched on the book under Montag’s arm and he did not look so old anymore and not quite as fragile. Slowly, his fear went” (Bradbury 76). How ironic that in a society that shuns religion or any symbols of God, the Bible proves to be the item that opens the door further for Montag to assess his deepest feelings. Faber agrees to help in exchange for keeping this last known copy of the bible. Faber’s help propels Montag towards his full self-discovery. Mildred is another character who helps in the process, although from a negative perspective. She is a picture perfect example of everything that is wrong with this society. She kicks a book and yells: “books aren’t people. You read and I look all around, but there isn’t anybody!” (Bradbury 69). Her disdain for books is not the only contribution she makes, her comments about family really open Montag’s eyes to the reality of this society’s artificiality. Referring to the television screens and the characters on it, Mildred says: “My family is people. They tell me things; I laugh, they laugh! And the colors” (Bradbury 69). During this encounter, Montag realizes that his own wife does not consider him a part of his family. Strangely enough, this frees Montag from any attachment to his present way of life and he feels unencumbered to pursue to his final
He is a firefighter, but instead of putting out fires, he burns books. To the government in his society, books are a threat to their power and are now illegal. Montag soon is exposed to this truth, and attempts to change the way fellow citizens in the society think. His first attempt to expose the wrongs in their society is to show books to his wife, Mildred. “‘Millie! he said. ‘Listen. Give me a second, will you? We can’t do anything. We can’t burn these. I want to look at them, at least look at them once’” (Page 63). Mildred is very close minded, and follows the ways of the society. She sits in front of the TVs in the house all day, and is happy with her way of life. Unlike Montag, Mildred does not bother to question how society functions. After this failed attempt, Montag turns to Faber, who was a professor at a university. He brings a book, the Bible, with him, onto the train. “There were people on the suction train but he held the book in his hands and the silky thought came to him, if you read fast and read all, maybe some of the sand will stay in the sieve” (Page 74). All the books Montag has collected
Some characters like Montag did not succumb to the ignorance of society. Unlike Mildred characters like Montag believed in the power books and knowledge. Montag was once like Mildred until he met Clarisse; his neighbor. Clarisse was different from anyone Montag had ever met. She made him question his career, his happiness and even his marriage. After talking to Clarisse, Montag realizes he’s been ignorant for his whole life and begins a dangerous search for knowledge. After eventually stealing a book and reading it Montag realized that knowledge is really important. Books symbol knowledge because they provide their readers with information they did not know prior to opening the book. Montag no longer believed that ignorance was bliss “”. Through Montag’s fight for knowledge Bradbury is able to help the readers to understand that people are afraid of knowledge because they fear making mistakes. “You’re afraid of making mistakes. Don’t be. Mistakes can be profited by” says Faber (Bradbury 104). Knowledge is gained from experience. The best and worst sides of Montag were revealed during his journey because he made mistakes and learned from them. At the end of the novel Montag like readers comes to the realization that knowledge and experiences is the true meaning of life.