Civil Disobedience In Fahrenheit 451

Throughout the course of human events, unjust laws have been enacted causing members of society to infringe upon them. In Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Sophocles’ Antigone, such acts of civil disobediences are prevalent. In Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag, a firefighter, lives in a book-banning society where his profession calls for him to start fires to burn books, rather than extinguish any flames. When Montag realizes his unhappiness in his life, he violates numerous laws hoping to transform society from its current state. In Antigone, the protagonist Antigone also breaks an unfavorable law that forbids the burial of her brother Polyneices, an alleged traitor, which ultimately leads to her own demise. Both Montag and Antigone commit powerful

acts of civil disobedience; however, Montag’s motive is to revolutionize society, ending his discontent while the drive of Antigone is to honor her brother’s death out of love and from respect of the gods’ divine law.
Both Antigone and Montage preform infractions against unfavorable and unfair laws. The protagonist Antigone violates Kreon’s law, which forbids Polyneices’ burial on the pain of death, to uphold the honor of the gods’ divine law, which states that every human is to have an honored burial. When King Kreon first decrees that Polyneices “will have no rituals, no mourners/ [and] will be left unburied so men may see him,” Antigone responds to her sister, Ismene, that “I will bury him [Polyneicies] myself/ and my crime will be my devotion,” conveying her stolid position to defy the king’s edict (Sophocles 240-1, 88-91). She also justifies her decision to bury her brother and break her uncle’s law by the fact that she will be honoring “the principles which the gods themselves honor” (Sophocles 97). Similarly, the protagonist Guy Montag infringes multiple laws and social conventions in his authoritarian society. At first, Montag’s acts of civil disobedience were minor as he “crushed the book with wild devotion…to his chest…and plunged the book back under his arm…[and] rushed out,” stealing it to add to his collection of almost twenty books from the back of the grille of the air-conditioning system” (Bradbury 41,69). However, these acts become more bold as Montag sneaks into a fellow fireman’s, Mr. Black’s, house and plants “the books in the kitchen”, “phone[s] the alarm”, and waits for the fireman to “burn Mr. Black’s house” (Bradbury 131-2). In addition, Montag also does not follow social conventions as he “walked out of the house into the rain” to go out on a walk and to properly think; he even “tilted his head back in the rain…and opened his mouth,” an act that would label someone as strange in his society (Bradbury 25, 28). The rebels from both texts each preform infractions against laws they personally believe are unjust.
Though both of the rebels infringe unjust laws, Montag’s intention, in particular, is to revolutionize society, thus ending his discontent. After meeting a young girl, Clarisse, Montag realizes he is unhappy with his current state in life as he “recognize[s]… the true state of affairs” and discovers that “he wore his happiness like a mask and the girl [Clarisse] had run off across…with it” (Bradbury 16). In addition, Montag says, “I don’t know anything any more,” indicating that everything that has anchored him to reality and happiness is slipping away. When Clarisse rubs a dandelion under his chin, Montag realizes that he “is not in love with anyone,” revealing his discontent with even his personal relationship with his wife, Mildred. Alina Gerall and Blake Hobby, a pair of highly acclaimed writers, also corroborate his dissatisfaction by conveying that “His faith in the system fails, and he is forced to confront his own discontent,” meaning, Guy Montag has no choice but to act upon his misery. Consequent to realizing his unhappiness, Montag attempts to transform society by breaking many laws. One of the many extralegal actions Montag makes is when he conspires with Faber, an old professor, to drastically reform society by “print[ing] extra books and arrang[ing] to have them hidden in firemen’s houses all over the country…[and] turn[ing] in an alarm” (Bradbury 88). Not only does Montag’s plan show his willingness to take violent measures, but it also shows his strong motivation to eradicate the enforcers of his unjust society. His plan to eradicate the enforcers of his authoritarian society, notably Captain Beatty, is implemented when he “shot one continuous pulse of liquid fire on him,” and watched as the Captain was slowly charred to death (Bradbury 121). Montag’s final and most important act to revolutionize society is when he (armed with the knowledge of the Book of Ecclesiastes) allies with intellectuals of a passive organization whose purpose is “to keep the knowledge [books]…intact and safe… [until] the war’s over… [so] the books can be written again” (Bradbury 155). Again, Gerall and Hobby both agree that Montag combats social ills and revolutionizes society by “refus[ing] to uphold the rule of law, stops staring fires and burning books, and memoriz[ing] works of literature. Doing so, he works to preserve human culture”. In order to transform society, Montag preforms revolutionizing acts of civil disobedience.
Antigone also preforms powerful acts of civil disobedience; however, it is done with an alternative motive: to honor her brother’s death and divine law out of love.

Antigone decides to betray Kreon’s law in order to honor the gods and their greater law. She says “you [Kreon], who are human/to violate the lawful traditions/the gods have not written merely, but made infallible,” defending her decision to bury the out-casted Polyneices because the law that prohibits it was not proclaimed by Zeus. When Kreon asks Antigone why she honors Eteokles (her other brother who also dies in the battle in Thebes) and Polyneices equally, she responds “Death is a god/who wants his laws obeyed,” corroborating the motive of why she upheld divine law over Kreon’s law (Sophocles 41). Even Haimon, Kreon’s own son and Antigone’s betrothed, supports Antigone by saying “the gods implant intelligence in humans/…that is the supreme one” (Sophocles 48). However, Antigone’s superior motive in giving Polyneices an honorable death is love. While conferring her plan with her sister, Ismene, Antigone tells her “He’s my brother an yours too/ and whether you will or not, I’ll stand by him,” indicating her love to her brother (Sophocles 22). In addition, Antigone is most direct with her intentions when she says “I am different. I love my brother/and I’m going to go bury him, now” (Sophocles 24). After Kreon asks Antigone why she dared to break his law, knowing the repercussions, she expresses that “if I had left my own brother stay unburied/I would have suffered all the pain I do not feel now,” further denoting her unwavering devotion to Polyneices even during her own conviction. Richard Emil Braun, an highly praised writer, also believes Antigone’s primary motive to bury her brother was love, as he says “The second burial of Polyneices shows that Antigone…did the deed, and not for money, but for love…Antigone was prompted by her love to fulfill a religious duty.” Civil disobedience to Antigone is

intimate because breaking a law for her, ensures safety and closure for her brother after death.
Antigone and Montag are insurgents who commit acts of civil disobedience against laws they feel to be wrongful. Montag’s intentions is to transform society to bring himself content while Antigone’s motive is to honor her brother with her devotion and to uphold the gods’ superior law. Though both protagonists have different motivations for their infractions against the law, they both consequently end up fulfilling their intentions, as many revolutionists in history have done. These brave men and women of history break cruel, unwarranted laws that help them remain true to their core beliefs and change society for the better. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said “One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”