Fahrenheit 451 Quote Analysis

The More You Know

We all want to be individual intellectuals who do what we believe is right instead of what other tell us to. But when the time comes are we courageous enough to do so? Most of us would shy away from the spotlight when it comes to standing up to what we believe in, even though we tell ourselves we would stand up if the time came. Montag changed his way for the better from someone being naive and unaware to someone who questions the government and other society habits and ethics. Bradbury uses a variety of characters to facilitate Montag’s evolution from someone who follows the pack to someone who is intellectual and thinks before they do something. Can you imagine that?

Through Montag’s interactions with Clarisse, Montag

begins to open his eyes to the beautiful things in the world that he may be missing. After a conversation with Clarisse, where she told montag that when you taste the rain, it tastes like wine. Once she leaves he, “very slowly as he walked, he tilted his head back in the rain, for just a few moments, and opened his mouth”(24). All this time montag has been closed to the open side of imagination and clarisse shows him the tip of the iceberg. Obviously, the rain does not actually taste like wine, but when he uses his imagination it can. He starts to open up here because he actually tried something that she recommended. He is not throwing her off like the others do. Another time, when clarisse and montag are having one of their conversations, he tells her, “You make me feel very old and very much like a father”(27). When Montag says this -he may not realize it- but he means that she brings him a sense of fulfillment and life completion. She brings him joy and he cares for her so much that he feels like her“father”. This fulfilment is something he has been missing his entire life. Through interaction with Clarisse and her questions, Montag opens his eyes to the beauty of the real world.

Then, through Montag’s interactions with Faber, Montag becomes more curious and acts on his new interests.

When Montag is talking to Faber and Faber tells him three things missing from society, “quality of information” , “the leisure to digest it” and “the right to act on them”. By Faber giving Montag these three things that he believes is missing from society, Montag gets a better idea of what life used to be like before the books were banned. Montag sees the passion that Faber has over these things and Montag wants it too. In this society books are burned, especially books with real information. People are distracted from thinking about anything meaningful by meaningless entertainment. In consequence , people don't have the knowledge or the motivation to incite change. Then, when Montag comes to Faber and tells him that he wants to build a plan to overthrow the government, Faber baffled and scared. Montag has no plan until Faber gives him this one accidentally. Faber says, “Now if you suggest that we print extra books and arrange to have them hidden in firemen's houses all over the country, so that seeds of suspicion would be sown among these arsonists, bravo, I'd say!"(85) Faber is influencing Montag here by coming up with a plan and showing him how he can think. He helps Montag carry out this plan by telling him how he can do it. By supporting Montag, Faber makes Montag smarter and gives him the ability and knowledge to act. Through Montag’s interactions with Faber,

he becomes even more of an intellect and curious about everything.

Lastly, through Montag’s interactions with Granger, Montag becomes reborn and gets a better idea of how he wants to live his life going forward.

When Montag is discussing with Granger the meanings of our purpose on earth and Granger brings up the idea of leaving your mark on the world in a place where you have passion. Granger says, “the difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is touching”(157). Montag is interested on doing something bigger and making his mark on the world. What Granger means here is that there is a difference from a guy who just does his job to a guy who decorates as an artist on that yard; landscaping. Montag wants to make his mark on the world by saving the survivors of the bomb and showing them books to hopefully change society back to how it was. Again, near the end of the novel, when Granger says something his grandfather told him about how to live. He tells Montag, “live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds”(157). Granger is saying to live your life with no regrets. Live every minute like it is your last so you don’t hold anything back. Earlier in the story, we hear Faber say how he regrets not standing up for his beliefs while society was changing in the past. He calls himself a coward and how he wishes he acted

differently.

Bradbury uses different characters to guide Montag on a journey of his evolution of becoming more of an intellect of his own ideas. The books does a good job of leaving one thinking about how we come up with our own ideas, or maybe lack of such. Or maybe that we don’t always stand up for our beliefs when we think we need a change or to prevent one. Gets reader thinking about the way they live their lives. When the time comes to stand up and say something, are you courageous enough to do so?