The setting of Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a town that has long forgotten about the precious gift of life. In fact, people are drown towards technology, envisioning it like a real imagine of happiness. Families are replaced by the parlor families, and nothing is like it used to be. Guy Montag is a firefighter, but not the kind of firefighter that was once known by the society. As a matter of fact, people have forgotten about the real purpose of firefighters. However, Guy Montag starts to question himself about his job and his purpose in life when he meets significant people who open his eyes and literally shake his existence and everything he had believed on. Ray Bradbury created an outstanding novel by describing the intricate and peculiar …show more content…
transformation experienced by the main character, Guy Montag. The exposition of the novel begins in the moment in which Montag meets a young girl full of life while he is on his usual walk back home from work. Clarisse is not like everybody else. In fact, she has an aura about her that Montag can hardly understand, but he is attracted towards it like a magnet. Their conversations, which become a routine, switch something deep inside Montag, generating what is the begging of his personal transformation. For instance, the way in which Ray Bradbury described the main character at the beginning of the novel is a completely different image of what Guy Montag will turn out to be at the end of his journey. Therefore, like a caterpillar evolves into a butterfly, Montag develops into a new own self. The rising action in the novel begins when Montag meets Clarisse because that is the moment in which he starts to reexamine his whole life. However, after Clarisse’s death, the rising actions continues at an almost steady pace. In fact, he no longer knows who he is, and he wonders why he is missing the happiness that he had the opportunity to witness in Clarisse. While for Guy Montag “it was a pleasure to burn,” things change drastically after Captain Beatty almost purposely burns Mrs. Black. alive, along with her house, for her only sin of still owning books (Bradbury, p.1). Here, Montag begins to question his job, his life, and even his marriage. He ask himself, “If books were not important, why would this woman want to die with them” (Bradbury, p.40). All of a sudden, the novel takes a interesting turn when the readers find out that Montag had been stealing books and hiding them in his house. One of the books, a Bible, is what he cares the most about. Full of doubts, Montag remembers a man who he had met a year earlier and who may be able to help him in the search for answers to his questions. In fact, Faber becomes Montag’s confider, and Montag becomes like Faber’s pupil. The climax of the story takes place after Captain Beatty finds out that Montag is hiding books in the house. For instance, the mechanical hound had been different around Montag, almost like it sensed that something was happening. While Beatty tries to lecture Montag on the useless purpose of books, Montag keeps on seeking Faber’s guidance. However, Captain Beatty’s suspicions become clear when he decides to burn down Montag’s house. Even though Beatty may appear reluctant to burn the house of one of his men, he reminds to Montag that he had tried hard to avoid the developing of the unpleasant consequences to such situation. In a almost sadistic way, Beatty forces Montag to set the fire on the house. At this point, the suspense is strong and the reader really immerses into the novel to find out what is going to happen to the main character. While the reader may expect Montag to feel emotionally hurt by his house burning, in reality he gains satisfaction in seeing that depressing home and the fake family in the parlor burning away. Then, the novel takes a very unusual turn when Montag seeks revenge over Captain Beatty. To his disbelief, his own wife Mildred had called the firefighters upon her own house. Guy Montag is no longer the person that the readers had met at the beginning of the novel. He now has a new purpose, which is saving his books. No longer a carbon copy of many other men in his town, he kills Beatty by turning the liquid fire on him. Perhaps, the main character, who was plain and typical, is now his own distinguishable person. Such an unexpected turn leaves the readers holding their breath for what may be coming next. The falling action of the novel takes place after Captain Beatty gets killed.
Montag, who was stunned by the procain needle of the mechanical hound, is able to escape with the dear help of Faber, who proves to be Montag’s greatest ally throughout the story. The authorities start a manhunt in order to catch him, and the mechanical hound still tries to track him down. Montag, now a criminal, is able to rescue some books and hide them at a fellow fireman’s home. Then, with Faber’s help and a meticulous plan, he is able to escape through a river. Once away from his town, he meets another outcast named Granger. Granger and his people are books’ lovers, and they know how to get away from the mechanical hound by drinking a solution that won’t allow the hound to track them. Granger offers the drink to Montag, finally making him a free man. Soon after, Granger explains to Montag how every member of the community is called to memorize a book. Surprising the readers again, Montag confesses that he had learn the Book of Ecclesiastes. The resolution of the story comes with the new call for Guy Montag, who becomes a live book, and his last thoughts about Mildred after, in the distance, his old town get bombed by fire jets.
In conclusion, Ray Bradbury’s book Fahrenheit 451 is an amazing novel that catches the attention of the readers and keeps it throughout the reading. The symbolism and the ironies that Bradbury carefully includes into his novel are well balanced and well thought. The intricate chain of events, the questions, and the suspense allow the readers to stay focused and entertained, while also granting a chance for the examination of one's own conscious, thoughts and
feelings.
...ildred sounds like dread which would be fitting since she must be depressed as she attempted suicide in the beginning of the book.
In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by author Ray Bradbury we are taken into a place of the future where books have become outlawed, technology is at its prime, life is fast, and human interaction is scarce. The novel is seen through the eyes of middle aged man Guy Montag. A firefighter, Ray Bradbury portrays the common firefighter as a personal who creates the fire rather than extinguishing them in order to accomplish the complete annihilation of books. Throughout the book we get to understand that Montag is a fire hungry man that takes pleasure in the destruction of books. It’s not until interacting with three individuals that open Montag’s eyes helping him realize the errors of his ways. Leading Montag to change his opinion about books, and more over to a new direction in life with a mission to preserve and bring back the life once sought out in books. These three individual characters Clarisse McClellan, Faber, and Granger transformed Montag through the methods of questioning, revealing, and teaching.
Blake; she was a martyr towards preserving books, with a library full of them. Montag was told to burn her along with the books; after, he was instantly overcome by guilt and wonder. “There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house... you don’t stay for nothing.” (Bradbury 48). With this realization, Montag becomes aware of the problems of the society and over the next few weeks encounters many hardships. Another challenge in the Road of Trials was Montag’s house being burned down. Through this tragic event, his wife is gone, he has no resources, and Guy is a government fugitive. Through the Road of Trials, Montag experiences Unconditional Love from his mentor, Faber. This is when a mentor or family provides support to the protagonist. Faber supports Montag to pursue his plan to preserve literature even when his wife leaves him, his house is burned down, and he is a rebel and a threat to Beatty. Guy Montag is able to escape to the countryside, where he is free of the government, and is able to think and do as he pleases. This would be the Ultimate Boon; while the goal of the quest is not achieved, Montag is free and will be able to save more books over
Are you really happy? Or are you sad about something? Sad about life or money, or your job? Any of these things you can be sad of. Most likely you feel discontentment a few times a day and you still call yourself happy. These are the questions that Guy Montag asks himself in the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. In this book people are thinking they are happy with their lives. This is only because life is going so fast that they think they are but really there is things to be sad about. Montag has finally met Clarisse, the one person in his society that stops to smell the roses still. She is the one that gets him thinking about how his life really is sad and he was just moving too fast to see it. He realizes that he is sad about pretty much everything in his life and that the government tries to trick the people by listening to the parlor and the seashells. This is just to distract people from actual emotions. People are always in a hurry. They have 200 foot billboards for people driving because they are driving so fast that they need more time to see the advertisement. Now I am going to show you who are happy and not happy in the book and how our society today is also unhappy.
Montag is realizing wrong his world really is. He wants to change it too. He says “ Im going to do something, I dont know what yet but im going t do something big.” He doesnt know what to do yet because at this point he hasnt figured out the “missing peice”. Montag says “ I dont know. we have everything we need to be happy, but we arent happy. Something is missing.” then he starts to understand that books are the key to knowladge and knowledge is what they need. he says “There must be something in books that we cant imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there, you dont stay for nothing.” And this is the turning point of the book because now montag is ready to take
Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, is a dystopian novel about Guy Montag, whose job is to burn books in the futuristic American city. In this world, fireman burns books instead of putting out fires. People in the society do not read books, do not socialize with each others and do not relish their life in the world. People’s life to the society are worthless and hurting people are the most normal and everyday things. Ray Bradbury wrote the novel Fahrenheit 451, to convey the ideas that if human in the future relies on technology and the banishment of books and stop living. Then eventually it will take control their lives and bring devastation upon them. He uses three symbolisms throughout the novel to convey his thoughts.
In Federalist 10 James Madison argued that while factions are inevitable, they might have interests adverse to the rights of other citizens. Madison’s solution was the implementation of a Democratic form of government. He felt that majority rule would not eliminate factions, but it would not allow them to be as powerful as they were. With majority rule this would force all parties affiliate and all social classes from the rich white to the poor minorities to work together and for everyone’s opinion and views to be heard.
Henry David Thoreau, a famous American author, once said that “What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?” Essentially, Thoreau believed that even though most individual people are tolerable, society as a whole is not. Ray Bradbury reflects upon Thoreau’s ideas in his novel entitled Fahrenheit 451. In the novel, Guy Montag, the protagonist, realizes that his supposed utopia society is actually a dystopia. Montag finally realizes this when Clarisse, his young neighbor, asks him if he is happy. Although, Montag believes that he is happy, it becomes clear later in the novel that he is not. Montag finds countless faults in the society he lives in. Throughout the novel, Bradbury’s goal is to show the reader some faults in the world today, such as our education system and the effects of technology on lives.
To start, the novel Fahrenheit 451 describes the fictional futuristic world in which our main protagonist, Guy Montag, resides. Montag is a fireman, but not your typical fireman. In fact, the firemen we see in our society are the ones, who risk their lives trying to extinguish fires; however, in the novel firemen are not such individuals, what our society thinks of firemen is unheard of by the citizens of this futuristic American country. Instead, firemen burn books. They erase the knowledge of the world.
Henry David Thoreau, a famous American author, once said that “What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?” Essentially, Thoreau is saying that even though people are normal, we as a society are not and have various faults. Ray Bradbury reflects upon Thoreau’s ideas in his novel entitled Fahrenheit 451. Despite that fact that Bradbury is describing how society might look in the future, he is actually criticizing the society we live in today. In the novel, Guy Montag, the protagonist, realizes that his supposed utopian society is actually a dystopia. Montag finally realizes this when Clarisse, his young neighbor, asks him if he is happy. Although Montag believes that he is happy, it becomes clear later in the novel that he is not. Montag finds countless faults in his society. Throughout the novel, Bradbury’s goal is to warn the reader of faults in society, such as the education system and our attachment to technology.
The North Korean government is known as authoritarian socialist; one-man dictatorship. North Korea could be considered a start of a dystopia. Dystopia is a community or society where people are unhappy and usually not treated fairly. This relates how Ray Bradbury's 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 shows the readers how a lost of connections with people and think for themselves can lead to a corrupt and violent society known as a dystopia.
The Majority of people today believe that the society in Fahrenheit 451 is far-fetched and could never actually happen, little do they know that it is a reflection of the society we currently live in. In Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 books are burnt due to people's lack of interest in them and the fire is started by firemen. Social interactions is at an all time low and most time is spent in front of the television being brainwashed by advertisements. In an attempt to make us all aware of our faults, Bradbury imagines a society that is a parallel to the world we live in today by emphasizing the decline in literature, loss of ethics in advertisement, and negative effects of materialism.
Of all literary works regarding dystopian societies, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is perhaps one of the most bluntly shocking, insightful, and relatable of them. Set in a United States of the future, this novel contains a government that has banned books and a society that constantly watches television. However, Guy Montag, a fireman (one who burns books as opposed to actually putting out fires) discovers books and a spark of desire for knowledge is ignited within him. Unfortunately his boss, the belligerent Captain Beatty, catches on to his newfound thirst for literature. A man of great duplicity, Beatty sets up Montag to ultimately have his home destroyed and to be expulsed from the city. On the other hand, Beatty is a much rounder character than initially apparent. Beatty himself was once an ardent reader, and he even uses literature to his advantage against Montag. Moreover, Beatty is a critical character in Fahrenheit 451 because of his morbid cruelty, obscene hypocrisy, and overall regret for his life.
Fahrenheit 451’s Relevance to Today Fahrenheit 451’s relevance to today can be very detailed and prophetic when we take a deep look into our American society. Although we are not living in a communist setting with extreme war waging on, we have gained technologies similar to the ones Bradbury spoke of in Fahrenheit 451 and a stubborn civilization that holds an absence of the little things we should enjoy. Bradbury sees the future of America as a dystopia, yet we still hold problematic issues without the title of disaster, as it is well hidden under our democracy today. Fahrenheit 451 is much like our world today, which includes television, the loss of free speech, and the loss of the education and use of books. Patai explains that Bradbury saw that people would soon be controlled by the television and saw it as the creators chance to “replace lived experience” (Patai 2).
Fahrenheit 451 is a best-selling American novel written by Ray Bradbury. The novel is about firemen Guy Montag and his journey on discovering the importance of knowledge in an ignorant society. There are many important themes present throughout the novel. One of the most distinct and reoccurring themes is ignorance vs knowledge. Bradbury subtly reveals the advantage and disadvantages of knowledge and ignorance by the contrasting characters Montag and his wife Mildred. Montag symbolizes knowledge while Mildred on the other hand symbolizes ignorance.