“One person’s craziness is another person’s reality”- Tim Burton. In the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the protagonist Guy Montag learns this as the book progresses. In the beginning of the book, he comes across situations that he finds preposterous, like the suggestion of reading books. In the end of the book, those unhinged ideas become his reality. As the book advances, we get glimpses of how Montag’s thoughts of society change. Guy Montag goes through a special character transformation throughout the book, starting as a loyal fireman and ending up as a book-reading rebel. At the beginning of the book Fahrenheit 451, Montag is a loyal citizen and firemen, who has rarely questioned the beliefs of society. He sees the world as any ordinary citizen (in this society) would, and is perfectly content with seeing flames eat the words and thoughts of a person. Montag would never question society as he “grinned the fierce grin of all men singed and driven back by flame” (Bradbury 3). This means that he did not really feel the emotions that he should have felt, and was blinded by society. He felt he was doing good for society, even though he had no evidence except for the book the firemen read from to learn about their profession. The quote “Established, 1790, to burn English-influenced books in the Colonies. First Fireman: Benjamin Franklin. Rule 1. Answer the alarm swiftly. 2. Start the fire swiftly. 3. Burn everything. 4. Report back to firehouse immediately. 5. Stand alert for other alarms” (Bradbury 34-35) gives examples of how ignorant Montag was. He thought that because it was written in a book and because everyone else believed it, he also should believe it. Montag was the perfect citizen in his perfect society, but h... ... middle of paper ... ... a confident intelligent individual. In the book Fahrenheit 451 , Montag undergoes major character development. He started from a weak, dependant individual, who could at most think for himself. Throughout the book, he slowly found more and more flaws in the society he had blindly trusted. At the end of the book, Montag is a strong-minded, focused individual who is not afraid to stand up for his opinion, but cares for his life. Montag sacrificed everything in his life (including his life) to stand up for his opinions, which he could never have done in the beginning of the book. Everything Montag did had a reason and he changed because of those actions. Works Cited Bradbury, Ray. “Fahrenheit 451.” New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks 2013. Tim Burton Quote, http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/35963-one-person-s-craziness-is-another-person-s-reality
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.
Although we cannot make people listen. They have to come around in their own time, wondering what happened and why the world blew up around them, it can’t last. A quote by Ray Bradbury. Meanwhile, in the book, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, tells a story on how montag changed by the influences of the positive people in his society. The next paragraph will show what happened from the beginning and how he changed. Although today’s technological advances haven’t caught up with Bradbury’s F451, there is a very real danger that society might end up overly relying on technology at the price of intellectual development.
In the novel, FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag lives in an inverted society, where firemen make fires instead of put them out, and pedestrians are used as bowling pins for cars that are excessively speeding. The people on this society are hypnotized by giant wall size televisions and seashell radios that are attached to everyone’s ears. People in Montag’s society do not think for themselves or even generate their own opinions; everything is given to them by the television stations they watch. In this society, if someone is in possession of a book, their books are burned by the firemen, but not only their books, but their entire home. Montag begins realizing that the things in this society are not right. Montag is influenced and changes over the course of the novel. The strongest influences in Montag’s life are Clarisse, the burning on 11 Elm Street and Captain Beatty.
Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 opens with Guy Montag, a fireman, reminiscing of the pleasures of burning. As the story unfolds, we learn that Montag is a fireman who rids the world of books by burning all that are found. Walking home one night Montag meets Clarisse, his strong minded neighbor. She begins peppering him with questions. Clarisse doesn’t go along with societal norms and Montag realizes that immediately. “I rarely watch the 'parlor walls ' or go to races or Fun Parks. So I 've lots of time for crazy thoughts, I guess.” (Bradbury 3) Clarisse uses her imagination brought by stories from books and family instead of watching television. Clarisse helps Montag realize that the government induced censorship and conformation is stifling society’s education and imagination. Montag’s wife, Mildred ,is incapable of having a personal conversation with Montag. She conforms to societal standards and is greatly
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.
Montag enjoys reading books but also he likes to destroy them. "It was a pleasure to burn" (Bradbury 1"). This evidence shows a contradiction in his interests. Ray Bradbury has pointed out how ironic this is. "Guy Montag joyously goes about his job of burning down a house found to contain books, and Bradbury describes Montag's hands with majestic irony" (Mcgiveron 1). Here we see his obvious conflict of interests. Montag does not realize what he is doing at first. Early in the story Montag does not yet recognize the true destruction of his profession. (Explicitor 1). It takes awhile for him to realize what he is doing. Montag has some major conflict of interests. In the 1950's Ray Bradbury the novel Fahrenheit 451 which pointed out his views about on censorship his views are still effectively received today. His story shows a society obsessed with technology, which is not all that different to present day's society. His choice to include a variety of literary techniques to help the reader grasp the novels true meanings. Bradbury used techniques such as situational irony, dynamic characterization, Character motivation, censorship, and symbolism to convey his story effectively. Next we see Bradbury challenges us to think critically about what everything
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.
In Fahrenheit 451 The government does not tolerate any violations of its rules, especially reading. When Montag is caught reading he is forced into a cruel and unusual punishment by Beatty,”Not with kerosene and a match, but piecework, with a flamethrower. Your house, your clean-up.”(Bradbury 109). This retaliation of going against the government is very harsh by making Montag burn down his whole house with everything in it because he chose to read.
“Behind his mask of conformity, Montag gradually undergoes a change of values. Montag realized his life had been meaningless without books” (Liukkonen). In the beginning of the novel, Montag said, “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (Bradbury 3). For most of his life, Montag conformed just like the other members of society. He set things on fire because it was his job and did not question whether or not it was the right thing to do. Throughout the story, however, he grew to find and voice his own opinions and resisted the conformity that his society stressed. When Montag had to decide whether or not to burn Beatty to death, he proved himself by not giving in to what was expected. He killed the captain of the police department, which was an entirely defiant act (Bradbury
In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury creates a world resembling our current world. This novel is about Montag, a fireman who burns books instead of preventing fires, because it is against the law to have books. Without the use of books, people are dumb, and they don’t know what they are talking about. Montag hates the idea of books, but throughout the novel he learns why they are necessary, resulting in him becoming a dynamic character. A definition of a dynamic character is a character that grows and changes throughout a story. At the end of the story, Montag changes emotionally and mentally. Three major events result in a dynamic change in Montag’s perspective.
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.
Guy Montag is a fireman who is greatly influenced in Ray Bradbury's novel, Fahrenheit 451. The job of a fireman in this futuristic society is to burn down houses with books in them. Montag has always enjoyed his job, that is until Clarisse McClellan comes along. Clarisse is seventeen and crazy. At least, this is what her uncle, whom she gets many of her ideas about the world from, describes her as. Clarisse and Montag befriend each other quickly, and Clarisse's impact on Montag is enormous. Clarisse comes into Montag's life, and immediately begins to question his relationship with his wife, his career, and his happiness. Also, Clarisse shows Montag how to appreciate the simple things in life. She teaches him to care about other people and their feelings. By the end of the novel, we can see that Montag is forever changed by Clarisse.
Because everyone in Fahrenheit 451 is conditioned to fear knowledge and view it as hurtful, people believe that this the correct mindset, and live their lives without questioning why the government is forcing people to remain in a state of ignorance. Montag is a fireman, meaning that he burns books for a living, destroying the knowledge that is so valued in our society today. Montag is much like other firemen, doing what he was told without
While many people might think that because Guy Montag started out as a firefighter he can not be considered a ‘good guy’ or a hero, but it should be noted that his thoughts and actions are those of a person with good intentions despite starting out as a ‘bad guy’. In my first paragraph I will be stating reasons on why guy Montag should be considered a good guy or a hero. In the second paragraph I will state why his actions and thoughts do not make him a bad person. Lastly, I will state why Montag's actions and thoughts make him a good person.
To start with, in the beginning of Fahrenheit 451 Montag is oblivious to the iniquity of his job. Soon after he becomes cognizant of the beauty of literature and begins to question his faith in life and the world around him, much akin to how Matthew Arnold questions his belief in religion when the discovery made by Charles Darwin and his Theory of Evolution. The Theory of Evolution shook Matthew Arnold’s faith because it was telling him that his beliefs were untrue because humans evolved from “monkeys”.They both face a moral dilemma in their own way through religion or life choices, ...