Theme Of Conflict In Fahrenheit 451

Part one begins with Guy Montag, a fireman from Department 451, a proud man with a large smile always on his face. He took pleasure in burning books, seeing their pages blacken and light the next page, and the page after that. As Montag walked home from the station, he meets a young girl named Clarisse McClellan, his new neighbour. Clarisse immediately starts asking questions, how long had he been a fireman, did he read the books, did firemen really use to put out fires? Questions are not typically asked in this society, but Clarisse continued to ask questions and make comments about how the world is too fast paced and no one stops to really pay attention to what’s around them. This is the beginning of Montag learning to think for himself and to be critical of those around him. It continues with Montag going home, where his smile fell off his face as he realized that he was not happy, that Clarisse had made him realize his actual emotional state. He entered his and his wife’s bedroom where she was asleep with Seashell radios in her ears, lulling her to sleep. As he walked to the bed he kicked something, an empty sleeping pill container, realizing that Mildred had taken all of the

Montag is under pressure from his wife, Mildred and Captain Beatty to do his job, to not ask questions, and listen to the ‘family’. But he had equal support from Clarisse, the one who asked plenty of questions about society and Montag’s static, routine life, and from Faber who supported his unconventional and somewhat dangerous idea of starting a small printing press for illegal books even though he himself was a coward and acted through Montag. Granger is someone who doesn’t actively fight against the system, but does contribute as he recognized the way people helped shaped society and the same with society shaping people as it had with