Why Is Montag Justified In Fahrenheit 451

In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag at first assumes his position as a fireman, burning books and enforcing the laws of the government 's policies, providing stability in his world. His job as a firemen allows him to obtain books without arising too much suspicion. At first, these books don 't have a big impact on Montag. However, after talking with Clarisse, and hearing of a past where people lived not in fear and mindlessly, Montag soon realizes an importance to the books. With this realization also comes the conflict of whether rebelling to achieve and bring back the way of the past is worth it, or if rebelling against the societal laws and norms isn 't worth it for him. With all factors such as family, current relations with

H. Auden in The Unknown Citizen might say that Montag wasn 't justified, where others such as Martin Luther in Letters from Birmingham Jail might say otherwise. When it comes to societal laws and norms, one isn 't justified when the happiness or security of a loved one is compromised by the rebellion without the support of them.

When one compromises the safety of loved ones without consulting them, one isn 't justified in their actions. After Montag got the lecture from Beatty to return to work, Montag tells his wife of the secret stash of books that he has amassed throughout the years of being a fireman. When Mildred saw the collection of books that her husband amassed, she: " backed away as if she were suddenly confronted by a pack of mice that has come up out of the floor. He could hear her breathing rapidly and her face was paled out and her eyes were fastened wide. She said his name over, twice, three times "(Bradbury 63). When one is confronted by a pack of mice, they are usually in a state of fear, that the mice would bite them and that they will get a disease from the mouse. With this fear of disease and of

When Montag tells Mildred about his day, he said: " We burned a thousand books. We burned a woman." (Bradbury 47). The emphasis on the burning of the woman shows the shock factor of what Montag had just done. And the emphasis on the burning of the woman wasn 't until after Mildred had repeatedly didn 't acknowledge that he said he burned a woman, and even when she acknowledges it, she doesn 't see anything wrong with it. In Letters From Birmingham Jail, when Martin Luther states the meaning of a just law, he states it as: " A just law is a man-made law code that squares with the moral laws, or the laws of God. Any law that uplifts human personality is just" (Luther 3) According to the law in 451, books aren 't allowed. Book are a way of allowing one to express his opinion or to tell of the facts of history , or to teach a lesson through the use of fictional or real people/events in history. Therefore, when books are outlawed, this degrades human personality, as it takes away one the one unique thing about that person, and creates a society of unmotivated people. Also according to God 's laws, one is to show kindness to others and to always respect each other. Yet, as one examines the world of Fahrenheit 451, one can see that there isn 't respect for each other, as the teenage kids of this society according