In Fahrenheit 451, the reader gets a very vivid description of the deplorable dystopian
society by reading only the first few pages. Fahrenheit 451 was written by Ray Bradbury in
1953. A dystopia is an imaginary place where everything is as miserable and horrific as it could
possibly be for the citizens. Guy Montag is the central character and a fireman, under the
command of his superior fireman, Captain Beatty. Montag walks home with seventeen year old
Clarisse, who asks him many unusual questions, which gets him thinking about his job.
The “firemen” in Fahrenheit 451 do not extinguish fires. They actually start fires, by burning
everyone’s books, in order to stop all knowledge in this society. Therefore, Montag is caught in
the conflict between the all-powerful firemen and the unconcerned citizens, which shapes the
entire novel.
Now that Montag and Clarisse are friends, Clarisse asks Guy many poignant questions,
including some unfamiliar ones. She asks him “How long have you been working as a fireman?”
(8) and “Do you read any of the books you burn?” (8), but her one statement, which leaves
Montag thinking deeply, is, “I heard once that firemen used to extinguish fires at houses that
were accidentally set to flames.” (9) Clarisse is obviously very interested in everything that
Montag thinks and expresses to her. At first, he responds by simply laughing, but later, his mind
begins to transform. Clarisse also asks Guy whether he enjoys doing his job or not, and Montag
replies to her that he loves his job. But, after Clarisse tells Guy about what firemen used to do, he
thinks more about it. The reader can assume that Montag will soon begin to slowly dislike his
job. As a resu...
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...out society in 2011. The
number ‘451’ refers to the temperature at which books burn, according to the Fahrenheit scale.
Books contain facts, knowledge, ideas, and philosophies from history. If there is no truth
and knowledge of the past, then society can easily turn into a dystopia. Under a dystopian
government, a single group of people controls masses of citizens by keeping them ignorant.
The author helps the reader to think about what citizens need to do today to prevent this from
happening. When Bradbury wrote this book, his forms of communication were limited to radio,
telephone, television, newspapers, and books in libraries and on shelves. The Constitutional
Freedoms of religion, the press, assembly, and speech need to be protected and guarded by
knowledgeable citizens of Fahrenheit 451, unlike the Captain Beatty’s of this world today.
In Montag’s society, everyone is the same, and no one questions anything that is happening around them. Clarisse, a girl who questions the way their society works, tells Montag, ‘“They
3. The author indicates that Montag has a daring, or rebellious streak in his character by letting the readers know that Montag keeps some of the books at his house, instead of burning them like his job requires him to.
Rigid and unimaginative firemen were the correct words to describe Montag. He was a fireman who felt pride in his job, the fire department and his boss Captain Beatty, who he respected and did what he was asked. Unlike any other of the employees he felt a pleasure of burning
In the beginning of the book, Guy Montag never once thought of what his job really entailed or why he was burning houses and books down. Until one night, he met a girl named Clarice; the girl who changed everything. She might not have been in the book long but her character was essential. Clarice was the start of Montag slowly realizing what it exactly is that his job is making him do. “ ‘Do you mind if I ask? How long’ve you worked at being a fireman?’ ‘Since I was twenty, ten years ago.’ ‘Do you ever read any of the books you burn?’ He laughed. ‘That’s
... story progresses, Montag completely turns his belief system around and becomes an advocate for the salvation of books. He is cast out of his own job and home, but at the last moment his decision saves him from certain destruction by a nuclear bomb. Montag becomes a hero, one of the last few remaining with the power of literature contained in their minds.
He realizes that he is limited to his knowledge and freedom by his government and he doesn’t want that for himself anymore. Bradbury symbolizes this when Montag says to Mildred, “ ‘There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stand in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.’ ” (48). During this quote Montag begins to question his society, and why he burns books. He becomes eager to know why they have certain rules and hopes to find the answers in books. Montag’s curiosity also is established when he says, “ ‘I’ve heard rumors; the world is starving, but we’re well fed. Is it true the world works hard and we play? Is that why we’re hated so much? I’ve heard rumors about hate, too, once in a long while, over the years. Do you know why? I don’t that’s sure. Maybe the books can get us half out of the cave. The just might stop us from making the same damn insane mistakes! I don’t hear those idiot bastards in your parlor talking about it. God, Millie, don’t you see? An hour a day, two hours, with these books and maybe…’” (70). This displays that Montag is starting to open his eyes to the truth about the world around him. Montag is starting to question authority and the “true facts” that his government gives his society. Montag is becoming empowered and beginning to think for
Fahrenheit 451 was written by Ray Bradbury in response to the threat of censorship and book burning in America. It is a dystopian novel concerning the effects that media can have on society. In this case, media has completely taken over. Books are outlawed and burned. Anyone caught with one is considered a criminal. In the novel, Guy Montag, the protagonist, is a fireman whose job is to burn books. His boss is Captain Beatty. After meeting (almost) 17 year old Clarisse McClellan and one particular incident where the book owner decides to die in the fire with her library of books than live without them, Montag begins to question what makes the books so valuable. He turns to Faber, a former English professor, for guidance. All three men, though different in many ways, possess similar traits. These help define their characters while also showing their part in the plotline.
... ideas in books and understand them. Before this Montag never questioned the way he lives, he was blinded by all the distractions. The role that Clarisse plays in the book enables Montag to break free of the ignorance.
The society that Montag lives in is afraid of knowledge because they do not know that it can offer them more than they have. The society then uses their power of being the majority to suppress the truth and knowledge that they fear. After Montag’s lecture about Beatty’s dream, Faber talks to him through the special two-way seashell radio and explains the hold that the majority has: “But remember that the Captain belongs to the most dangerous enemy of truth and freedom, the soli...
Fahrenheit 451 is a book with a variety of themes including mass media, censorship, conformity vs. individuality, distraction vs. happiness, action vs. inaction, and knowledge vs. ignorance. These themes are expressed through events, quotes, and characters in Fahrenheit. The themes are also expressed in the real world in many things.
...ges his thinking about her and about his whole society. Montag is revealed as being humane, unlike the rest of society, however is still restricted on talking because of the strict conditions made.
Once Montag witnesses the unethical extent that the firemen would go through to destroy the existence of books, he realizes how corrupt and unjust the societal rules were. “He looked with dismay at the floor. ‘We burned an old woman with her books” (47).
Clarisse McClellan, a unique outcast whose personality traits you could say has influenced Montag to question his life. During one night after work Montag has a little run in with this unique individual into which his transformation initiates. Montag and Clarisse share a conversation into which becomes a life changing experience for Montag, they talked about life and how it’s so different from the times long ago. However though towards the end of this fascinating conversation Clarisse asked Montag one last question right before taking off, she asked Montag this, “Are you happy?”(Bradbury 7). Montag hesitantly states that yes he was happy right when she took off. Later on that night we find out Montag’s wife Mildred had overdosed on ...
Montag is influenced by Clarisse a lot. And, her impact on him is tremendous. She questions his whole life, teaches him to appreciate the simple things, and to care about other people and their feelings. “You're peculiar, you're aggravating, yet you're easy to forgive..”(Bradbury 23) Through all Clarisse's questioning, Montag knows that she is trying to help him. Because of her help and impact on him, Montag is changed forever.
The first of all, Montag loses his control over his own mind. At the beginning of the story, he meets a beautiful girl called Clarisse. She is a peculiar girl who wonders about the society and how people live in there. She tells Montag the beauty of the nature, and also questions him about his job and life. Though he has been proud of being a fireman, Clarisse says, “I think it’s so strange you’re a fireman, it just doesn’t seem right for you, somehow” (21). Montag feels “his body divide itself into a hotness and a coldness, a softness and a hardness, a trembling and a not trembling, the two halves grinding one upon the other” (21) by her words. Everything Clarisse says is something new to him and he gradually gets influenced a lot by this mysterious girl. Actually, the impact of the girl is too significant that his mind is taken over by her when he talks with Beatty, the captain of the firemen. “Suddenly it seemed a much younger voice was speaking for him. He opened his mouth and it was Clarisse McClellan saying, ‘Didn’t firemen prevent fires rather than stoke them up and get them going?’” (31). His mind is not controlled by himself in this part. He takes of Clarisse’s mind and it causes confusion within his mind. It can be said that this happening is an introduction of him losing his entire identity.