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Montag's role in Fahrenheit 451
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“Why don’t you just kill yourself?” I hear these words harshly uttered in hallways. “ Drink bleach.” I see these words wickedly typed on social media. “You’re ugly.” I face these words jokingly said to my face. Four-thousand, four-hundred young people die each year in the United States because of malicious remarks that are barked from the mouths of those who are insecure themselves. Welcome to the vicious cycle of bullying and the insensitivity of the human species. However, this occurrence isn’t exactly new, as Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, spoke of a corrupted society where life wasn’t valued. Fingers are pointed at irrelevant issues that are blamed for the downfall of our society, but the only place we must look is at ourselves …show more content…
Out of all the selfish scenes written in the book, there is one that truly defines the awful reality. The protagonist, Montag, enters into a woman’s house to carry out his job of “fireman”. While burning the books, the owner of the home refuses to leave. Montag begs for the woman to evacuate the structure, but his boss Beatty says, “We’re due back at the House. Besides, these fanatics always try suicide; the pattern’s familiar”(pg. 39, Bradbury). At this point, he commands his team to leave the lady to burn with her books. To let a woman burn alive shows how cold and heartless the character of Beatty could be, which is only just of reflection of that society as a whole. The book goes on to describe countless events of citizens who are eager to expose each other for the sole purpose of feeling superior and the blatant pleasure of power over others. The reader may even be able to explain the evilness exhibited as a game to most characters, with an example being a group of teenagers that try to kill Montag with their car as a means of having fun. Bradbury has no trouble in illustrating his sick society, perhaps because readers can so easily relate the aloofness to their own
When Beatty commanders Montag to burn his house, Montag has no choice since Hound is watching. While Montag was burning his house, he feels like he is burning all his memories. In the book it quotes; “The books leapt and danced like roasted birds, their wings ablaze with red and yellow features” (Brandbury117). Once in Montag’s life, he was satisfied doing his job. Instead of reading books, people watch television mindlessly. Now he realises book are important because it creates an adventure in a person’s life. In the quote, Bradbury is emphasizing each story has a life of its own, and a reader brings a different point of view to each story. When the books were being burnt, it is like burning birds that are trying to fly to freedom. This quote supports the theme censorship because in the society of Fahrenheit 451 books are ban and since Montag did not follow the law, as a result, books are being burned. Bradbury successful uses this simile to develop the theme of
He seems to be content in his life and is infatuated by his job. The opening line in the novel is from Montag’s view point and says, “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.” (Bradbury, 1). The reader is led to believe Montag believes whole heartedly in what he does for a living. However, when Bradbury introduces Montag’s first antagonist, Clarisse McClellan, Montag begins to question aspects of his life. Clarisse is young, full of ideas, different from the rest of society, asks a lot of questions, and has her own views of life. Clarisse was interesting and brought light to their dark world. The second antagonist is Montag’s wife, Mildred. Mildred on the other hand is not quite as interesting. She is egocentric, unhappy, and concerned only about the walls (televisions) in her home and the characters from the shows being referred to as family. Beatty, Montag’s boss, would be the third antagonist of the novel and he is portrayed as a loud over bearing man. When Clarisse McClellan dies and Montag is forced to burn books, a home, and the occupant that refuses to leave, Montag goes through a change in character. This is the point where the reader would categorize Montag as a round character. Montag begins to question his life, work, society, and all that surround him. Montag had actually been sneaking books from fires over the past year out of curiosity but had never actually read them up until this point. Montag goes against all that firefighters believe in and starts to read the banned books. Mildred filled with fear of discovery and retaliation begs Montag to not bring about such a risk. However, against his wife’s wishes, Montag chose not to listen. Montag got a professor named Faber to help him better understand the books he was reading and that is when Montag realized
Everyone has the ability to look at where the world is today and picture what the future might hold. That’s exactly what Huxley, Orwell and Bradbury did in their futuristic novels, though exaggerating quite a bit. In Huxley’s novel Brave New World, he depicts a society where people are decanted from bottles instead of being born from mothers. George Orwell gives us a glimpse at a world where everything is regulated, even sex, in his novel 1984. Bradbury foresaw the future in the most accurate way in his novel Fahrenheit 451; writing about a future without literature to guard the people from negative feelings, just as our college campuses in America are doing by adding trigger warnings to books with possible offensive content.
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).
television when they already have three. They cannot afford it because it cost almost all of Guys
(OxfordDicktionaries.com). This also falls in line with Fahrenheit 451 because in the story because part
“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
There are numerous reasons as to why a relationship may end. Maybe one side wasn’t recuperating the feelings, or you disagreed on too many things, but in the end it comes down to truth. Humans value truth the most in a relationship and when one doesn’t tell the truth or believes a different truth than another, a relationship can crumble in an instant. Most of the time, lying is intentional, but sometimes it isn’t. When an event occurs and one discovers the truth about something, they start to have doubts about the things similar to the truth you discovered. However, if the other person in the relationship doesn’t know about this truth, they’re going to think their partner is lying and that their doubts are just paranoia. In truth, they’re the
Montag witnesses a woman burn along with the books in her house at the hands of him and his co-workers. The next day, he is too traumatized to go to work and stays at home instead. Beatty, Montag’s boss, pays him an unexpected visit and attempts to console his troubled mind. In an effort to comfort Montag, Beatty explains that “ ‘[w]e must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against. So! A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. [....] Breach man’s mind. [T]here was no longer need of firemen for the old purposes. [...] [A]s custodians of our peace of mind, [...] [t]hat’s you, Montag, and that’s me” (Bradbury 55-56). As shown by his statement that everyone is not “born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but [...] made equal’ ” so that there is nothing “ ‘to judge themselves against,’ ” Beatty is explaining the reasoning behind their society’s mindset. He justifies the death of the woman by implying that those who are different are also catalysts for conflict. Bradbury’s simile identifies the corruption of their government as they strip people of their rights in order to effectively control the mass population. Meanwhile, Montag absorbs this new perspective, no longer left in his state of unawareness. In addition, his own purpose in life is being defined in terms of society when Beatty claims that “there was no longer need of firemen for the old purposes. [...] [A]s custodians of our peace of mind, [...] [t]hat’s you, Montag, and that’s me.” Provided with this reasoning, Montag is finally able to begin forming an understanding of how the world operates through society’s perception. Similar to Montag, the prisoner begins his ascension
Control feels good, people say, “take control of your life … control who is in your life … control your day … seize your day … carpe diem … control, control, control!” In today’s age of technology, we have many ways to control what we do, but is all of this perceived control giving us a false sense of control? Is the illusion that everything is fine just a facade strengthened by the desires of more impatient, feel good, pleasure-seeking society? This is the reality of a dystopian America in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Things like virtual families and the decline and outlaw of books in the active search for quick and fast gratification. This gives most people in that society the
In the futuristic novel Fahrenheit 451, the author, Ray Bradbury, expresses several problems that influence the story. Many of these problems have to do with the behavior of the people in the twenty- fourth century society. One major problem is that firemen have been given the job of burning books in order to stop the spreading of ideas, and to cause all of society to reform and therefore be happy. Many people do not agree with this and they try hard to keep books alive, even though they may be killed for it. Guy Montag, who in the beginning of the story is a proud fireman, later doubts his job and joins those who preserve books. One person who teaches him about books is an old man named Faber who is a retired English professor. During a conversation between Montag and Faber, Montag states, “That’s the good part of dying; when you’ve nothing to lose, you run any risk you want”(pg.85). What he means by this is that he is willing to risk his life to help save books for others to read and enjoy. However, Montag’s wife, Mildred, does not care for books as much as Montag because she knows books are illegal and she fears for her life. Mildred tells Montag how afraid she is by saying, “They might come and burn the house and the family. Why should I read? What for?(pg.73)” Montag is upset when he hears this because he sees that there is a problem with burning books. Indeed there is a problem because books allow people to express themselves, learn, dream, and have fun. In a society such as the one found in Fahrenheit 451, people are not allowed to experience any of these things and they are less individual.
... his argument thus leading to him questioning things more instead of accepting what life gives him. Finally Beatty teaches Montag something in his death. As Montag comes away from the incident, knowing he just committed murder, he also realizes that Beatty wanted to die and that it was no different from suicide. Beatty wished to die since his life was miserable without literature and he works as a fireman, the very people who burn the books. Although Beatty is a well read educated man, he conforms to society which forces him to do what he does not. Therefore he represents somewhat of martyr similar to the unidentified women that burned with her books earlier in the book. From him killing Beatty, Montag learns the misery of conformity and of the oppression living inside of Beatty.
Inside Fahrenheit, the book builds its base on a perfect society. This idea is quickly squashed as Montag realizes he isn’t happy. At one point in the book, he is forced to burn a house with a person inside. Montag thinks, “How inconvenient! Always before it had been like snuffing a candle. The police went first and adhesive-taped the victim's mouth and bandaged him off into their glittering beetle cars, so when you arrived you found an empty house. You weren't hurting anyone, you were hurting only things! And since things really couldn't be hurt, since things felt nothing, and things don't scream or whimper, as this woman might begin to scream and cry out, there was nothing to tease your conscience later. You were simply cleaning up. Janitorial work, essentially. Everything to its proper place. Quick with the kerosene! Who's got a match?”(Bradbury, 1953, Pg. 36) This shows how Montag believed that burning a person’s things was perfectly fine. He was blinded by how the society had thought it to be better and more equal without books; to the point where people were hurt by them. The idea of equality and multiple other factors are contributed to a type of moral fog; Everyone thinks that they are happy, and that nothing is wrong. This fake equality doesn’t come without a price. The government has deemed that to make everyone equal, they have to get rid of multiple tools that people today use. Books, being the main target, are illegal to own and distr...
If the “fire” is not just fire, then what it is? The novel, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, is about the fireman’s job in future is burn the books. Guy Montag is one of them, but he realizes he is unhappy after he has influence by a seventeen-year-old young girl, Clarisse. Although he finds a way that can make him happy- to read the books, Captain Beatty states that books just make people be less happy and equailty and it is waste time to read. However, nothing can stop Montag to read the book and he has to pay for what he did. He forces to burn down his own house and get arrest after Mildred’s friend’s calls firestation that Montag keeps the books. Montag runs away but he finds some people just like him. They are “books”- each of them have
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.