Montag's Journey To Enlightenment

317 Words1 Page

As his journey to enlightenment comes to an end, like the prisoner, Montag attains the final stage of enlightenment, depicted by Granger. Montag successfully outruns the authorities and winds up in a forest outside of the city. He soon meets Granger, the leader of a group of people that memorize books. Granger discloses his group’s purpose to Montag and invites him to join them on their mission. He voices that “ ‘we were not important, we mustn’t be pedants; we were not to feel superior to anyone else in the world. We’re nothing more than dust jackets for books, of no significance otherwise. But that’s the wonderful thing about man; he never gets so discouraged or disgusted that he gives up doing it all over again, because he knows very well

Show More
Related

  • The Enlightenment Dbq

    875 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mini-Q Essay A time period known as The Age of Reason or The Enlightenment was when philosophy, politics, science and social communications changed drastically. It helped shape the ideas of capitalism and democracy, which is the world we live in today. People joined together to discuss areas of high intellect and creative thoughts. The Enlightenment was a time period in which people discussed new ideas, and educated people, known as philosophers, all had a central idea of freedom of choice and the natural right of individuals. These philosophers include John Locke, Voltaire, Adam Smith, and Mary Wollstonecraft.

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 Literary Analysis

    942 Words  | 2 Pages

    Montag is realizing wrong his world really is. He wants to change it too. He says “ Im going to do something, I dont know what yet but im going t do something big.” He doesnt know what to do yet because at this point he hasnt figured out the “missing peice”. Montag says “ I dont know. we have everything we need to be happy, but we arent happy. Something is missing.” then he starts to understand that books are the key to knowladge and knowledge is what they need. he says “There must be something in books that we cant imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there, you dont stay for nothing.” And this is the turning point of the book because now montag is ready to take

    Read More

  • Theme Of Individuality In Fahrenheit 451

    1020 Words  | 3 Pages

    His choice of becoming into an individual himself changes him into a completely different person. As the book gets closer to ending, Montag ends up meeting up with professor Faber. Professor Faber is one of the outcasts because of everything he knows. Montag asked him for help because he started to become interested in reading books. Montag explains to Faber “Nobody listens any more. I can’t talk to the walls because they’re yelling at me. I can’t talk to my wife; she listens to the walls”, Montag started to feel different from the others because society started to move him away from his old actions (Bradbury 78). Also in the beginning, Clarisse asks Montag about the smell of kerosine. This part started to foreshadow Montag as an individual and thinking for himself. Montag would be characterized as the protagonist of this novel. Clarisse’s way of thinking was the reason that mostly influenced Montag to change into an individualist. Her personality made him want to be like Clarisse.

    Read More

  • Montag's Change In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

    1675 Words  | 4 Pages

    Granger changes montag as well as faber did but differently, here is a reason “Montag follows the railroad tracks, and he meets a group of men and one man (Granger) offered him a cup of coffee and all of the men talk and get to know each other better and montag talks to the men and got to know them.. Montag has an conversation with granger and he gives him some advice. After all of this, montag feels like himself again by engaging with the world, and he says that faber and granger are alike because they are educated and thoughtful and they both lives as fugitives outside of the society. This piece of evidence will help and explain what granger does to help montag “Granger says that he himself is Plato’s Republic and another man at the campfire in Marcus Aurelius's work. He introduces the men by the authors they have memorized. Granger explains why they all memorized books and then burned them, because keeping the books was too dangerous”. By identifying themselves by the works they’ve memorized, the men show that their knowledge is more important than their identities. In other words, it’s not the medium but the message that matters. Montag tells the men that something is wrong, here is evidence from the text “if his wife dies he might not be sad, he can’t even remember her”. Granger comforts montag and telling him about his late grandfather, a sculptor. Granger believes that people are remembered when they touch the world with thought and care and , in doing so, change it, even if it is in very small ways. Granger changed montag because of his advice and montag followed his advice and he didn’t feel that bad anymore. This paragraph was about how Granger changed montag because of his advice and experience of going through the same

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451: A Character Analysis

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    Montag was known as being a firefighter, meaning his job was to burn books to cease independent thought throughout society, but after realizing he really wasn’t happy the way the world was run, he went against it. Montag was stashing books in

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the end of the book we learn that the city Montag once lived in has been destroyed. It’s here where we get the end result of Montag, the man who once took special pleasure in destroying books now takes pleasure in preserving them. If not for Clarisse who opened his eyes to the truth through questioning life, or Faber who revealed the truth and magic in the books, and Granger who taught Montag how to preserve the books Montag could have very well been a victim of his cities destruction. It’s clear that Montag was heavily influenced by these three Individuals changing him from a once law abiding citizen of the futuristic government to a refugee of the law discovering reasons worth fighting for regardless of outcome.

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 Analysis

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... 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.

    Read More

  • Duality in Fahrenheit 451

    456 Words  | 1 Pages

    Within the many layers of Montag lay several opposite sides. For example, Montag is a fireman who burns books for a living but at home, spends time reading novels, poetry, and other written material. Although Montag could be called a hypocrite, he does not enjoy both the reading and the burning at the same time; he goes through a change that causes him to love books. Humans have the power to change and grow from one extreme to another, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. In addition, when Mildred is with Montag, Montag does not have feelings for her but thinks of her as she is killed by the bombs. He possesses both the knowledge that Mildred does not love him and the heart that truly cares, but he knows not how to deal with this. His feelings are oppressed; it takes a major event (the bomb) to jolt them from hibernation.

    Read More

  • The Enlightenment Essay

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Enlightenment is a unique time in European history characterized by revolutions in science, philosophy, society, and politics. These revolutions put Europe in a transition from the medieval world-view to the modern western world. The traditional hierarchical political and social orders from the French monarchy and Catholic Church were destroyed and replaced by a political and social order from the Enlightenment ideals of freedom and equality(Bristow, 1). Many historians, such as Henry Steele Commager, Peter Gay, have studied the Enlightenment over the years and created their own views and opinions.

    Read More

  • Farhenheit 451 Guy Montag

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the main reasons that Montag changed so drastically over the course of the book was his curiosity. Montag spent a lot of time thinking about his job and started questioning everything he was doing. He starts wondering why books need to be burned and why things are the way that they are. Montag takes up a special interest in book and why things are this way. “Was-was it always like this? The firehouse, our work?” Montag asks Beatty showing his curiosity. Montag’s curiosity is what drives him to find out everything he can about books, society and the way that things used to be. It is only natural for him to begin to question everything especially because his job involves burning hundreds of books a day yet he was never told why these books need to burned. Imagine destroying an object everyday, and being told how important your job is. Naturally you would want to know why you are destroying these objects. This is what happened to Montag and Beatty tried to explain it to him and tells him he shouldn’t be too curious about it “A natural error, curiosity alone,” Beatty also asks Montag “Listen to me, Montag. Once to each fireman, at least once in his career, he just itches to know what these books are all about. He just aches to know. Isn't that so?” Curiosity is a very natural emotion and even Beatty, who tries to explain things to Montag and discourages books, even admits to looking a few books but says “I've had to read a few in my time, to know what I was about, and the books say nothing!” I believe that this would make Montag even more curious.

    Read More

  • Individuality In Fahrenheit 451

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    When Montag meets Clarisse, his neighbor, he starts to notice that there is more to life than burning books. Montag states, “Last night I thought about all the kerosene I have used in the past ten years. And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of those books” (Bradbury 49). It begins to bother Montag that all he has done for the past years is burn books. He starts to rethink his whole life, and how he has been living it. Montag goes on to say, “It took some men a lifetime maybe to put some of his thoughts down, looking around at the world and life and then I come along in two minutes and boom! It is all over” (Bradbury 49) Before, Montag never cares about what he has been doing to the books, but when he begins to ignore the distractions and really think about life he starts to notice that he has been destroying some other mans work. Montag begins to think more of the world

    Read More

  • Theme Of Beatty In Fahrenheit 451

    1380 Words  | 3 Pages

    Montag finally understands his purpose and transforms from a fireman who burns books to a human library as Granger represents his stage of enlightenment that is comparable to the prisoner who can at last see the sun. Granger understands and explains his purpose of what to do in the future, “We’ll pass the books on to our children, by word of mouth, and let our children wait, in turn, on the other people…They have to come round in their own time, wondering what happened and why the world blew up under them…the wonderful thing about man; he never gets so discouraged or disgusted that he gives up doing it all over again, because he knows very well it is important and worth the doing” (147). Granger symbolizes hope as he plans to “pass the books on to our children by word of mouth,” and continue to give the role to each generation to serve their purpose in being the spare backbone of the clueless people in society. Granger understands that people cannot be force to question the state of the world, but instead has to come along their own time and wonder “why the world blew up under them,” which displays his patience and wisdom of the current condition of the people in the world. He confirms that man “never gets so discouraged or disgusted that he gives up doing it all over again,” which illustrates faith that the world can revive some of its previous knowledge. Granger comprehends that humans will sooner or later

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Guy Montag In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

    949 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury: Three Mentors

    937 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...radbury the protagonist Guy Montag had three mentors that helped him along his journey; Clarisse, Faber and Granger. Clarisse is the one who first opens his eyes to the world around him, Faber teaches him how he should approach this new way of thinking, and Granger establishes him as an intellectual who can help society rebuild after the destruction from the war. A line from the Book of Ecclesiastes Montag remembers very well sums up his transformation: “And on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (158) Now Montag is finally learning who he is and what he should do with his life; through his three mentors he has found his identity.

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 Ignorance Vs Knowledge Essay

    673 Words  | 2 Pages

    Some characters like Montag did not succumb to the ignorance of society. Unlike Mildred characters like Montag believed in the power books and knowledge. Montag was once like Mildred until he met Clarisse; his neighbor. Clarisse was different from anyone Montag had ever met. She made him question his career, his happiness and even his marriage. After talking to Clarisse, Montag realizes he’s been ignorant for his whole life and begins a dangerous search for knowledge. After eventually stealing a book and reading it Montag realized that knowledge is really important. Books symbol knowledge because they provide their readers with information they did not know prior to opening the book. Montag no longer believed that ignorance was bliss “”. Through Montag’s fight for knowledge Bradbury is able to help the readers to understand that people are afraid of knowledge because they fear making mistakes. “You’re afraid of making mistakes. Don’t be. Mistakes can be profited by” says Faber (Bradbury 104). Knowledge is gained from experience. The best and worst sides of Montag were revealed during his journey because he made mistakes and learned from them. At the end of the novel Montag like readers comes to the realization that knowledge and experiences is the true meaning of life.

    Read More

More about Montag's Journey To Enlightenment

Open Document