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fahrenheit 451 essay on why books are important
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In this society, it is important to read a book for own knowledge. However, in novel, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, people are not allowed to read any book nor have any desires to read. They do not know the importance of the book. However, in this novel, three people influence Montag that human should read books and allows him to realize how important it is to do so. Clarisse is one of the characters who influenced Montag by showing her own world. Clarisse remind Montag the fireman’s real job. Clarisse said ‘”strange. I heard once that a long time ago houses used to burn by accident and they needed firemen to stop the flames”’ (pg 8). Clarisse is the one of character who read a book in conflict read society. She confused Montag on what he doing in his job and realized real purpose of his job. Clarisse created curiosity in Montag by asking ‘” do you ever read any of the books you burn?”’ (pg 8). Montag recognized that people should be like Clarisse. Through her Montag knows that people are living like a robot that moving by government. Also, Clarisse teach him the value of educat...
When one fears what one does not understand, he often becomes defensive, avoiding it at all costs. This is the problem facing Guy Montag; his society absolutely deplores challenge. Anything that can be perceived as offensive is banished. In their eyes, books are cursed objects which make people think. Without literature, the public’s thought is suppressed, and they live mindless lives. In the book, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Beatty is the captain of the firemen. As a fireman, Beatty acts as the controlling arm for this suppression. He is the one harshly guiding the public towards apathy by burning their books. However, when seen as just a man, Beatty is not important. He is one fireman against millions of books. He is important because of what he represents to Montag, which is: the censorship of information, an impetus to learn, and what
Clarisse, as well as Faber and Granger, represent the more thoughtful minority population. As perceived in the book, Clarisse is a young, free-spirited, curious individual who somewhat enlightens Montag. From their first encounter, Clarisse introduces Montag to different styles of thinking. Clarisse’s remarks such as “the leaves smell like cinnamon,” (Pg. 13), initially make Montag feel uneasy but then curious as to why she would know this. Montag mentions that she is one of first people trying to uncover more about him. Montag seems refreshed by Clarisse, which in turn make him question his relationship with Mildred. Their initial conversation is the focal point of the book, revealing to the audience that Montag is different and more capable of thinking. Additionally, Bradbury makes it seem like the other characters who don’t question society such as Mildred and Beatty, are threatened by Clarisse and her way of thinking. Mildred acknowledges Montag and Clarisse short friendship in a harsh way and is glad to mention to Montag that Clarisse has been killed at the end of the first chapter. Clarisse’s character is assumed to have been hit by a car and killed during the middle of the first section. Although her role in the novel is fairly short, her first few meetings with Montag make a huge impact on the story
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
Montag enjoys reading books but also he likes to destroy them. "It was a pleasure to burn" (Bradbury 1"). This evidence shows a contradiction in his interests. Ray Bradbury has pointed out how ironic this is. "Guy Montag joyously goes about his job of burning down a house found to contain books, and Bradbury describes Montag's hands with majestic irony" (Mcgiveron 1). Here we see his obvious conflict of interests. Montag does not realize what he is doing at first. Early in the story Montag does not yet recognize the true destruction of his profession. (Explicitor 1). It takes awhile for him to realize what he is doing. Montag has some major conflict of interests. In the 1950's Ray Bradbury the novel Fahrenheit 451 which pointed out his views about on censorship his views are still effectively received today. His story shows a society obsessed with technology, which is not all that different to present day's society. His choice to include a variety of literary techniques to help the reader grasp the novels true meanings. Bradbury used techniques such as situational irony, dynamic characterization, Character motivation, censorship, and symbolism to convey his story effectively. Next we see Bradbury challenges us to think critically about what everything
As Montag continues his journey to enlightenment, similar to the prisoner, he progresses to the stage of belief, embodied by Clarisse. Montag initially meets Clarisse, a social outcast, while walking home from work one day. From their first encounter, he notices that she constantly questions society and the ways of the world. They begin to develop a friendship but it is abruptly cut short when she suddenly disappears. One day, about a week after her disappearance, “[h]e didn’t know what there was about the afternoon, but it was not seeing her somewhere in the world. [....] [A]t first he did not even know he missed her or was even looking for her, [...] there were vague stirrings of dis-ease in him. Something was the matter, his routine had
Henry David Thoreau, a famous American author, once said that “What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?” Essentially, Thoreau believed that even though most individual people are tolerable, society as a whole is not. Ray Bradbury reflects upon Thoreau’s ideas in his novel entitled Fahrenheit 451. In the novel, Guy Montag, the protagonist, realizes that his supposed utopia society is actually a dystopia. Montag finally realizes this when Clarisse, his young neighbor, asks him if he is happy. Although, Montag believes that he is happy, it becomes clear later in the novel that he is not. Montag finds countless faults in the society he lives in. Throughout the novel, Bradbury’s goal is to show the reader some faults in the world today, such as our education system and the effects of technology on lives.
... 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.
In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury uses the life of Guy Montag, a fireman in a near future dystopia, to make an argument against mindless conformity and blissful ignorance. In Bradbury’s world, the firemen that Montag is a part of create fires to burn books instead of putting out fires. By burning books, the firemen eliminate anything that might be controversial and make people think, thus creating a conforming population that never live a full life. Montag is part of this population for nearly 30 years of his life, until he meets a young girl, Clarisse, who makes him think. And the more he thinks, the more he realizes how no one thinks. Upon making this realization, Montag does the opposite of what he is supposed to; he begins to read. The more he reads and the more he thinks, the more he sees how the utopia he thought he lived in, is anything but. Montag then makes an escape from this society that has banished him because he has tried to gain true happiness through knowledge. This is the main point that Bradbury is trying to make through the book; the only solution to conformity and ignorance is knowledge because it provides things that the society can not offer: perspective on life, the difference between good and evil, and how the world works.
Clarisse may be the consciousness of Montag because her questions drove Montag to his profound thoughts as they kept on having a conversation. Clarisse was a very peculiar girl that she has a very special feature which not everybody has. In my opinion, Clarisse is the igniter or a factor of Montag’s enlightenment in the way she made Montag to question his society and life.
Clarisse is a young 17 year old girl that has emotions, ambitions, and creativity because of the knowledge that comes from old traditions. “I'm seventeen and I'm crazy. My uncle says the two always go together. When people ask your age, he said, always say seventeen and insane.” ( Bradbury ) page 7. Clarisse is the only character to successfully exhibit all of these traits because she always talks to her grandfather that tells stories from the past. She can show emotion by always smiling when Montag encounters her. She also has the ambition of just trying to be accepted in society and trying to get through her treatments. Her creativity comes in two forms. The way she asks questions and the way she expresses her feelings towards simplistic objects such as flowers or even rain. Montag found his ambition to seek out the secrets of his society by receiving insight from Clarisse’s perspective of life. “Are you happy?” ( Bradbury ) page 10. With this one question Montag finally took the time to think if he was really happy. From there he continued to ask more questions which all turns into the events of the book. To recreate people who can feel, think and imagine knowledge must be actively present to create a unique individual.Bradbury asserts that man must retain knowledge in order to think
Firstly, Montag is influenced by Clarisse McClellan because she is the first person he has met that is not like the rest of the society. Clarisse is a young 17 year old girl that Montag quickly becomes very fond of. Clarisse influences Montag by the way she questioned Montag, the way she admires nature, and her death. Clarisse first influenced Montag by the way she began questioning him often. Her questions would make him think for himself unlike the rest of society. “Then she seemed to remember something and came back to look at him with wonder and curiosity. “Are you happy?” she said. “Am I what?” he cried. But she was gone- running in the moonlight” (Bradbury, 10). Clarisse was one of the only people that Montag had ever met that had ever asked him that. This question that she asked him influenced him because he thinks about, and Montag asks himself tha...
",,Is it true that long ago firemen put fires out instead of going to start them?,," (Bradbury 3). Clarisse is constantly wanting to learn the truth and make sure that the facts she has been given is correct. This is what makes her different from all of the other characters in the novel. Clarisse knows that reading and learning is breaking the law, but she does not care. She values an education and knows knowledge is key. Because of this, Clarisse is seen as a misfit delinquent. Not many people understand her, but towards the end of the story, Montag
In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by author Ray Bradbury we are taken into a place of the future where books have become outlawed, technology is at its prime, life is fast, and human interaction is scarce. The novel is seen through the eyes of middle aged man Guy Montag. A firefighter, Ray Bradbury portrays the common firefighter as a personal who creates the fire rather than extinguishing them in order to accomplish the complete annihilation of books. Throughout the book we get to understand that Montag is a fire hungry man that takes pleasure in the destruction of books. It’s not until interacting with three individuals that open Montag’s eyes helping him realize the errors of his ways. Leading Montag to change his opinion about books, and more over to a new direction in life with a mission to preserve and bring back the life once sought out in books. These three individual characters Clarisse McClellan, Faber, and Granger transformed Montag through the methods of questioning, revealing, and teaching.
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.
Clarisse is Montag’s first mentor in his journey; she is the one who first opens his eyes to the world around him, as well as asking the ultimate question “Are you happy?” (7) To which Montag cried “Am I what?” He never gave whether he was actually, truly happy a real, legitimate thought in his entire life. He just woke up, ate breakfast, went to work, ate lunch, went home, ate dinner, and went to sleep; and all with a big grin fixed on his face. But now, after a bit of consideration he came to the realization that “He was not happy…. He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask a...