Fahrenheit 451

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"Guy Montag enjoyed his job. He had been a fireman for ten years and he had never questioned the joy of the midnight runs, nor the joy of watching pages consumed by flames…never questioned anything until he met a seventeen-year-old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid. Then he met a professor who told him of a future in which people could think…and Guy Montag suddenly realized what he had to do. (Ray Bradbury-Fahrenheit 451)" The Guy Montag the reader meets at the beginning of the story and the Guy Montag the reader sees at the end is not the same person. Many people and experiences change Montag throughout the novel.
Montag's change began when he met Clarisse McClellan. After Clarisse asked Montag if he was happy, Montag began to change. Clarisse's actions, comments, and perspective on life made Montag think. Her views on society, life, and the world around her encouraged Montag to see and enjoy the simple things in life.
Montag began to change even more after the old woman's house burned down. When the woman refused to leave the house for her books, she was burned with them. After seeing this, Montag wondered what made books so worthwhile to read.
Faber also challenged Montag, much like Clarisse did. Faber discussed solutions to the issues of society and questioned the reality of the world around him. Through Faber, Montag got around the blocks that stood in the way of bringing books back to society.
When Montag met Granger, his life was finally complete. He was welcomed into Granger's group and was acknowledged for his thoughts and beliefs concerning books. The group's goal was to recreate the world, to make it understanding and intelligent.
Symbolism is a major part of Fahrenheit 451. Although it may not be apparent to a recreational reader, once analyzed, many examples can be found.
Two of the examples of symbolism struck me as very interesting: the characters of Faber and Montag. While researching, I discovered that Faber is the name of a pencil making company and Montag is the name of a paper manufacturing company. In a way, these two characters represent the tools of learning: pencils and paper. In multiple ways, Faber was like a pencil; helping to "rewrite" Montag into the person the reader sees at the end of the book.

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