Narrative Structure And Characters In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

The novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury starts out as a slow, dry book. The further into the book you read, the more the action picks up. The author follows the narrative structure which includes exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and the resolution/denouement. As the novel starts we are introduced to Guy Montag. Guy is a firefighter, but not like any normal firefighter. Instead of putting fires out, Guy and his fellow firefighters start the fire. Literature in this town is illegal and those caught with books are severely punished by having their homes burnt to the ground. We are also introduced to Guy’s wife, Mildred. Mildred is a stay at home wife and spends her days in the parlor watching and interacting with her

This begins the rising action of the novel. While at the fire station they get a call. Guy and the team, along with Captain Beatty head over to the house. They go inside and start burning the books. The woman who lives there is frozen so to speak. She doesn’t leave the house when Guy tells her to get out, she just stands in place. All the other firefighters and the captain exit, and tell Guy to leave too. Guy tries his hardest to convince the woman to leave but she stays, and burns up with the house. This has Guy thinking there must be something in the books. He believes there has to be something in them to make someone want to stay inside a burning house. The next day Guy doesn’t go to work, he has Mildred call Beatty and tell him he is sick. Beatty ends up showing up at his house to check on him. While Beatty is there he explains to Guy the importance and history of his job. Guy had taken a book home with him and hid it under his pillow. While Beatty is there, his wife comes in and tries to fluff the pillow. Guy gets mad and yells at his wife and tells her to leave him alone, but not before she realizes what is under the pillow. After Beatty leaves Guy gets a ladder and pulls them out of the ceiling, opens them up, and starts reading them. They spent all afternoon looking through and reading