Fire is one of, if not the, main motif that Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury revolves around. The world that Montag lives in is dominated by fire. As Montag said, “The world rushed in a circle and turned on its axis and time was busy burning the years and the people anyway, without any help from him. So if he burnt things with the firemen, and the sun burnt Time, that meant.that everything burned!” Ray Bradbury clearly conveys in this passage that Montag thinks that fire is very important and that it is something that everything revolves around. Ray Bradbury also talks about the idea of something burning, and that once you completely burn something, it is gone and there is no going back to get it. Just like time, books that are burned can not be retrieved no matter how hard you may try. In this quote, Ray Bradbury is also referencing how Montag has a sudden revelation at the time that he says this quote. This happens many times during the novel, and fire really is the main idea that changes Montag and all the other characters in Fahrenheit 451. Understandably, at the beginning of the novel, Montag is very proud to be a fireman. It is one of the few jobs in the society, and he takes a certain primal joy in doing it. However, there is a specific moment in the beginning of the book when Montag begins to realize that maybe there is something bad with burning down houses and killing people because they had books. On page 40 Ray Bradbury writes, “The woman on the porch reached out with contempt to them all and struck the kitchen match against the railing.” When any other fireman burns a house, they enjoy destroying it. Everyone else on the street also comes out to watch because they think of it as a carnival, a somewhat rare event that e... ... middle of paper ... ... at all, but cruel and unjust. This is further proved when Beatty forces Montag to burn his own house down. Doing this was a critical mistake for Beatty, as Montag was already in a stage of emotional turmoil, and by forcing him to burn his house down, Beatty pushed Montag over the edge, and killed himself. Finally, when the hound is released on Montag, the book begins to get interesting. This can be viewed as just a fun scene to speed up the action in a book that lacks a lot of it, but it also represents how everything is full of action for the people in the book. They are either driving 100 miles an hour, or watching a house burn, just like they are all watching the movie of their lives. Montag may have started out the book like that, but by the end he was so different from everyone else that the government killed an innocent man because they couldn’t catch Montag.
Montag burned books. He likes his job and he knew that they started fires when the heard alarms. He never really questioned the fact that he had to burn books so instead he just does it. We've noticed that the society is screwed up but Montag does worry about it
The first thing that really presents this mood in the story is when Montag and the rest of the firemen go to the old womans house. The woman refused to leave her house so Montag tried to convince her to leave. Montag went home later that night and felt sick. He didn’t believe burning books was a good way of doing things in the society. Another part in the story that causes trouble at the firehall is when the mechanical hound threatens and growls at Montag. Montag is scared someone might have set it to his scent. At the beginning of the story, Montag doesn’t mind his job, but as time goes on he starts to dislike it. Burning books burns peoples lives in Montag’s eyes. “I can’t do it, he thought. How can I go at this new assignment, how can I go on burning things? I can’t go in this place”(119). This quotation is towards the end of the story when Montag arrives at his house that they are going to search. Montag knows that he is going to be in a lot of trouble and doesn’t think it’s fair. Montag doesn’t thinking burning books is fair so they is a lot of trouble at Montag’s
Montag, a fireman who ignites books into glowing embers that fall into ashes as black as night. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury expresses a message in which society has opened their doors to mass devastation. Guy Montag, a “fireman”, burns houses that have anything to do with books instead putting fires out like the job of a real firemen. In Montag’s society, books are considered taboo, and owning books can lead to dire consequences. Ray Bradbury portrays a society in which humans have suffered a loss of self, humanity, and a powerful control from the government resulting in a fraudulent society.
451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which paper, more specifically books, burn. As a fireman living in a futuristic city, it is Guy Montag’s job to see that that is exactly what happens. Ray Bradbury predicts in his novel Fahrenheit 451 that the future is without literature -- everything from newspapers to novels to the Bible. Anyone caught with books hidden in their home is forced out of it while the firemen force their way in. Then, the firemen turn the house into an inferno. With pride, Montag carries out just that...Until one day he meets a young girl of seventeen who changes his mind about everything. Clarisse McClellan knows many things that Montag has never considered. For instance, she recites poetry, the ideas of great philosophers, and most importantly, facts about the world’s history. When she first speaks to Montag of these illicit things, he is taken aback and begins to question all that he has been told. Not trusting his current knowledge and cursed with a burning curiosity, Montag begins collecting books from the fires. One by one he reads the books, but they make no sense to him and he looks to others for help. Unfortunately, Clarisse mysteriously disappeared and is later reported dead. But, Montag did not give up. He soon remembers an old retired English professor, Faber, he met one year earlier. Faber jumps at the chance to help Montag and together they venture into the unwelcoming world to try to show others the importance of knowing their past. In light of these facts, one theme of this story, it is not necessarily the eldest, who is the wisest, can be found in the relationship between Clarisse and Montag. The relationship that they have is somewhat difficult to figure out completely; they are so far apart in age, yet they seem as if they are in love with each other, or at least with what the other has to offer. For example, Montag is astounded by the information and opinions that Clarisse has to offer while Clarisse is interested in Montag’s experiences as a fireman. Another theme could be Anne Bradstreet’s quote “If we had not sometimes the taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome”, meaning that unless one has bad experiences, the good ones can be taken for granted. This quote proves to be true in
Fire is one of the primary symbols in Fahrenheit 451, as it represents destruction of ideas. People do not like books, they want to be happy, and not have to think.People in Montag's society are ignorant about the content of books and therefore casually burn them. However, Montag comes to the realization that books could leading to destruction. Montag expresses to Mildred “ And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was
A politically correct world. No one can be offended, the press cannot report on offensive subjects, history books need to change or write out offensive past events, and books that have any form of offensive opinions needs to be gone. In fact, opinions are to offensive, they are not allowed. This is what happened in the fictional world of Fahrenheit 451. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is about government censorship of opinions and trying to make everyone have the same opinion. However, Bradbury is also sending messages saying that technology will turn everyday people’s lives into a zoo, and the zoo keeper who feeds them is the government. The rise of technology will lead into people being oblivious to the corruption
At the beginning of the novel, Montag considers it a pleasure to burn due to the power it gave him. For Montag, burning was the only thing he knew, and to him the only way of life. Getting to be apart of the wonderful experience of helping your government made Montag feel important, being able to help out. It also let him have control over the fire, which all means for him burning is a good thing.
“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
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.
The symbolism of fire throughout the novel, Fahrenheit 451, symbolizes both destruction and renewal. As time went on Montag soon realizes the destruction of books was taking away key parts of a normal society. Montag’s view of fire changes throughout the novel as in the beginning he sees it as a symbol of change and in the end fire engulfs his house and he then uses it against the enemies.
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.
The first role that fire plays in Fahrenheit 451 is apparent from the very beginning of Bradbury's novel. "IT WAS A PLEASURE TO BURN. It was a pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed" (3). In these first two sentences, Bradbury creates a sense of curiosity and irony because in the story, change is something controlled and unwanted by the government and society, so it is very unlikely that anything in Guy Montag's society could be changed. The burning described at this point represents the constructive energy that later leads to catastrophe. A clear picture of firemen is first seen when the narrator says, "With his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on his stolid head, and his eyes all orange flame with the thought of what came next, he flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire that burned the evening sky red and yellow and black" (3). Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which books burn and is symbolically written on the firemen’s helmets, tanks, and in the firestation.
Ray Bradbury uses motifs all throughout his novel Fahrenheit 451. Some include fire, mirrors, and being both dead and alive. Although, the motif that’s being focused on here is fire. Fire is used as a motif extensively in Fahrenheit 451. It is used to represent many subjects such as destruction, life, and warmth. It’s amazing how it can be changed from something so violent to something filled with hope.
The book “Fahrenheit 451,” by Ray Bradbury, is about a man, Guy Montag, who has a job burning books. When he realizes how twisted the world he lives in is, he tries to change it, although he doesn’t really succeed. In the novel, the author uses the metaphor of fire to make the narrative more interesting. When the author uses a fire metaphor, it often seems very exciting and dramatic. Additionally, they are used to show emotion. The metaphors also make the novel feel more violent.
Firefighters are humans whose job are to stop a fire from houses buildings stores schools and etc. but sadly in the society of 451 it’s not like that. You create the fire. As a firefighter in the society of 451, Montag a firefighter unsure about his feelings is questioning himself. If what he is doing is right. Is Montag feeling guilty for everything he has done? The government is so strict about the rule that they will do anything to remove books and take away everyone knowledge. The government will do anything to burn books.