A true Inspiration
In the 1950 novel “Fahrenheit 451,” author Ray Bradbury presents the images of mind controlling world. He forces his readers to envision a world that is blinded from the truth of the present and the past. The novel is set in the, perhaps near, future where the censored fireman exists not to fight fires, instead to burn books. In Fahrenheit 451, the protagonist fireman Montage meets his neighbor, a young girl named Clarisse. She has been raised to live the way once it used to be, time when people had true freedom. Clarisse’s different view of life makes her outcast by her teachers and classmates. She helps Montage to start thinking differently and looking at the world with a new pair of eyes. She becomes his true inspiration, when Montag begins to question the meaning of life. Even though, Bradbury presents Clarisse only at the beginning of the novel, her inspirational influence makes Montag’s mind with insightful questions and answers to explore. Eventually, he transforms from a conformist to a revolutionary throughout the novel.
In the society of Fahrenheit 451, the lives of citizen are restricted. They live unconsciously under the control of government without realizing their surroundings. However, Clarisse is an exceptional to that. She is seventeen and naïve. Her way of thinking, action and attitude makes her different from rest of the “citizens”. She loves to smell the flowers instead of going to Fun Park “to bully people around” or “break windowpanes in the car wrecker.” She considers car racing as a constant unthinking stimulation, even it is preferred by most of the people. Clarisse is an individual who likes to observe people and she observes Montage. Her evaluation of Montag is that he is “not like o...
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...ys. One evening, an alarm comes in, calling the firemen to an old house where the owner, an older woman, refuses to abandon her home. Before he puts the house on fire, Montag steals one of the woman's books and takes it home with him. Montag returns home shaken by his illegal acquisition, but he hides it from everyone. Clarisse becomes Montag’s first inspiration to read secretly.
In Conclusion, Clarisse is the influential character that Montag gradually transforms from a dedicated fireman into a rebellious soldier in an army of readers. Now he is able to realize his mistakes and conspiracy of the government. Montag has been walking through his life blindly without thinking past and future effect, and Clarisse opens his eyes and guides him through his path. As a result, Clarisse is the inspirational force that makes Montag forward in his journey of self-realization.
In Ray BradBury’s fiction novel “Fahrenheit 451,” BradBury paints us a dystopian society where every citizen lacks the ability to think critically. Citizens are known to have short term memory, a lack of empathy for others, and an addiction to short term pleasures such as loud music and television. The main character Montag, once a societal norm in the beginning of the book, goes through a series of changes that fundamentally influences him to rebel against this society for their practice of igniting books. Bradbury uses specific events in Montag's transformation throughout the book, such as his conversations with Clarisse and his conversation with his wife’s friends, to help Montag realize that he isn’t
In Montag’s society, everyone is the same, and no one questions anything that is happening around them. Clarisse, a girl who questions the way their society works, tells Montag, ‘“They
Ray Bradbury introduces in his novel, Fahrenheit 451 (1953), a dystopian society manipulated by the government through the use of censored television and the outlaw of books. During the opening paragraph, Bradbury presents protagonist Guy Montag, a fireman whose job is to burn books, and the society he lives in; an indifferent population with a extreme dependence on technology. In Bradbury’s novel, the government has relied on their society’s ignorance to gain political control. Throughout the novel, Bradbury uses characters such as Mildred, Clarisse, and Captain Beatty to show the relationships Montag has, as well as, the types of people in the society he lives in. Through symbolism and imagery, the audience is able to see how utterly unhappy Clarisse, as well as Faber and Granger, represent the more thoughtful minority population.
In the 1950 novel Fahrenheit 451, AUTHOR Ray Bradbury presents the now familiar images of mind controlING worlds. People now live in a world where they are blinded from the truth of the present and the past. The novel is set in the, perhaps near, future where the world is AT war, and firemen set fires instead of putting them out. Books and written knowledge ARE banned from the people, and it is the firemen's job to burn books. Firemen are the policemen of THE FUTURE. Some people have rebelled by hiding books, but have not been very successful. Most people have conformed to THE FUTURE world. Guy Montag, a fireman, is a part of the majority who have conformed. BUT throughout the novel Montag goes through a transformation, where he changes from a Conformist to a Revolutionary.
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 was later reported dead. But, Montag did not give up. He soon remembers an old retired English professor, Faber, he met one year earlier.
“If women are expected to do the same work as men, we must teach them the same things.” The famous Greek philosopher Plato once said this, and society still has not fully fathomed this idea regarding gender equality. Fahrenheit 451 is a novel written by Ray Bradbury, set in a dystopian society. It touches on censorship, individuality and technology dangers, but the most prevalent recurring theme is based on gender roles and stereotypes. In the story, Guy Montag is a firefighter, whose sole mission is to burn books and any houses that contain them. Everything changes when he meets a young and insightful girl, Clarisse, who changes how he sees the world. Montag’s wife Mildred, is a housewife not only to him, but to an entirely fake family composed
One night on Montag’s usual walk home from work, he meets a young unusual girl named Clarisse McClellan. She is different from most people, she is idealistic and hates what being social has turned into. She tells Montag of a society where firemen once use to put out accidental fires, and not start them as they do now. Montag thinks this is nonsense the Chief has reassured him that firemen have always started fires, it’s even in rule book. Clarisse continues to tell him about her uncle, who remembers such things from the past. She tells Montag about her family and how they stay up all night talking about a variety of different things. Montag thinks this is very odd, why would anyone want to waste their time just staying up and talking?
Ray Bradbury envisions a dystopian society where books are banned, social interactions and thinking are looked down upon, and firemen burn houses instead of saving them. Bradbury creates this world to foreshadow the rise and takeover of technology over people’s lives. The takeover of technology leads to all books being banned because everyone believes the equality of knowledge will remove conflicting and radical thoughts, which makes society as a whole happier. The firemen have the important job of burning houses found harboring this illegal contraband. Guy Montag is a fireman, and he begins to think and question why things are the way they appear to be. He realizes that he is no longer content with the social norm, which fuels his drive to
Of all literary works regarding dystopian societies, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is perhaps one of the most bluntly shocking, insightful, and relatable of them. Set in a United States of the future, this novel contains a government that has banned books and a society that constantly watches television. However, Guy Montag, a fireman (one who burns books as opposed to actually putting out fires) discovers books and a spark of desire for knowledge is ignited within him. Unfortunately his boss, the belligerent Captain Beatty, catches on to his newfound thirst for literature. A man of great duplicity, Beatty sets up Montag to ultimately have his home destroyed and to be expulsed from the city. On the other hand, Beatty is a much rounder character than initially apparent. Beatty himself was once an ardent reader, and he even uses literature to his advantage against Montag. Moreover, Beatty is a critical character in Fahrenheit 451 because of his morbid cruelty, obscene hypocrisy, and overall regret for his life.
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
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
",,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.
...ution to his dissatisfaction. Clarisse helped Montag get to this point he has finally realized the value that lies in these illegal books he reads.