Guy Montag Analysis

In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag is a very interesting and unusual character. Not only is Montag a curious character, the story itself is also far from traditional. While the storyline of the novel does follow the typical Hero’s Journey path, Montag himself does not possess the qualities and characteristics of a hero. The contrast between the way the story is a monomyth, while Montag is not, can be seen throughout the book and makes for a captivating, sometimes confusing read.

This novel is set in the twenty-fourth century, where firemen no longer fight fires, but instead ignite them. Their job is to burn books as knowledge is unwelcomed. Books are outlawed in this society and are replaced with parlor walls, an interactive media family which eliminates human interaction with the viewer’s real family. In the beginning, Guy Montag takes pleasure in his job as society expected. He sees no wrong in burning books. “it was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see

Guy Montag, a local ‘firemen’ lives in a despairing dreary world where instead of firemen extinguishing fires they create them, they burn and banish books. They believe that books are a sin and trouble to society. Although Montag is one of the main sources of the books being burned he meets a bright young girl that changes his ways of thinking and

Guy Montag, on the other hand, is a fireman who starts fires, rather than stops them, in order to burn books, which are banned. Anyone caught with books are reported and their house and sometimes the people themselves are burned to the ground. People in his society don’t read books, enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think independently, or have meaningful conversations. Guy is struggling with the meaninglessness of his life. His wife doesn’t seem to care and when he meets a seventeen year old girl named, Clarisse McClellan it opens up his eyes to the emptiness in his life. After this Montag becomes overwhelmed because of the stash of books in his house that he stole while on the job. Beatty, the fire chief, says that it’s normal for every fireman to go through a stage of wondering what books have to offer. Beatty gives Montag the night to see if the books have anything valuable in them, and to return them in the morning to be burned.

Guy Montag is the protagonist and central character of the book, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury that transforms from a conformist in a totalitarian society to rebuilding a society that reads books. Montag fits the cliché description of a good-looking male with “black hair, black brows…fiery face, and…blue-steel shaved but unshaved look.” (Bradbury, 33)  For the past eight years he has burned books. He is a 3rd generation firefighter, who in the beginning of the story, loves his job, which consists of burning the homes of people who perform criminal acts of reading and keeping books in their homes. By understanding Montag’s relationships, discontentment, and future, one can begin to understand the complexities of Guy Montag.

Guy montag, a future fireman who sets fires, and enjoys it. This society cant read books, it's illegal, all books are burned seemingly to everyone’s enjoyment, including guy. Largely defining his character as finding a fire-fueled smile that never leaves his face. Clarisse, a girl living next to guy, changes his mind with simple questions he’s never heard, “are you in love?’’ No one asks him a personal question, he doesn't know the answer. With books being burned for their knowledge, authenticity is scarce and people are feed what they “need” to hear, substance-less information no one cares to change or question because they don't know how, just hop in the truck and hit 90 mph for an hour if something bothers

Ray Bradbury begins his introduction of Guy Montag as an average unenlightened citizen in the novel Fahrenheit 451, however throughout the novel Bradbury develops, and transforms, Montag into a new man. Montag begins to question his life, intelligence, and morals after meeting a young woman named Clarisse, she thinks about why things happen as opposed to how things happen, her mentality begins to rub off on Montag out setting his transformation. As Montag realizes he is living a false life, he begins to test the law, involving himself in crime making him a criminal. Luckily he is able to escape the punishment of the crimes committed, allowing the rebirth of Montag into an intellectual rebel. Bradbury expresses the demolishing intelligence of current and future generations throughout the novel by giving a glimpse into Montag’s world.

While reading a book, there is no doubt that one of the characters goes through some changes - whether they are positive or negative. Have you noticed a character go through some transformations before finishing the book? Guy Montag, the protagonist of the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (published in 1953), goes through an enormous transformation from the beginning of the book to the end. Characters such as Clarisse McClellan, Faber, Captain Beatty, and the environment has helped transform Montag into who he is at the end of the novel. The examples from the book will help explain how the characters and the environment affect Montag in the upcoming four body paragraphs.

The novel Fahrenheit 451 is an acclaimed depiction of a dystopian world that employs firemen to destroy literature and the printed word. The protagonist, Guy Montag, faces internal as well as external conflicts during the novel. His character is constantly evolving throughout the course of the text. Fahrenheit 451 is essentially a bildungsroman due to the fact that the protagonist is so dynamic in character and continually changing.

Ray Bradbury’s creation of character Montag in Fahrenheit 451 mirrors his own personal fears, social expectations, and importance of relations. Fahrenheit 451 is split up into 3 characteristics that the author, Ray Bradbury and the main character, Guy Montag share, bringing them to show their most common interests… their love for book. They are willing to go to the fullest extinct for their passion without letting anything get in their way and taking all risks that is needed to succeed.

The character Guy Montag changes tremendously during Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451. There are many reasons for this change. Two of the major ones being: The fellow characters in the book, and the void in his life that he couldn't figure out how to fill. These play a big role in the change of Montag. In this essay I will be discussing who Montag is at the start of the novel, the characters that most shaped his transformation, and finally, how his beliefs and actions have changed at the end of the novel.

Guy Montag, the main character in Bradbury’s novel, is a fireman. He works daily to start fires in order to destroy books and limit society’s intellectual thought. “It’s fine work.” He says in the beginning, “Monday burn Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner, burn ‘em to ashes, then burn the ashes.” His one job is to do anything in his power to censor what goes through the people's heads and he had never questioned the destructive tendencies. Soon, however, he meets Clarisse McClellan, who is “seventeen and crazy”, and she challenges him to think for himself and identify the lostness inside of himself. After his wife, Mildred, attempts suicide with no memory, he witnesses a martyr’s death, watching a woman willingly burn with her books, and Clarisse goes missing, he begins to search for answers in the very books he is supposedly destroying. Such topics are brought up as history, education, and morality, forcing the reader to think for themselves, much like Montag did. In the end, he finds that without knowledge, love, and ambition, there is

Guy Montag, the main character in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, goes through a huge change in his life. He changes from a typical fireman who follows the laws, into a person who challenges the law. Montag wakes up from being numbed and realizes that he is unhappy. Montag 's wife, "Mildred", who is addicted to Television and radio, did not care about Montag 's feelings. However; Clarisse and Faber played a big role in Montag 's life. Montag is a metaphor for a numbed society and his courage is demonstrated as he wakes up and evolves into his real human self throughout the book.

Montag begins to question his life when he meets his new Neighbor, Clarisse. She allows Montag to develop individualistic ideas by asking him thought provoking questions. On of these questions being if Montag was truly happy.

But, books were illegal in this day and age, so he must keep the city protected. While watching the senior burn with her books, he learned that these books are so important to some people- there has to be something special about these books. As a result of this, he stole some of her books and took them to his home to read. This example proves that the old lady develops Guy Montag’s character considering he went from being fearful and weary about owning books, to becoming curious and wanting to learn the importance and significance of books. He begins to become intrigued, going against the law and putting his job- and life- at risk.