Slow and Steady Wins the Race: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradburry

Why does Beatty quote Montag from books that he has burned? Why would a well-educated, well-read man despise knowledge? (See p. 169-172 of Bradbury’s Afterword for more insight on this)

Displayed in the quote, "Beatty flopped over and over, and at last twisted in on himself like a charred wax doll and lay silent. The other two firemen did not move. Montag kept his sickness down long enough to aim the flame thrower. 'Turn around!'" (Bradbury 113), Montag kills Beatty. This means that his ideas about changing the society he lives in caused him to carry out the action of even going to the extent of killing a person he used to call a friend, in an attempt to make his ideas come to life. Also, the other characters in the story have a huge impact on how Montag's actions and ideas are created. As Montag's thoughts change, the other characters thoughts on Montag change as well. Mildred in the beginning of the story thought that Montag was the perfect husband in her eyes. "Mildred's mouth twitched. 'See what you're doing? You'll ruin us! Who's more important, me or that Bible?'" (Bradbury 72). She soon becomes infuriated with Montag and his needs to change things that, to her, will change her life for the worst. Another example could be Faber, the old English professor Montag met before the story started. When they meet up again for the first time in the story, Faber is cautious and afraid of him because he thinks Montag is a fireman who will burn him and all of his precious belongings because Montag knows he has books because of Faber's recent career. However, Faber soon finds out that Montag has changed, and

One point in the book he talks to Montag on his sick day, quizzing him, studying him, muddling his brain, first trial. The second was showing the books he’s collected over time to his wife Mildred. Because of this Beatty then knows his suspicions have been confirmed and Montag has a stash of books in his house. Three, teaming up with Faber; plotting against the firemen plus bringing back books. For the majority of this story Montag is given the strength to persevere with the help of Faber encouraging him to go on instead of just settling to be ignorant. In order to get the ultimate prize Faber had given Montag enough courage to go on and burn the walls that had held him captive, Beatty. After burning his own house down Montag then went on to burn Beatty alive so he couldn’t put him in jail afterwards. His goal was achieved when gray flecks of ash drifted away in the breeze and all was

To begin with, one of the events that lead to this conclusion was when Beatty kept lecturing Montag about the danger of books and asking him questions. For example, “Sir Philip Sidney said. But on the other hand: “Words are like leaves and where they most abound, Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.’ Alexander Pope. What do you think of that, Montag?” (Bradbury 106) He also chided Montag to burn his down house and told him he would have him arrested and it brought Montag to the point where he couldn’t take it anymore. The event that was the icing of the cake was when Beatty found Faber’s secret radio and he knocked it from Montag’s ear and said he would have it traced. “Well, so there’s more here than I thought. I saw you tilt your head, listening. First I thought you had a Seashell. But when you turned clever later, I wondered. We’ll trace this and drop in on your friend” (Bradbury 118). Overall, the point that I’m trying to get across here is that all these events basically were the reason that Montag decided to burn Beatty to

Imagine living in a society where the government restricts you from reading or knowing the information you would want to know. How would you feel? Well, that’s the society in Ray Bradbury’s book, Fahrenheit 451. The book is set in the future and Guy Montag is a fireman who burns books, instead of putting fires out. The people in the society are very dull, they watch excessive amounts of television and listens to the radio on “seashell radio,” in their ears.

In the book Fahrenheit 451 Beatty is killed by Montag. To understand this event we need to understand what's happened. Beatty addresses Montag on the dangers of books. Beatty makes Montag feel intimidated. In his hand is a flamethrower at this time.

When Beatty talks about the hound watching him from outside, when he came over, while Montag was off of work, to talk about a fireman's urge to read a book, or even when Beatty recited quotes from books to Montag. People may also say that he had a lot to lose but he really didn’t. Mildred, Montag's wife, cared about her televisions more than she cared about Montag and Montag's friend Clarisse had died so that left him with no one besides

In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the author uses allegory (often misinterpreted by readers) to show the dangers of mass media consumption and the decline of reading traditional media. Many readers draw incorrect conclusions (lessons learned) from the book due to how generally the book applies its theme. Government censorship, though an important topic, is not the intended focus of the novel Fahrenheit 451. Finally, Bradbury’s original message of the book shows the beauty of traditional media and the dangers of consuming primarily packaged mass media (such as television and radio). In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury used events that were pertinent to the time to try and convey the message he originally intended. While this message has been lost to many, that does not lessen the work’s value as a piece of literature. Going forward this paper will explore the conclusions normally reached by readers, as well as exploring the authors own original intentions for the work. The primary theme taken from the book is from the author’s chosen setting, being of an authoritarian regime in which books are illegal. While this theme is very easy to grasp (as the reader is figuratively bludgeoned over the head with it), it isn’t the only one people have taken away from the book, nor was it the authors intended focus. Another theme that many readers (normally graduate readers from my research) have identified with are the Christian symbols in the book. While these are used, in some cases

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

When is the last time a person has eaten dinner with their family while using their cellular device? When is the last time a person has eaten dinner without their family and instead, he or she watched an interactive TV show? Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury has a powerful message for readers today as the world described in the novel and our world today share many similarities. Fahrenheit 451 is about futuristic firemen who burn books because they are illegal. Due to the neglecting force towards books, people have an increased interest in technology and are using it all the time. Our world today is quite similar to the world in the novel because in both worlds interactive TV shows are watched often, people are using their technological devices all the time, and tracking devices are used.

At this point in the novel, Beatty is allusively warning Montag about the dangers of going on a path against the Government. Beatty utilizes subtle hints as well as a fear factor to exemplify his villainy. Captain Beatty’s statement shows his reinforcement of the Governmental ideas that underscore the censorship of books, which is leading to the degradation of the individuality of characters like Montag. Furthermore, Beatty and Montag end up playing another game of cards, when suddenly the fire alarm rings. Beatty drives with Montag in the Salamander, his car, when he unexpectedly stops at Montag’s home.

Winston Churchill, a politician and an author, once said,“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often” (Churchill). Change is always occurring weather it be on a small or a large scale. You could be a billionaire businessman or a fast food worker, anyone has the power to change and impact society. The main character from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Guy Montag, a fireman who burns books, is no stranger to changing society for the better. The novel is set in a future dystopian society where technology fills everyone’s day to day lives. The government censors the people of all of the problems and destroys knowledge to keep people from thinking for themselves and revolting against the corrupt government. Clarisse McClellan, a

Captain Beatty’s character is one of intriguing qualities of which one of them can be his candid way of discussing how the social order that exists in Fahrenheit 451 is organized. In this particular section of the book, Montag had been clearly influenced to a certain degree by his interactions with Clarisse McClellan and was being confronted by Beatty about these obvious changes. Beatty is an important source for gathering insightful information concerning the reasoning behind certain aspects of this dystopian society; in this case, he is discussing education. Captain

He was in fight or flight mode and wasn't thinking. Now he is starting to understand how the government is treating the citizens unfairly, and how he can’t think his own way. On page 49, it says, “And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of the books. A man had to think them up. A man had to take a long time to put them down on paper. And I’d never even thought that thought before” (Bradburry 49). Montag couldn’t think for himself because the government told him what was right and wrong. Now he is thinking for himself and seeing how corrupt the government is. Later, Montag gets caught and finally has to be speak for himself. On page 112, it says, “We’ll take this and drop in on your friend.” “No!” said Montag” (Bradburry 112). Beatty catches Montag with the earpiece and is trying to make montag feel like he is the one at fault. Montag screams back and says “no”! He is thinking for himself and protecting his friend by concealing and not giving his name up. After Montag screams “no” at Beatty, the situation escalated very quickly. Page 113, writes, “Montag only said, “we never burned right….” “Hand it over, Guy,” said Beatty with a fixed smile. And then he was a shrieking blaze, a jumping sprawling gibbering manikin, no longer human or known, all writhing flame on the lawn as Montag shot one continuous pulse of liquid fire on him” (Bradburry 113). Beatty is

Beatty was a character made to drive Montag by pressuring him to admit he had more than one book stashed in his house by quoting other books to confuse him. In this section we learn that he has also read books which go against the law and clearly, he has read many since he quotes many different pieces of literature through memorization. The first time we see Beatty quoting a book is when he is talking to Montag in Guy’s bedroom. It states,” At least once in his career, every fireman gets an itch. What do the books say, he wonders?