Who Is Montag Burning In Fahrenheit 451

Throughout English literature there are a number of authors who use symbolism to get a point across to the reader. Symbolism is a chance for the author to show the reader instead of tell. The futuristic book Fahrenheit 451 is a novel based around symbolism and ulterior meanings. Water and fire are symbols commonly used in all types of literature. These elements are especially apparent in mythology. Also, within the novel the parlor walls proved themselves to be more than what was initially apparent. These symbols give this book a very specific tone and mood.

Montag responded with, “That’s against the law!” (8). This shows that, at first, Montag thought of nothing about books. This also shows that Montag had no intention of learning anything from the books. Then, near the end of the book, “She [Mildred] must have watched him hide the books in the garden…” (115-116).

A fire starts out as a small match, and it moves to a roaring flame. Guy Montag is also a simple match when he is introduced in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. He starts out as a casual fireman, and he is hypnotized by society. Montag’s life sees a spark of change as the story begins. Many events influence his characteristics. When he is filling a house with kerosene and the lady inside voluntarily remains inside to burn. When the house is finally ignited, Montag suddenly ponders why a person would die over books. He fights to find a clear answer and discovers that only books can restore thought to society. Montag is a changing character throughout the novel. Like a match held to a newspaper, Montag’s mind starts searing away in thought.

Exposition: The settings of the story is in an unspecified city in the future. The people living in this futuristic society watch TV and listen to the radio and music all day. These people have no knowledge of feelings and do not possess feelings and because they have no feelings of their own they are told that they’re happy and they believe that they are happy just because they’re told that they are. Guy Montag is a fireman who for his job is required to burn books and houses with books in them, and he also the protagonist of the book. Guy Montag is married man who is married to a woman named Mildred. The antagonist of the book and captain of the firehouse that Guy Montag works at is a man named Beatty. The fireman's job is to go around

In Fahrenheit 451 ,written by Ray Bradbury, the motif of fire, sparks an interest in the reader which pulls them into the life of Guy Montag. In the daily life of Montag, Bradbury portrays the importance of fire in the censored society. From Montag's standpoint the reader gains a clear perspective of the symbolism and importance of fire. Throughout the story fire is used to represent a different emotion or characteristic. At the start of the book fire symbolizes destruction; towards the middle of the book fire is used to represent change and discovering ones identity; and finally at the conclusion of the story fire symbolizes renewal and rebirth.

Montag thought that it was a “pleasure to burn,” because he felt that he was doing the city a favor. The firemen believed that they were cleansing the people when they rid them of their books, so the act of burning became blissful to them. When Beatty made Montag burn his own house, he did say it was different. This time, it was a “pleasure to burn,” because he was able to cleanse his own mind, instead of someone else’s, allowing himself to think clearer.

In Montag 's case, he understands that he is unhappy with the way he is living, and he begins to rethink his ways of destruction. In like manner, a literary criticist, Rafeeq McGiveron, gives a good analysis of the character of Montag when he says that Montag has a “blithely clear and pathetically blank conscience” towards burning books until he relives his childhood through walks with Clarisse (p.6). Clearly, Clarisse tugged and Montag 's heart and helped him understand the heartlessness of burning books. Most definitely, it was Montag 's hand and not his brain or mind that was the true monster. In another example, the reader sees Montag 's private life during a conversation between he and Mildred, his wife, when she says, “when can we have a fourth wall television put in? It 's only two thousand dollars” and Montag responds by saying that two thousand dollars is one-third of his yearly pay (Bradbury 33). The example presented adds more depth to the grim life of the main character because Montag is married to a woman that is selfish and has no interest for any part of Montag 's life. Similarly, because Montag is faced with unhappiness in both his professional and private life, he is quick to accept the words of Clarisse that there is a better and brighter life possible for him. Overall, Bradbury successfully acomplishes a sense of sympathy for Guy Montag by revealing the

Montag’s motivation would be the urge to know the truth, he is very curious about things. For instance, Clarisse states, “ No one has time anymore for anyone else. You’re one of the few who put up with me. That’s why I think it’s so strange you’re a fireman. It just doesn’t seem right for you somehow.” (Bradbury 23,24). Montag is an inquisitive person who considers the well being of his society in a rightful manner. Beatty is motivated by thinking that his job, corrects the society and it is correct for the society. When Beatty burns books, it is the right thing to do for the society, according to him. Specifically, Beatty professes, “They [firemen] were given a new job, as custodians of our peace of mind, the focus of our understandable and rightful dread of being inferior: official censors, judges, and executors. That’s you, Montag, and that’s

We can tell that he wanted to burn his house because “He wanted to change everything, the chairs, the tables, and in the dining room the silverware and plastic dishes, everything that showed that he had lived here…” (Bradbury 116). He wanted to get rid of his old life and all memories of it. Beatty had said “Burn all, burn everything. Fire is bright and fire is clean” (Bradbury 60). Beatty told Montag that fire can be used for cleasing – just burn anything that is a problem. Ironically, Beatty is Montag’s problem, so he follows his advice and burns him. With the use of fire, Montag successfully gets rid of his previous life and Beatty, the person who controlled him before. He is having a rebirth in life.

“Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings” is a famous quote said by Heinrich Heine, which relates to the concept of book burning, seen in the novel Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury uses his unique literary style to write the novel Fahrenheit 451; where he brings his readers to a future American Society which consists of censorship, book burning, and completely oblivious families. The novel’s protagonist, Guy Montag, is one of the many firemen who takes pride in starting fires rather than putting them out, until he encounters a seventeen-year-old girl named Clarisse McClellan. As the novel progresses, the reader is able to notice what Clarisse’s values are in the novel, how her innocence and

Fire is an ever-present concept in Fahrenheit 451. In the society of the dystopian world the fire is a negative force that destroys the houses and banned books of the offender. The name of the book is derived from the temperature at which books burn. The burning books become a metaphor for the anti-intellectual violence of the novel. It eradicates every cultural article in which are books. It is used as a pressure of the government to form the citizens the way the government wants the world constructed. "The core of the novel rests in the readers ability to share Guy 's slow struggle toward consciousness, to move from

In Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451, fire is a recurring idea. Bradbury used the main character, Guy Montag, to present the fire motif throughout the story. Montag, a fireman, had doubts about his career and society. He sought answers and enlightenment to cure his curiosity about the truth in books. He did not have faith in his society, nor did he understand why intellect was so terrible. In his search Montag realized that fire (and books) were not so evil after all. Montag began to see fire in a different light. Therefore, fire, in Fahrenheit 451, represented rejuvenation through cleansing and renewal.

In the start of Fahrenheit 451, Montag’s thoughts are that fire is good for society. He burns books for a living, and never thought twice about doing his job. That is until he meets characters such as Clarisse, Beatty, and the academics. Montag’s understanding of the nature of fire changes as he becomes enlightened through his relationships.

By reading this, it explains that fire will help him move on and not remember montag and what he did. He wants Montag to be defeated and to know that burning the books is the right thing to do and is the only thing to do. Beatty makes sure that only burning book and not reading them are allowed in their house or society at all. He is very demanding because he

Montag soon begins to enter the bonfire stage. Clarisse, is an observant, curious, open-minded and unique 17 year old girl. Montag, after meeting a couple times with Clarisse, is when his eyes truly open that his society is full of fake realities. He becomes observant and starts asking questions about his society. While being with Clarisse, Montag would smell the leaves and notice the small details; therefore, he was having a shift from being a prisoner to going up to the bonfire. On page #48 it says, “ You’re not sick,” said Mildred. Montag fell back in bed. He reached under the pillow. The hidden book was still there. “Mildred, how would it be if, well, maybe I quit my job awhile?” “You want to give up everything? After all these years of working, because, one night, some woman and her books-” “You should have seen her, Millie!”…. “You weren’t there, you didn’t see ,” he said. “ There must be something in the books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.” This is the event that changed Montags viewpoint on books