Fahrenheit 451 Essay
In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, the story revolves around a character by the name of Guy Montag. In this world, books have been outlawed and people who were caught with books would be punished by having their house burned down by firemen. Guy Montag is one of the firemen. However, through a series of events, Montag is red-pilled and begins to go against the government’s ban on books. The protagonist, Montag, is someone who is willing to open his mind, someone who would be changes viewpoints after witnessing traumatic events and someone who would murder to protect his cause. Bradbury demonstrates through Guy the theme that most people will blindly follow what a leader tells them, but some people will not, given the right circumstances.
To begin with, Montag begins to slowly change his perspective on the ban on books after watching his wife, Mildred overdose and him meeting his neighbor Clarisse. Before any of these events occur, Montag is like everyone else. They accept what the government tells them about books. Montag also thinks that Clarisse is odd, because of the fact she asks too many questions that require a lot of thinking. Clarisse asks Montag if he was happy, and he responds by “Happy! Of all the Nonsense!” (Bradbury Page 10). This is the first instance where Montag begins to question his lifestyle. Even though the author may not display Montag having displeasure in his life, the tone of the next sentence implies it. One day, Montag finds his wife overdosing from sleeping pills. Mildred didn’t even realize she had overdosed, showing that she has no regard for her life. Montag even realizes this too and finds this disturbing. He begins to question why she is even like that and wonders why she is so addicted to the TV. When Clarisse dies, she even forgets to tell him about it. She talks in a manner like there was no significance to it, showing that she has little emotion. When Clarisse dies, Montag becomes even more distant with his Mildred.
Montag slowly begins to question about the society he is living in and therefore becomes even more radical, because he begins to question and also break the law after watching an old woman die by the fire. The firemen were sent to this old woman’s house. He ran into the woman, who said that they weren’t going to take away her books. She set herself on fire moments later after the firemen decide to leave her. Montag ends up stealing the Bible that she keeps. Montag has become even more rebellious at this point and begins to steal more books after this. Mildred even blames the old woman for changing Montag’s point of view. “I thought maybe it would be best if the firemen themselves were burnt.” (Bradbury 67). This shows that Montag is descending in to having a more radical viewpoint after this incident. He wishes death upon his coworkers that he’s been with for 10 years because he got curious why an old woman would kill herself over the objects him and his coworkers were fighting against. This quote would foreshadow what would happen later on in the novel.
Eventually, Montag escalates his crimes, by immolating his boss Captain Beatty, after burning his house down. Montag and the firemen were sent to his house after they receive a tip. Montag realizes that Mildred is the one who sent in the tip. He ends up burning his boss after Beatty taunts by him and when Beatty tries to find out who is on the other side of the earpiece. This shows that Montag would be willing to commit crime to protect his viewpoints. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, oh God, sorry…” (Bradbury Page 123). This shows that Montag did not actually want to kill Beatty, but had to, otherwise Faber would have been caught. However, this quote occurs after Montag learns that Beatty wanted to die. He did not show any remorse before learning that Beatty wanted to die. He even thought to himself “You always said, don’t face a problem, burn it. Well, now I’ve done both. Good-bye, Captain” (Bradbury Page 121). He views his Captain as a “problem”. This completely changes Montag’s character from the beginning of the novel, as he was once a law-abiding citizen that listens to the government to a domestic terrorist.
Montag’s character change shows the author’s theme about how most people will follow, but there will be some, given the right circumstances, who will choose to lead. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 has been studied by many students over the world because of its importance of written thoughts. It can also relate to how people today are being addicted to different technologies, such as smart phones and computers, but still have the same message.
