Examples Of Repentance In Fahrenheit 451

F451 Montag’s Repentance and Renewal

“It doesn't matter what you do...so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after you take your hands away.”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

In the Christian religion, one of the purposes of communion is renewal and one of the purposes of prayer is repentance. Communion is the act of taking bread and wine to symbolize and remember Christ's body and blood that was shed on the cross for people’s sins. One part of prayer is repentance, thinking about what one has done, and turning to God to do the right thing. In Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, Montag takes on a mental and physical journey with the help of Clarisse and Faber, trying to save himself

She says, “That’s why I think it’s so strange you’re a fireman, it just doesn’t seem right for you, somehow”(21). This gets Montag thinking about his life and purpose. Clarisse gives Montag a sense of repentance. This is important because this opens Montag’s eyes to real society.
When Montag was talking to his wife while they were reading illegal books he has hidden, he said, “But Clarisse’s favorite subject wasn’t herself. It was everyone else, and me. She was the first person in a good many years I’ve really liked. She was the first person I can remember who looked straight at me as if I counted”(68). Clarisse saw the world differently. Clarisse helped Montag see the world and repent from his actions. This is important because Clarisse made him open up. Clarisse connects to water and renewal, like communion and prayer.
At the beginning of the book, before Montag’s journey, Montag and Clarisse are having a conversation about Clarisse’s life and what she talks to her Psychiatrist about. Clarisse tells him: “And sometimes, I tell them, I like to put my head back, like this, and let the rain fall in my mouth. It tastes just like wine. Have you ever tried

Faber, Montag’s mentor who is a retired English professor, helps Montag do what Faber always wanted to. He is looking back on his journey he thought, “He would be Montag-plus-Faber, fire plus water, and then, one day, after everything had mixed and simmered and worked away in silence, there would be neither fire nor water, but wine. Out of two opposite and separate things, a third”(99). This is important because he acknowledges that the fire and water turned into salvation, wine. This means for Montag that he is different, opposite from himself in the beginning of the book. He changed from the society norm to a more mindful person. The symbolism of wine is salvation, that he is saved from the brianless