In the book, Fahrenheit 451 the author uses fire as a allusion and compares it a lot with the personalities of the main characters. I think the role of fire slightly changes from the beginning to the end of the novel. In the beginning, it was shown as a way of pleasure towards the mindless destruction they caused to people and the books that meant nothing to them. Which later changed to be seen as a possibility of a new beginning, like the old saying, “When a door closes, a window opens,” but in this case, the characters open that ‘window’ by burning their past.
For instance, in the beginning of the novel the main character, Montag, clearly states, “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed… He wanted above all, like
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Which is when one of the characters, named Captain Beatty told her, “‘Where’s your common sense? None of those books agree with each other…’ Beatty flicked his fingers to spark the kerosene” The quote and action that the character did showed that, for him, burning is a simple task with no feelings behind it. Later in in the book, that changes, he states his true feelings about action of burning. Like it says in page, 109 where Beatty tells Montag, “What is fire? It’s a mystery. Scientists give us gobbledegook about friction and molecules. But they don’t really know. It’s real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequences. A problem gets too burdensome, then into the furnace with it.” In few words, fire is a way to escape your past, your problems and anything unwanted. I believe that Beatty as well as the rest of the characters were mistaken in the role of fire. They took it as a positive thing in the beginning because they didn’t know any better and didn’t know how else to take