Once Montag saw how much the books meant to the old woman, he took it upon himself to find out exactly what she was protecting. He began reading and never looked back, reading as much as he could before he had to surrender his books to the government. After being exposed to new ideas, Montag begins question society and himself. Being exposed to new ideas helps Montag find his humanity and he begins to feel guilt for all the books he took pleasure in destroying. After the woman dies in the burning building, Montag reads her books and says, “Last night I thought about all the kerosene I've used in the past ten years. And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of the books”(Bradbury). Without the government telling him what to …show more content…
Montag’s wife is an example of how society reacts to someone who claims to have new ideas. She quickly shuns him, tells him books aren’t people and that do nothing to help. Montag believes the opposite and begins analyzing how big of an impact books would have on society. He challenges group ignorance by claiming that,"Maybe the books can get us half out of the cave. They just might stop us from making the same damn insane mistakes!”(Bradbury). This passages references Plato’s allegory of “The Cave” in which Plato relates society’s group ignorance to a group being stuck together in a cave. Becoming enlightened allows prisoners of society to be free from the cave, and Montag is suggesting that books will bring his society out of the pit of ignorance. Ending censorship not only allows modern society to recover from ignorance, it also gives future generations the ability to access important information. Nadine Smith relates the book’s ideas to real life, stating that, “a teacher can use instances such as these as history lessons, explaining to students how ideas about race have changed over the years. Many people know that the Nazis burned books that challenged their political
In Fahrenheit 451 Montag is cursed with the realization that what he’s been doing as a job for years is actually awful, and that books aren’t bad, and their absence is part of what’s causing people's lives to be empty, and meaningless. This realization is a curse because there is not much he can do about it, and no one understands. It is similar to the situation in Socrates cave allegory, in which prisoners are only shown shadows, and one day one goes out into the real world, and comes back unable to get the rest of them to understand what he's seen. Clearly there are many similarities between the situation of the prisoner, and of Montags. Both of them are unwillingly subjected to the truth about what’s going on.
Likewise, Montag, a fire fighter who consumes books professionally, feels delight when he consumes a book and furthermore feels unusual when he is looked with a circumstance where he would need to interface with someone else and doesn't know how to react. In the end, Montag understands that books may be imperative in the wake of seeing an old lady consumed to death with her books. After, he meets with Faber, an old resigned school educator, whom he requests help to help his comprehension of understanding books: "No one listens any longer, I can't converse with the dividers since they're hollering at me. I can't converse with my significant other; she tunes in to the
Many people are victims of their own society.slaves to it even. However, some break their chains and live their lives in independent defiance of their oppressive society. Montag, the leading protagonist from a dystopian futuristic novel where firemen burn books, undergoes major character alterations throughout the novel. In the beginning, Montag is a ‘model citizen’, one who never thinks beyond the realm of his society’s collective mind, but after meeting Clarisse Mcclellan as well as seeing how his own wife is a slave herself, he develops rebellious and independent thinking and begins functioning as the individual he is. After being asked by his strange neighbor girl, Clarisse Mcclellan “are you happy?”
One of the most important questions she asks is if Montag is happy with his life. One day, on the job, Montag meets a woman who refuses to let go of her books, and is willing to burn with them rather than letting
He is also relying on his wife’s knowledge instead of finding out himself. Originally we see no intrest in him to trying to change the way the world see books. Then later in the book Montag states, "Just how it would feel. I mean to hate firemen who burn our houses and our books.” This is when Montag is developing a strong feeling towards books.
“‘If you don’t want a house built, hide the nails and the wood. If you don’t want a man unhappy politically, don’t give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none’”(61). In this quote Beatty explains why society is better off without the knowledge of books. The quote shows that by censoring citizens through their screens and earpieces, everyone can be happier without facing the reality shown in books.
Montag begins to realize just how important books are to people. The government is taking away people’s abilities to read and learn from books, including the bible. “I often wonder if God recognizes His own son the way we’ve dressed him up, or is it dressed him down? He’s a regular peppermint stick now... ”(Bradbury 77)
Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451, desires a richer human experience which he seeks through these banned books. Throughout the novel, Montag’s develops as he transitions from a conformist someone who pursues understanding and freedom through his struggles and interactions with others, demonstrating the idea that despite the difficulty and sacrifice demanded, the pursuit of knowledge and truth should be chosen over ignorance. Montag, in the same manner as the rest of his society, does not challenge institutions and clings to false happiness until two major events catalyze his change in perception. The text states, “And then Clarisse McClellan said…’Do you ever read any of the books you burn?’ He [Montag] laughed.
His resultant search for knowledge destroys the unquestioning ignorance he used to share with nearly everyone else, and he battles the basic beliefs of his society. Bradbury shows through the development of Montag’s character that people must have the freedom to think for themselves and to act on their ideas—to be individuals. As Montag opens his eyes
He would never have questioned his lifestyle if he had not been so impressionable. Clarisse forced him to reflect on his life, making him realize that he was miserable. The suicidal woman and her willingness to die for her novels showed him that books contain important information. Without Faber’s guidance and persuasion, Montag would not have considered hiding books in other firemen’s houses or joining the Harvard graduates on their journey. The influence that these three people had on Montag caused his dynamic change and instilled a curiosity in him that caused him to take action.
You don’t stay for nothing. ”(Bradbury, 48). This shows how big of an impact Mrs. Blake had on how Montag perceives books. Before, he thought that books were meaningless and empty;but she showed him that they are more valuable than life itself and are worth dying for. “Last night I thought about all the kerosene I’ve used in the past ten years.
Fahrenheit 451 Do books really harm the world or does the government dislike the idea of society turning knowledge into power? Montag was a heroic character, he did what he thought was best, despite what the laws said. Montag went against the law and sought knowledge. Despite his flaws, Montag can be considered a heroic figure.
Montag realizes that not everyone is willing to see the faults in their society. Trying to change that is futile. The reader, in turn, recognizes that many people are afraid of knowing more. They are afraid of seeing the wrong in what was perceived as perfect, as good, as
Montag internally conflicts with himself as he gradually begins to consider what books truly have to offer. For instance, “A book alighted, almost obediently, like a white pigeon, in his hands, wings fluttering. In the dim, wavering light, a page hung open… Montag had only an instant to read a line, but it blazed in his mind for the next minute as if stamped there with fiery steel… Montag's hand closed like a mouth, crushed the book with wild devotion, with an insanity of mindlessness to his chest.”
Montag had to go through tough challenges, it was all for happiness. Montag’s challenges forced him to break the law, he had to go find more knowledge, and is now on the run to release the truth about books. He will need to risk it all to find his true happiness. This is how Montag will break the law. Montag’s curiosity made him interested in books because of a lady that had books in her house wanted to protect her books from getting burned from the firemen, Montag and his workers, because of this they burned the books, as well as the lady.