Fahrenheit 451 Quote Analysis

Correspondingly, Montag is also seen as a rebel by those around him, making it harder to find books. There are other characters in the novel who interacted with Montag and were also under the control of their society. For instance, Beatty, the chief of the firemen and Montag’s boss, often discourages Montag from reading the books. Beatty read a lot of books and was often seen quoting some from time to time during his lecture for Montag. However he was unable to obtain the information from them since he lacked the time and effort. Due to this, he discouraged Montag from doing so. Therefore, Montag struggles to locate knowledge while being monitored by those who label him as a rebel. From the first lecture Beatty gave to Montag, “A book is a

Breach man's mind. Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man?” (Bradbury, 58), it is obvious that Beatty was trying to discourage Montag from reading books. Due to this discouragement, Montag has to find a way to seek knowledge without Beatty knowing. Equally, there are Mildred’s friends who know that Montag was unlike the rest of them. Mildred’s friends, much like Mildred, were very absorbed in talking about themselves. When Montag came home to see her friends, it was evident that they were afraid of Montag; trying to please Montag by talking about politics (Bradbury, 96). However, when Montag grabbed a book to read, they all questioned him, causing Montag to be angry and forcing them to listen to the poetry (Bradbury, 98). This caused Mildred’s friends to call the fire station and told them that Montag had been keeping books. This caused his house to be burnt down; “Was it my wife turned in the alarm?" Beatty nodded. "But her friends turned in an alarm earlier, that I let ride.”(Bradbury, 117). This shows that Mildred’s friends also see Montag as an extremist. With his house burnt down, his struggle to seek knowledge is greater. Consequently, those who see Montag as a radical increase his struggle to seek

Near the end of the story, Montag was running away from the Mechanical Hound since he killed Beatty after being told that he was under arrest. This caused Montag to run to Faber (an old liberal arts professor and Montag’s tutor) and later ran away from the city. During his escape, the news reported that they had sent out a new hound to find Montag; “ A new Mechanical Hound has been brought from another district.. ." (Bradbury, 133). With the Hound and the news reporters broadcasting that Montag was on the loose, there is no doubt that everyone thinks Montag is a radical. The Hound brought up another obstacle that Montag has to face in order to continue his journey. Thus, the Hound makes Montag struggle more. Not to mention, the news reporter asked everyone to open their doors to see if Montag was running on their streets; “ Police suggest entire population in the Elm Terrace area do as follows: Everyone in every house in every street open a front or rear door or look from the windows.” (Bradbury, 138). This shows that everyone was trying to stop Montag from continuing his journey of obtaining knowledge. With the news representing the head of state, it is clear that they are manipulating everyone to stop Montag. This further shows that Montag is struggling to carry on his journey of knowledge and personal discoveries. Generally speaking, the public, believing