How Montag Changes

Through out the book F451, Montag changes in the book and becomes more aware of his surroundings than he was in the beginning of the novel. Through out the book, events occur that change his mind about burning. The theme of the story is knowledge is what is important to his society and without it, they would be no different from one another.

When Montag meets a young girl named Clarisse, who tells him the wonders of the world and what life used to be like (and should be like) in his society. He then starts to ponder about what his life is like and if he is actually doing a good deed for his society or not. Before she leaves to go inside her house, she asks Montag, "Are you happy?" (Bradbury 7) which Montag thinks is a dumb question to ask

How his wife loves walls more than him and how all his friends are all dead or dying. He tells Faber " the only thing I positively knew was gone was the books I 'd burned in the 10 or 12 years." (Bradbury 78) Montag now realizes that he had been arrogant for the 30 years in his life and was doing the wrong things and wants to change.

So to try and get people to understand books, he pulls out his book of poetry and reads the poem Dover Beach to Mildred 's "family" and causes all of them to break put in tears. They all turn in the alarm, including Millie herself, and Montag is forced to burn down his own house. This is because the "family" has no knowledge of what life used to be like and so they do not know how to comprehend the poem so they think that it is just about hate and destruction.

To save his own hide, he also was forced to shoot Beatty who was burned by the flame thrower, to a crisp. Knowing he would be sought out by the hound, he runs away to Faber 's who tries to get him away by sending him down to the river. He makes it to the river and crosses to the other side, just in time to stop the hound from getting to him, and he runs away from his