Is there a pleasure to burn? Guy Montag has lived a quiet life as a fireman, burning books alongside the rest of the fire squad, and has always found his work to be pleasurable (Bradbury 3). Montag takes pride in his work, and finds it empowering, saying, “his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning;” (Bradbury 3). A chance meeting a young girl named Clarisse, and the actions of a martyr willing to die for her books, light a spark in Montag that definitely wasn’t there before. Montag tells Clarisse that he has been a fireman for ten years, and never put much thought into his job. Starting fires appeared to be his passion. However, as he considers Clarisse’s question, “Are you happy?” (Bradbury 10), his views being to change and Montag wonder if he truly is. From this point on, Montag’s life tears at the seams. Guy begins to doubt his actions as a fireman, he begins to doubt his marriage, and even who he can trust. …show more content…
Mildred cares more about her television than Montag, and even refers to the parlour characters as her “family” (Bradbury 77). He becomes fully aware of this when she tries throwing his stash of books into the incinerator, and secretly burns several of Montag’s books to feel as if she is doing the right thing and following the law. In contrast to Mildred’s actions, which make Montag feel guilty for having books, Faber makes Montag feel like he cannot be stopped from reaching his goal; that he can achieve anything. Faber wants to make change, but he doesn’t want to be the man responsible. Multiple times he calls himself a coward; but when he is motivating Montag how to go about sneaking books, he’s the bravest man of them
In addition, taking after Clarisse, Montag begins to ask questions himself, and realizes that the way society functions isn't right, and he is no longer happy with his choice of profession.(STEWE-1) " ‘I've tried to imagine,’ said Montag, ‘just how it would feel. I mean, to have firemen burn our houses and our books’” (Bradbury 31). Here, Montag has his first realization that being a fireman is not only wrong, but also an inaccurate, untruthful version of who he wants to be.(STEWE-2)
Mildred finds Montag’s other books and tries to fight him but trusts him, but ends up reading one of the books with Montag. In addition the text evidence says that Montag says to Mildred (pg.65) “We’ll start over again, from the beginning.” Another trial Montag faces is learning about the books from Faber,
Bradbury portrays how Montag’s perception of fire and burning books with his personal development changes by the different choices he makes throughout the novel. In the beginning of the book, Montag has a great passion and
Clarisse looks through Montag as if he was a clear window and simply tells him that he's not happy. Montag denies the fact that he isn't happy, until he thought deeper and longer about his happiness. ¨He felt his smile slide away, melt,
Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is a uniquely shocking and provocative novel about a dystopian society set in a future where reading is outlawed, thinking is considered a sin, technology is at its prime, and human interaction is scarce. Through his main protagonist, Guy Montag, Bradbury brings attention to the dangers of a controlled society, and the problems that can arise from censorship. As a fireman, it is Guy's job to destroy books, and start fires rather than put them out. After meeting a series of unusual characters, a spark is ignited in Montag and he develops a desire for knowledge and a want to protect the books. Bradbury's novel teaches its readers how too much censorship and control can lead to further damage and the repetition of history’s mistakes through the use of symbolism, imagery, and motif.
As a firefighter, he is expected to put out fires. But in the novel, he is the one who starts the fires. As it states in the novel, “it was a pleasure to burn.” (#1). When it declares this in the novel, Ray Bradbury is talking about Montag and the other firefighters.
(69) More proof is that she forgets important memories such as how she and Montag met; she also turned Montag in when he read a book to her friends. Mildred is the perfect conformed person in society unlike Faber, who is more in between. Faber is an old professor who loves books, but has no intention of changing society to be able to read freely. He is slightly conformed in that way; although when Montag asks him to
When Montag reveals his hidden books to Mildred, she does not take time to understand them. “‘It doesn’t mean anything!’” (Bradbury 65). She, instead, worries about how it might affect her image if they are found out. “He could hear her breathing rapidly and her face paled out and her eyes were fastened wide” (Bradbury 63).
To begin, At first montag is the average civilian living a normal life. He does what he needs to do to survive, all the while he knows something is missing. Before he met the life changing character Clarisse, he was conformed to society just like everyone else. However, Clarisse was the spark that grew the fire of knowledge in his heart. Then when he seen a woman rather be burned alive then to live without books the spark only grew.
After Mildred had been distracted, and accidentally overdosed on sleeping pills, he keeps realizing more things; like that he does not know where him and Mildred met. Consequently, after learning this he wants people to express their feelings deep down inside. Additionally, Faber influences Montag’s actions and choices. At the very end of the book Faber gives Montag advice, “You’d better head for the river if you can, follow along it, and if you can hit the old railroad lines going out into the country, follow them. Even though practically everything’s air-borne these days and most of the tracks are abandoned, the rails are still there, rusting.
(MIP-2) From certain experiences, Montag comes to realize that he’s not actually happy with his life because he discovers that it lacks genuine, valuable, or humane relationships, eventually driving him to find the truth about his society by making him think about and question it. (SIP-A) Montag realizes from his experiences with Clarisse that his relationships in his life lack genuity, value, or humanity. (STEWE-1)
She is the first person who challenges Montag and gets him to truly think. She triggers Montag’s questioning of life, what he is doing, and his relationship with his wife Mildred. Upon their first encounter Clarisse begins asking Montag questions, questions about a time when firefighters put out flames not started them, a time when life was a bit slower. She asks, “Are you happy?” once Clarisse is home Montag responds, “Of course I’m happy.
Guy Montag was fireman and his job was to destroy books. That’s why he states this, “It was a pleasure to burn” (Bradbury 3). This quote explains that he likes burning books; and he has been burning books for 20 years, and his Dad and Grandpa were also fireman. So it’s tradition to be a fireman. However Guy’s attitude changes when a woman burns herself to death because she loved her books.
The protagonist of the novel, Guy Montag was a fireman. However, instead of putting off fires, he creates the fire whilst burning hundreds of books. Residing in a society that discourages democracy and free speech, the population rarely questioned the government’s demands. His wife, Mildred never truly questioned her existence and practices. Often
Fahrenheit 451 Essay Courage enables an individual to stand up for what they believe in order to make a change. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Montag’s courage enables him to envision a different future and take action to achieve it. Initially, Montag does not question the world around him; however, he becomes aware of the limitations of his society in his search for happiness.