Theme Of Pride In Fahrenheit 451

loving his job to rethinking of his job. Montag came in mind that his job not only hurt him but

This paper aims to compare and contrast the similar themes of “The Heart of the Salamander,” focusing on the dystopian novel “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury published in 1953 to the 2014 American science fiction film adaptation, “The Giver.” Moreover, the paper reiterates the post-apocalyptic and post-modern theme.

In the story Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag goes through a long road of trials while experiencing unconditional love. Montag has become curious about the books that no one was able to read and decides to take one home with him. Montag is visited by Captain Beatty while he is sick at home. Montag’s wife Mildred tries to make his pillow more comfortable and finds the book under his pillow. This is where he experiences the unconditional love. 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,

“While the books went up in sparkling whirls and blew away on a wind turned dark with

In stories, a character can be influenced by many things. In Bradbury’s, Fahrenheit 451, Montag meets new people, and finds out new things about people whom he already knows. Along the way, the people he interacts with influences his choices and actions; including Clarisse, Mildred, and Faber. Frequently, Clarisse influences Montag’s choices and actions. In the beginning of the book, she influences Montag by making him realize that he is not happy with his life, by asking him the simple question, “Are you happy?” (pg. 8). Montag does not respond, but it does make him think. After hearing this question Montag goes home, greeted by his cold, sterile home, questioning his life and whether he is happy or not. Later, Montag is influenced

In Fahrenheit 451, depression caused Guy Montag to become irrational. Ray Bradbury who is the author of Fahrenheit 451 simulated a world, where depression causes Guy Montag to choose irrational actions. Ray Bradbury shows the reader the importance of depression by creating a character named Guy Montag, who begins to question everything he has ever known, and slowly sinks into a depression.

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. What does she think? I’m not” (pg 10). This quote supports my claim that she is challenging him to think. You can sense his uncertainty in his defensive response, it is as if he is almost infuriated at the thought. He has begun questioning his life. Is he happy burning books instead of reading them? Is he happy speeding through life? Is he happy with his wife? On their next encounter, she tells him that he isn’t like the other firefighters. That he looks at her when she speaks, that he puts up with her when the others don’t. She tells him that firefighting doesn’t seem right for him. This comment causes a reaction in Montag, “He felt his body divide itself into a hotness and a coldness, a softness and a hardness, a trembling and a not trembling, the two halves grinding one upon the other” (pg 24). His reaction shows a conflict, that is causing emotion and thought. He begins to wonder why he isn’t happy.

In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, the majority of society is identical. This leaves the individuals who break away from the pack, and actually think about what is going on, which makes one of the major themes individuality.

Mildred in the novel is Montag’s wife. She is the perfect example of a conformed person in this society because she is brainwashed by the tv that the government has set in place. Proof of such is when she said, " 'Books aren't people. You read and I look all around, but there isn't anybody!' ". (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.

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.

Initially, Montag seems as static and obedient as all the others in this totalitarian society; however, through talking with Clarisse, Montag’s views change, causing him to question the rules around him. He realizes how dull and pointless his life is. Stealing the book from the fire is his first courageous act because it shows how much Clarisse has influenced him. Taking a book is forbidden, but Montag still commits the crime because he has a strong desire to understand the true purpose of a fireman. Another instance of courage displayed by Montag is when he reveals his stolen books to Mildred. When Mildred

Neil Gaiman once wrote, “some books exist between covers that are perfectly people-shaped” (Gaiman xvi). The idea that books can be defined as the sharing of thoughts and information between people reveals a deeper meaning in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. In Fahrenheit 451, the protagonist faces a society in which books are censored and, thus, burned. This, according to his definition, means that if books become banned, certain connections between people will, too, be destroyed. Ray Bradbury reveals the theme (the importance of books) through the protagonist’s dynamic character, which comes as a result from his conflicts with society.

(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) From one of his first experiences with Clarisse, Montag feels something that he realizes he never felt before in his daily life. He ponders to himself, "How rarely did other people's faces take of you and throw back to your own expression, your own innermost trembling thought?" (Bradbury 8). What Montag is pondering about is how she behaved so attentive and natural towards

Can books and people change a person’s way of thinking? Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is about Guy Montag who is a fireman who burns books and houses. Throughout the book he realizes he’s not happy so he has to transform his mindset by using books and people. Guy Montag changes in the story through his increasing problems in his relationship and his perceptions in books.

The novel, Fahrenheit 451, presents a future society where books are prohibited and the firemen burn any that are. The title is the temperature at which books burn. It was written by Ray Bradbury and first published in October 1953. In this novel, protagonist Montag changes his understanding in various aspects such as love or his human relationship throughout the book. However, among all of these, fire – the main theme of this novel – has the most significance as it also changes his understanding of knowledge from books. 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.