Imagine a young child who does not like to eat broccoli. All of the other children dislike broccoli as well, saying it tastes bad, and does not go with anything. The child grows older and tries broccoli again, this time well seasoned and delicious. The child loves broccoli now and wants all the other children to try it. The other children still hate broccoli and ostracize the vegetable loving child for being different. The vegetable loving child attempting to convince the other children that broccoli can taste good can be compared to Guy Montag from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Much like a child who hungers for broccoli and wants the other children enjoy it, Montag is ostracized because of his hunger for books. Ray Bradbury shows Guy Montag as a rebel in order to demonstrate how banning books causes the degradation of society. In the beginning of the novel, we are introduced to Guy Montag, a firefighter for the city fire department.
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However, the firefighters of this novel burn books, rather than put out fires. The firefighters claim that houses have always been fireproof, but Montag eventually realizes that is untrue. Montag first begins to change his viewpoint after he meets Clarisse. Clarisse is a teenage girl who Montag meets on his walk home from work. Clarisse challenges Montag’s views of life and causes him to undergo his major character change, which is what makes Montag a dynamic character. Throughout the course of the novel, Montag begins to question whether books may actually be good. At the beginning of the novel, Montag held an opinion that was similar to the rest of his society, saying that “[i]t was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (3). He tells his wife, Mildred, that they are going to read the books he has stolen from the houses he has burned, telling her “if what the Captain says is true, we’ll burn them together” (66). Montag attempting to embrace the ideas in the books shows how his opinion of books has changed. Montag fully embraces this when he kills Beatty and runs away from the charred remains of his home. Guy Montag can be classified as a rebel because he fought against the society that banned books, attempted to print new books, and found his way to like minded people. Montag actively broke the law by taking books from the houses that he was supposed to be burning. Montag also attempted to print copies of one of his stolen books, asking Faber if “[they] might get a press and print some extra copies” (85). Finally, Montag ran away from his city, both to save his life and to be with a group of people who think like him. All of these events in Montag’s life show how he has fought against the status quo. The state of the society that Montag lives in showcases how censoring literature leads to the degradation of society. In Montag’s society, many children are killed frequently, suicide is a casual occurrence, and most people are unable to handle complex feelings. Clarisse tells Montag that “six of [her] friends have been shot in the last year alone. Ten of them died in car wrecks” (30).
However, the firefighters of this novel burn books, rather than put out fires. The firefighters claim that houses have always been fireproof, but Montag eventually realizes that is untrue. Montag first begins to change his viewpoint after he meets Clarisse. Clarisse is a teenage girl who Montag meets on his walk home from work. Clarisse challenges Montag’s views of life and causes him to undergo his major character change, which is what makes Montag a dynamic character. Throughout the course of the novel, Montag begins to question whether books may actually be good. At the beginning of the novel, Montag held an opinion that was similar to the rest of his society, saying that “[i]t was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (3). He tells his wife, Mildred, that they are going to read the books he has stolen from the houses he has burned, telling her “if what the Captain says is true, we’ll burn them together” (66). Montag attempting to embrace the ideas in the books shows how his opinion of books has changed. Montag fully embraces this when he kills Beatty and runs away from the charred remains of his home. Guy Montag can be classified as a rebel because he fought against the society that banned books, attempted to print new books, and found his way to like minded people. Montag actively broke the law by taking books from the houses that he was supposed to be burning. Montag also attempted to print copies of one of his stolen books, asking Faber if “[they] might get a press and print some extra copies” (85). Finally, Montag ran away from his city, both to save his life and to be with a group of people who think like him. All of these events in Montag’s life show how he has fought against the status quo. The state of the society that Montag lives in showcases how censoring literature leads to the degradation of society. In Montag’s society, many children are killed frequently, suicide is a casual occurrence, and most people are unable to handle complex feelings. Clarisse tells Montag that “six of [her] friends have been shot in the last year alone. Ten of them died in car wrecks” (30).