Examples Of Reaction In Fahrenheit 451

Improved Essays
“You may never know what results come of your actions, but if you do nothing there will be no result”~ Mohandas Gandhi. One of the many themes shown through the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is action vs. inaction. The main character Guy Montag, who is an inactive fireman who burns down the homes of book owners as a punishment for breaking the law, turns into an active man who takes action upon his beliefs. Bradbury, who published the book in 1953, predicts a future filled with restrictions and a strong government that controls everything. When Montag starts to understand the value of books, and how the books can change the society, he becomes a rebel and tries to help save the society. Relatively, the song “Once in Awhile” by Timeflies portrays the same idea of action vs. inaction. The main character in the song has to ask himself what he is doing, and if he is making a change to the society he lives in. “Once in Awhile” and Fahrenheit 451 have a strong correlation with each other because they both have lines that illustrate the theme, action vs. inaction. …show more content…
inaction in Fahrenheit 451 flawlessly. The main part of the chorus presents this relation- “Once in awhile, I ask myself / What am I doing?” (Steve Mc Ewan and Tom Shapiro). These lines relate to the realization that Montag makes in the middle of the novel. This realization comes from the old woman dying with her books. The novel states, “‘There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there’” (Bradbury 54). Because of this brave act made by the woman, Montag asked himself what he was doing, and if what he was doing was the most lawful thing. This is the eye-opening act that made Montag take action. Montag, from this point forward, tries to find out what is really inside of books, and what made the lady end her life with her

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In Fahrenheit: 451, Montag’s interactions with outside forces contributed to his growth and the theme that all lives have value and becoming desensitized to them is dangerous. The first force the author, Ray Bradbury, used in the story was a woman burning with her house because she hid books. Montag was one of the firemen who was sent to take the woman away and burn her house and her possessions; however, he and his co-workers did not accomplish their goal due to the woman taking her own life. When Montag told Mildred, his wife, what he had done, he said, “ ‘We burned a thousand books. We burned a woman’ ”…

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Did you know that society can change people ’s thinking? Fahrenheit 451 was written by Ray Bradbury in 1950’s. Montag is revealed as the protagonist and dynamic character. Firemen burn books to make people think and confused.…

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.” (Bradbury 1). In this quote a fireman watches the flames of a fire burn books. Ray Bradbury’s futuristic novel Fahrenheit 451 tells the story of Montag, a fireman realizing the value of books and decides to give up his job to preserve the knowledge within them.…

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Ray Bradbury’s novel “Fahrenheit 451” is about a character named Montag and his desire about reading books. Books are illegal and whoever was caught reading books they would get a death penalty and all of their belongings would get burned. While a firefighter opens his eyes and reads a book and he rebels against the aw and runs way as a refugee and him and other people decide to go back to the city as well. IN the beginning Montag, our character is a ruthless person where his purpose is to burn books and he loved fire. He was a very destructive person.…

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This causes Montag to question himself and to become skeptical of his own happiness. Moreover, he begins questioning what he believes and what his ideas are after seeing a woman die for protecting her books that Montag had to burn. In doing so Montag is breaking the law set by the state and continues to do so when he starts to read from a bible that he has stolen. As a result, his…

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Montag’s World Vs. American Society Today There are many dystopian aspects in our world that have a bigger impact on American society than we think. In the novel, Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, the author addresses just a few of the many problems in society. Some of the issues in the book are very different as well as similar to American society today.…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a dystopian novel that takes the reader on a journey through a future world where books are illegal. The novel outlines the fact that books are important to civilization in many ways, whether it be content, characters, themes, or any important historical foundation that books contain. At the end of the book, the main character, Guy Montag, grabs a few books to save from the firemen, and finds himself amongst a group of homeless book lovers who each have books, or portions of books, memorized where they are safe from the hands of firemen and the government. With the idea of being in Montag’s place and having a choice of which books I would save, I would have chosen The Color Purple, The Wind in the Willows, and The Life of Pi, each for their own unique qualities that would be valuable for future civilizations for historical reference. Rich with gender and racial history, The Color Purple by Alice Walker exemplifies what life was like in the early 1900s for southern African American women.…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the novel Fahrenheit 451, author, Ray Bradbury, creates a dystopia where the protagonist hides from his problems, realizes that it’s because of the way society is, and that he needs to make a change. Main character ,Guy Montag, is a very confused man that can not seem to figure out what he’s missing in life. He is tested from every aspect to figure out who he really is, but is he Guy montag or is he just like everyone else? Is he living a “normal” life or is there something missing? Why are things so mysterious?…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When he was forced to burn his house by Captain Beatty, Montag felt a strange detachment. He was sorry to burn the books, sorry to burn his house itself in some ways because it still held happy memories for him from his old life. It was also getting rid of an empty life, it burned his entire past, including Mildred, whom he realized never truly loved him, “... everything that showed that he had lived here in this empty house with a strange woman who would forget him tomorrow...” (Bradbury 118). In burning his house, it gives him a fresh slate to start new with.…

    • 972 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Fahrenheit 451, Montag is isolated from his peers and family due to his realization that his life is constructed around a lie. His epiphanic moment results from an encounter with his young neighbor, Clarisse. She forces Montag to re-evaluate his views through asking him, "Are you happy?". Montag' s epiphany that his society shuns books, the one thing that facilitates individual thought, in order to maintain the status quo isolates him mentally from those around him. Montag is indirectly characterized by his interactions with Fabre.…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The opening line is, “It was a pleasure to burn” (pg. 3). But was it really? Did the instant pleasure dystopia really bring pleasure to the people in it? Fahrenheit 451 disagrees. It proves that knowledge and awareness of the world, particularly found in books, brings true pleasure.…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Dr. Suess once said, “Why fit in when you are born to stand out.” Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, is a dystopian novel focused around the habits that arise as technology outsmarts the population. The focus of the novel is a man named Guy Montag who lives in a society that has been overrun by the government. Technology has been imposed on the population to regulate their everyday lives. Everyone appears happy except for Guy Montag, who is beginning to question his own actions.…

    • 1875 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After reading the first paragraph of the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, I was intrigued and wanted to continue reading. This was mainly because that paragraph introduced Montag and the setting in such a distinctive way that impacted the way I thought about the novel and characters. After reading more into part one, I became more and more interested with many questions popping up into my head. Where did Clarisse’s imaginative ideas come from? Why did Mildred try to kill herself?…

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Even when trapped and imprisoned, be this figuratively or literally, human beings have a tendency to assert their freedom. In a dystopian society, where freedom of decision is stifled, this rings especially true. Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, sticks true to this fact of human nature. Guy Montag, a firefighter, is the main example of this fact. Starting on the track to his rebellion, Montag begins to steal books from the homes he burns, reading them illegally in his own home.…

    • 1966 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Montag’s Transformation As people mature and get to better know the world around them, they then to truly develop their own ideas and opinions of the world and how it works. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the protagonist Guy Montag undergoes such a transformation, in that he starts as a mindless citizen of the government, to becoming a rebellious individual who defies and opposes the government. An astoundingly significant part of his transformations are the interactions that he has with the new characters that he meets throughout the novel. Montag, in the beginning of the book, is a destroyer of books, taking pride in his role in society. However, as a result of his changes, he becomes a protector of the very knowledge…

    • 1062 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays