“It was a pleasure to burn,”(Bradbury 3). This is the first line said by Guy Montag in
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. He would not, however agree with this thought by the end of the story. Montag 's thoughts and significant events are used in order to show how his fellings towards fire change throughout the course of the novel.
At the start of the novel, Guy Montag was just an average fireman who enjoyed burning books, which were illegal in the society he lived in. He was very content with his life until one day his world turned upside down. He met a 17 year old girl named Clarisse who wasn’t like others in the society and she asked him a question he had never thought about before, “are you happy?” at first Montag believed that it was a …show more content…
“He knew that when he returned to the firehouse he might wink at himself, a minstrel man, burnt corked, in the mirror. Later going to sleep, he would feel the fiery smile still gripped by his face muscles, in the dark. It never went away, that smile, it never went away, as long as he remembered”(Badbury 4). This quote describes Montag after he had just finished burning a house and everything in it. He not yet met Chlarisse, the one person that had ever made him question the society itself and if he was actually happy. At this point he truly believes that burning books makes him who he is and that his life is so great because of fire; like other firemen, Montag thinks his job makes him a hero, not to mention the thrill that setting the fire gives. In this society firemen are worshiped for their bravery and their help in destroying books, which are considered evil. Nobody in the society including Montag at this point, actually thinks about what they’re doing because they’ve simply decided to accept what they have been told since they were children and have always been too distracted to stop and really think about their actions and the damage they …show more content…
He comes across a fire with men standing around it and realizes that his entire outlook on it has changed, “The fire was not burning, it was warming,” (Bradbury 145). The men tell him that he doesn’t have to hide anymore, he is welcome with them and they have the same thoughts on the society as he does. As he looks at the fire he realizes that it does not make him feel as it once did, it makes him feel secure. He notices that it even smells differently, fire no longer makes him think of happiness, power, erasing the past, or anything else he left or lost in the old society. Just peace, safety, and
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. He would not, however agree with this thought by the end of the story. Montag 's thoughts and significant events are used in order to show how his fellings towards fire change throughout the course of the novel.
At the start of the novel, Guy Montag was just an average fireman who enjoyed burning books, which were illegal in the society he lived in. He was very content with his life until one day his world turned upside down. He met a 17 year old girl named Clarisse who wasn’t like others in the society and she asked him a question he had never thought about before, “are you happy?” at first Montag believed that it was a …show more content…
“He knew that when he returned to the firehouse he might wink at himself, a minstrel man, burnt corked, in the mirror. Later going to sleep, he would feel the fiery smile still gripped by his face muscles, in the dark. It never went away, that smile, it never went away, as long as he remembered”(Badbury 4). This quote describes Montag after he had just finished burning a house and everything in it. He not yet met Chlarisse, the one person that had ever made him question the society itself and if he was actually happy. At this point he truly believes that burning books makes him who he is and that his life is so great because of fire; like other firemen, Montag thinks his job makes him a hero, not to mention the thrill that setting the fire gives. In this society firemen are worshiped for their bravery and their help in destroying books, which are considered evil. Nobody in the society including Montag at this point, actually thinks about what they’re doing because they’ve simply decided to accept what they have been told since they were children and have always been too distracted to stop and really think about their actions and the damage they …show more content…
He comes across a fire with men standing around it and realizes that his entire outlook on it has changed, “The fire was not burning, it was warming,” (Bradbury 145). The men tell him that he doesn’t have to hide anymore, he is welcome with them and they have the same thoughts on the society as he does. As he looks at the fire he realizes that it does not make him feel as it once did, it makes him feel secure. He notices that it even smells differently, fire no longer makes him think of happiness, power, erasing the past, or anything else he left or lost in the old society. Just peace, safety, and