Rick Warren, a Christian pastor and author once said that, “We are products of our pasts, but we don't have to be prisoners of it.” In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the protagonist, Guy Montag lives in a futuristic dystopian society. As a fireman, his job is to burn illegal books and the homes of the owners with them, but later he questions the effect of censorship and everything that he ever knew. Guy Montag changes from an unemotional fireman to a fully emotional and engaged rebel as a result of conflict with his dystopian society. First and foremost, Clarisse McClellan is a seventeen-year-old thought-provoking influential character to Montag and challenges his unemotional mindset. After doing his job of burning books, Montag
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When Montag took out his emotions on the women at his house, they decided to report him to the other firemen. Beatty, the fire captain, is eager and overly excited to hear this news which sends Montag in a fury. In the last section of the book, the narrator shows Montag’s take on Beatty’s discouragement phrases, “Montag stood looking in now at this queer house...the incredible books that looked so silly and really not worth bothering with, for these were nothing black type and yellowed paper and raveled binding” (109). Although Montag knows the truth about this society and how burning books is wrong, Montag's finds it hard to change the minds of his ignorant peers. This quote shows the impact of Beatty on Montag’s emotions as it describes how his mindset is changed back to seeing books as worthless and useless. Later in the book, after Montag is required to burn his own house down, he takes out his emotions on Beatty when, “….and then he was a shrieking blaze, a jumping, sprawling gibbering manikin...all writhing on the lawn as Montag shot one continuous pulse of liquid fire on him” (113). Montag’s bravery and emotions gave him the urge to defy the government and its laws. When you actually take the time to speak out and support your opinion, you’re not just releasing your emotions, but you are giving others who support your cause a chance to rise as well. When Montag escapes the city and the police, he finds a group of other people who went through a similar experience as Montag. During this time of bonding with other emotional people, Montag takes a moment to reflect on his life in the society when the narrator says, “Millie, he thought. All this country here. Listen to it! Nothing and nothing. So much silence...Millie, Millie and he was sad” (135). Referring to his wife, Mildred, Montag realizes the emotional impact
When Montag took out his emotions on the women at his house, they decided to report him to the other firemen. Beatty, the fire captain, is eager and overly excited to hear this news which sends Montag in a fury. In the last section of the book, the narrator shows Montag’s take on Beatty’s discouragement phrases, “Montag stood looking in now at this queer house...the incredible books that looked so silly and really not worth bothering with, for these were nothing black type and yellowed paper and raveled binding” (109). Although Montag knows the truth about this society and how burning books is wrong, Montag's finds it hard to change the minds of his ignorant peers. This quote shows the impact of Beatty on Montag’s emotions as it describes how his mindset is changed back to seeing books as worthless and useless. Later in the book, after Montag is required to burn his own house down, he takes out his emotions on Beatty when, “….and then he was a shrieking blaze, a jumping, sprawling gibbering manikin...all writhing on the lawn as Montag shot one continuous pulse of liquid fire on him” (113). Montag’s bravery and emotions gave him the urge to defy the government and its laws. When you actually take the time to speak out and support your opinion, you’re not just releasing your emotions, but you are giving others who support your cause a chance to rise as well. When Montag escapes the city and the police, he finds a group of other people who went through a similar experience as Montag. During this time of bonding with other emotional people, Montag takes a moment to reflect on his life in the society when the narrator says, “Millie, he thought. All this country here. Listen to it! Nothing and nothing. So much silence...Millie, Millie and he was sad” (135). Referring to his wife, Mildred, Montag realizes the emotional impact