Fahrenheit 451 Character Analysis

Four hundred and fifty-one degrees is the temperature at which paper catches fire and burns. Written by Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 must have to do with burning books, given the title. Guy Montag, the main character, is one of the book burners, also known as a “fireman” in their society. Their job is to start fires instead of stopping them. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury uses Montag’s transformation from a fireman to a revolutionary to illustrate how knowledge and self-reflection can change individuals. The change in Montag’s character is first shown when he meets Clarisse McClellan after coming home from work one day. She causes Montag to question himself and think about the life that he is living after seeing the way she acts and the questions she asks. When they meet, she tells him many things about herself, how she isn’t like others her age, and other random information that comes to her head. At the end of their conversation, Clarisse asks Montag a question that he can’t stop thinking about, “‘Are you happy?’... He felt his smile slide away, melt, fold …show more content…
The group of men, as he finds out after talking to them, are like him. People wanting to change things about society but not being able to at the moment. Instead, they are awaiting the time when they will be able to help with what each man has memorized in his head. On the last pages of Fahrenheit 451, Montag’s character develops into a leader when, “Montag began walking and after a moment found that the others had fallen in behind him… He was surprised, and moved aside to let Granger pass, but Granger looked at him and nodded him on. Montag went ahead” (Bradbury 157). The shift in Montag’s character shows how he went from someone who wanted things to change but didn’t know how to do it, to someone who now has a plan with people by his side to help him along the