Fire, blistering and burning but also so embracing and warming. Is it good or bad? It’s such a complex thing to understand, and it is an even more complex symbol in the novel Fahrenheit 451. It’s the future, and a book-burning fireman in a dystopian society starts to question weather what he’s doing is right or wrong. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury uses fire as a destructive force, and gradually changes it into a bright, constructive power. Montag has used fire in several ways. He’s used it to destroy but later uses it to recreate. Fire has a constructive and destructive half. The way Montag changes and how he uses fire symbolizes that he is no longer ignorant, but changed into a self- aware, knowledge seeking individual.
Fire was used for the …show more content…
“That small motion, the white and red color, a strange fire because it meant a different thing to him. It was not burning, it was warming. He was many hands held to its warmth, hands without arms, hidden in the darkness. Above the hands, motionless faces that were only moved and tossed and flickered with firelight. He hadn’t known fire could look this way. He had never thought in his life that it could give as well as take.” (Bradbury 139). This is the first time Montag realizes that there are two parts to fire. Destruction and creation. It’s not just meant for evil, it’s value resides in the purpose to which it is put. After Montag’s brutal escape from a dystopian society, he encountered people just like him and made his view on fire change into a positive one, specifically one of warmth and light. Montag had never known such a fire before. His job was to destroy with fire, but this fire wasn’t destroying, it was aiding the people that were in need of warmth. This fire spun Montag around and changed his thoughts and values, he no longer sees fire as a destructive force, instead a constructive thing that gives warmth and comfort. He is now aware that fire can be good and bad, depending on how you use it. He has officially broken away from his destructive ways and is now a man who looks forward to a time where people and books can
Fire was used for the …show more content…
“That small motion, the white and red color, a strange fire because it meant a different thing to him. It was not burning, it was warming. He was many hands held to its warmth, hands without arms, hidden in the darkness. Above the hands, motionless faces that were only moved and tossed and flickered with firelight. He hadn’t known fire could look this way. He had never thought in his life that it could give as well as take.” (Bradbury 139). This is the first time Montag realizes that there are two parts to fire. Destruction and creation. It’s not just meant for evil, it’s value resides in the purpose to which it is put. After Montag’s brutal escape from a dystopian society, he encountered people just like him and made his view on fire change into a positive one, specifically one of warmth and light. Montag had never known such a fire before. His job was to destroy with fire, but this fire wasn’t destroying, it was aiding the people that were in need of warmth. This fire spun Montag around and changed his thoughts and values, he no longer sees fire as a destructive force, instead a constructive thing that gives warmth and comfort. He is now aware that fire can be good and bad, depending on how you use it. He has officially broken away from his destructive ways and is now a man who looks forward to a time where people and books can