Many people through history have likened a story to a game board. The board is the setting, the player is the author, and the pawns are the characters. In all these plots, regardless of the geography or century, there will always be certain forces acting from within those pawns, forces the author will impel on the characters. These forces reach the character either through the actions of nature or another pawn and their purpose is to drive the story forward, complete the writing’s purpose. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 several of these forces drive Montag from a pyromaniac fireman to a man burning in the knowledge of literature. This change can be attributed to two characters, the girl next door named Clarisse McClellan, and Montag’s mentor,
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The one who reveals Montag’s true nature to us is Clarisse. Clarisse is the character that made him realize the flaws and ignorance of society. She ended their initial confrontation with a simple question: “Are you happy?” (Bradbury 10). Once this question was asked it turned Montag’s world upside down. He was haunted by her skepticism towards his happiness, her face and whispered inquiry seemingly followed him like a ghost for the rest of the night. Bradbury likens Montag’s happiness to a mask, one Clarisse stole and “[ran] across the lawn with” (12). It was after this encounter and all others they shared that his eyes began to open up to a new world: a mirror into his life which enabled him to see all the injustices in society. She made him see the horror of how “people hurt each other nowadays,” and the beauty in the “dew on the grass in the morning” (30, 9). She even made him question his occupation as a fireman, asking if it was “true that long ago firemen put out fires instead of going to start them?” (8). All this together made Montag explore the possible other side to books and everything his society labeled as a …show more content…
This help came in the form of a former English professor named Faber. He became Montag’s mentor of sorts, lending him his knowledge to help form a plan to stop the monstrosities occurring in the world. He applied his connections to “former writers, historians, linguists” to help develop Montag’s idea of sabotaging the fireman by planting books in their homes (87). Then, when Montag leaves his home, Faber gives him an earpiece that allows them to communicate so that when Montag goes to the firehouse, [he’ll] be with [Montag]” (91). This shows that Faber did have an impact on Montag’s metamorphosis; however, Clarisse is the reason Montag sought Faber out in the first place. Her martyrdom is what stimulated her rebellious spirit and made him seek out a teacher. When he was reading books he realized something was in them reminiscent of “the girl next door,” something he has “ tried so hard to figure” (72). This something was unique thought, which inspired him to fight for books as he then found value in them. This is what led Montag to find Faber, making Clarisse the more prominent force driving his
The one who reveals Montag’s true nature to us is Clarisse. Clarisse is the character that made him realize the flaws and ignorance of society. She ended their initial confrontation with a simple question: “Are you happy?” (Bradbury 10). Once this question was asked it turned Montag’s world upside down. He was haunted by her skepticism towards his happiness, her face and whispered inquiry seemingly followed him like a ghost for the rest of the night. Bradbury likens Montag’s happiness to a mask, one Clarisse stole and “[ran] across the lawn with” (12). It was after this encounter and all others they shared that his eyes began to open up to a new world: a mirror into his life which enabled him to see all the injustices in society. She made him see the horror of how “people hurt each other nowadays,” and the beauty in the “dew on the grass in the morning” (30, 9). She even made him question his occupation as a fireman, asking if it was “true that long ago firemen put out fires instead of going to start them?” (8). All this together made Montag explore the possible other side to books and everything his society labeled as a …show more content…
This help came in the form of a former English professor named Faber. He became Montag’s mentor of sorts, lending him his knowledge to help form a plan to stop the monstrosities occurring in the world. He applied his connections to “former writers, historians, linguists” to help develop Montag’s idea of sabotaging the fireman by planting books in their homes (87). Then, when Montag leaves his home, Faber gives him an earpiece that allows them to communicate so that when Montag goes to the firehouse, [he’ll] be with [Montag]” (91). This shows that Faber did have an impact on Montag’s metamorphosis; however, Clarisse is the reason Montag sought Faber out in the first place. Her martyrdom is what stimulated her rebellious spirit and made him seek out a teacher. When he was reading books he realized something was in them reminiscent of “the girl next door,” something he has “ tried so hard to figure” (72). This something was unique thought, which inspired him to fight for books as he then found value in them. This is what led Montag to find Faber, making Clarisse the more prominent force driving his