Role Of Montag In Fahrenheit 451

Improved Essays
The Transformation of Montag Throughout Fahrenheit 451
Juan Ramón Jiménez once said “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.” Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a dystopian society. Books, creativity, and intellectuality are banned, to keep everyone “happy”. Everyone is equal, and if you have books, which make you more powerful and knowledgeable amongst others, they are burned by firemen. Firemen’s roles in this society are switched; they start fires instead of stopping them. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, there are conflicts that create a dynamic character, and the dynamic character reflects on the story’s themes. At the beginning of the novel, Montag is happy with his job being a fireman and just regarding
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“The woman on the porch reached out with contempt to them all, and struck the kitchen match against the railing.” (37) Burning the lady causes Montag to face heavy guilt, which he can hardly begin getting over. He is curious about why the old lady sacrificed herself for books, so he steals a book to quench his curiosity. When he gets home, Montag question his relationship with Mildred, and he asks her if she knew where they met. She is unable to answer, so Montag asks her if she knows where Clarisse is. She tells him Clarisse died and got run over by a car. Beatty eventually comes to their house because Montag does not show up for work because he’ is “sick”. Beatty lectures Montag about firemen’s roles, and during this time, Mildred finds out Montag has a book. After Beatty leaves, Mildred and Montag speak, and Montag reveals to Mildred that he has a collection of books, and he shows her. Mildred freaks out and attempts to throw the books in the incinerator; Montag had to calm her down. Taking risks is the theme reflected in this. Montag stole a book and has been hoarding books for a while, which is a risk, because having books is not …show more content…
Faber, a man who used to be a literary professor and now was Montag’s mentor, and Montag had made a plan to plant books in firemen’s houses and pull the alarm on them, but the first house Beatty and Montag got to was Montag’s. Beatty satisfyingly says “ ‘Something the matter, Montag?’ ” which prompts a “ ‘Why,’ said Montag slowly, ‘we’ve stopped in front of my house.’ ” (106) Beatty is happy with himself and content, while Montag is in utter shock. When he asks who turned him in, Beatty replies with Mildred and her friends, because one day, when Mildred’s friends were over, Montag read part of a poem to them, causing one of them to have an emotional outburst. The rest got mad at Montag for reading a poem, therefore they pulled the alarm on Montag. After a long conversation of Beatty criticizing him, Montag throws liquid fire at Beatty, killing him. The lesson learned in this is that you should not be afraid to fight for what you believe is right, even if you have to go to the

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