The Importance Of Rebellion In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

Improved Essays
“We stand against the small time of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought” (bradbury 59). Throughout the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, it was evident that people’s minds were corrupted to think that happiness was the only thing that mattered. Books were not allowed because they contained forbidden ideas and “no happy endings.” This led to the rebellion of Montag. Along with this, if books were found in a house, it would be immediately burned to the ground. This posed physical danger for many people, which also lead to Montag’s uprising. It is acceptable to rebel under any circumstances that will negatively impact life. These circumstances include physical danger and mental unawareness.
One way it
…show more content…
A quote that supports this is “Long ago firemen put out fires instead of starting them” (Bradbury 6). In prior years firemen used to put out fires commenced by others. This was beneficial to the people because they were being helped. Now in this dystopia, firemen start fires in houses that contain books, disregarding the people whose home it was. This caused physical danger and put a person and their family without a home. In addition to this was how people with a different way of thinking were treated. An example of this was “I wonder if they were the ones who killed Clarisse”(122). Though it is not known, Montag believed that Clarisse (a main character) was killed because of her distinct way of thinking. This shows that when life is endangered, it is acceptable to rebel. Similarly, when firemen started fires, people’s lives were at risk. A support that unveiled this was “We burned a thousand books. We burned a …show more content…
One example of this was Montag grasping the idea that he was doing things pointlessly and finally deciding that he might do something he actually enjoys. Page 62 reads “I feel like I’ve been saving up a lot of things, and don’t know what. I might just start reading” (62). Montag had thought before that the point of life was working hard for new things and being happy while doing it. At this point in the book, he started to rebel and start pursuing what he believes in. Furthermore, another thing that supports this idea is people being brainwashed into the concept that books are were useless. A quote explained on page 95 that connects with this is “Ladies, once a year, every fireman’s allowed to bring one book home, from the old days, to show his family how silly it all was” (95). In a world where books are forbidden, when firemen brought them home; it was to continue the idea that they were unacceptable. This also prevented people from having different ideas about how their world should work. In turn, this made it appropriate for Montag and others to rebel. Another support is when Montag recognized that actual people made books.A quote that identifies this is “And I thought about the books. And for the first time, I realized that a man was behind each one of the books” (49). For a great deal of time, people just knew that books were inadequate and should not be read. Eventually it was discovered that the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    This illustrates that Montag has changed his point of view on books and burning them. Towards the beginning of the book Montag believes that books need to be burned to protect people. Soon he realizes that books are what makes life. The reason why he thinks that books are so great to burn is because that’s what the government has taught humanity to know and…

    • 1106 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rebellion is shown in Montag when he begins to see that what he does as his job is not right. For all these years, he has been controlled by the rest of society to be taught that books are bad and must be destroyed. As he keeps noticing all the wrong in their society, he rebels against the common idea that they have all been taught. Books are destructive. First of all, Montag has a stash of hidden books in his ventilator, illegally, and then he decides to go ahead and read them, disobeying the rules.…

    • 1067 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ray Bradbury characterizes his novel Fahrenheit 451 with excessive violence. Bloodshed, punishment, and cruelty are intrinsic components of Bradbury’s dystopian world, yet those who live there accept it as part of daily life. Because society normalizes psychologically damaging hobbies and behavior, citizens thoughtlessly practice reckless and self-destructive actions from dangerous driving to suicide. These violent tendencies are a symptom of the widespread underlying discontent that citizens deny. Bradbury suggests that without books and the values they contain, society loses many of its morals and qualities, most notably its ability to function happily and peacefully.…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fahrenheit 451 is one of the many books that is injected with multiple instances of social commentary in which Ray Bradbury critiques the citizens and their home society. Most of which refer to the censorship the government imposes on the society and their people. The citizens have been brainwashed to destroy all of their community’s past. This is evident when we see that firemen are completely different than what we know today and what they were in the past. Firemen are now trained to light things on fire instead of extinguishing.…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The portrayal of these conflicts aid in propelling Montag to his sudden awareness of the ignorance forcefully perpetuated by his government. With his newfound knowledge, Montag withdraws himself from the only life he has ever known. His squadron of firefighters all live with the same goal; to burn books in order to maintain peace. Montag's sudden defection from this practice instantaneously alienates him and forces him to work against the entirety of the government. The struggle between Montag and society comes to a crescendo when Beatty burns down Montag's house and Montag kills him.…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This causes Montag to question himself and to become skeptical of his own happiness. Moreover, he begins questioning what he believes and what his ideas are after seeing a woman die for protecting her books that Montag had to burn. In doing so Montag is breaking the law set by the state and continues to do so when he starts to read from a bible that he has stolen. As a result, his…

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The people living in this society already think that books are dangerous and are forbidden. At the beginning of the novel, Montag meets Clarrisse, he notices a difference between her and others, and she wonders about him too. Clarrisse proclaims to Montag “You`re not like the others. I`ve seen a few; I know. When I talk to you, you look at me.…

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Ray Bradbury’s novel “Fahrenheit 451” is about a character named Montag and his desire about reading books. Books are illegal and whoever was caught reading books they would get a death penalty and all of their belongings would get burned. While a firefighter opens his eyes and reads a book and he rebels against the aw and runs way as a refugee and him and other people decide to go back to the city as well. IN the beginning Montag, our character is a ruthless person where his purpose is to burn books and he loved fire. He was a very destructive person.…

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    "We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren't happy. Something's missing. I looked around. The only thing I positively knew was gone was the books I'd burned in ten or twelve years. So I thought books might help" (Bradbury page 82).…

    • 1688 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To begin, Equality 7-2521 of Anthem, written by Ray Bradbury and Guy Montag of Fahrenheit 451, also written by Ray Bradbury are the prime examples of the outcast of dystopian societies. In both scenarios, the main character has a quest for knowledge unlike everyone else presented in the society. Guy Montag and Equality 7-2521 both try to break the mold casted by the society that is present. This leads to consequences of negative actions towards both of the main characters.…

    • 1001 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In the novel, the burning of the old women and all of those before her represent the oppression of knowledge and freedom of speech. The old woman would rather suicide with all of her books, rather than submit to the society’s norm of oppressing knowledge. The fact that she would end her own life for books rather than submit to the government demonstrates the power of books and what they can do for society. Captain Beatty says “these fanatics always try suicide; the pattern’s familiar.” (Bradbury, 36) indicating that many people before her chose the same path that she did.…

    • 1182 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Montag’s World Vs. American Society Today There are many dystopian aspects in our world that have a bigger impact on American society than we think. In the novel, Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, the author addresses just a few of the many problems in society. Some of the issues in the book are very different as well as similar to American society today.…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Montag’s character has a change of heart, as he went from a man who burned books for a living to wanted to preserve and protect them after learning what books actually have to offer: knowledge, opinions, creativity, and new ideas. The banning of books is most certainly unconstitutional as it suppresses the people’s rights to free speech and free press. The government of Fahrenheit 451’s futuristic United States ban on literature is a clear attack on liberty and the citizens have been socialized to stay numb and ignorant of this oppression to the governments…

    • 1333 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    By taking the literature from the sites he is set to burn and reading them at home. Montag begins to defy his government. He then takes his resistance a couple steps further by joining a former subject of interest to sabotage his colleagues. Finally, he manages to free himself completely by standing up to and killing his boss, Beatty, and fleeing the city to join an official group of mutineers in the wilderness, prepared to teach others his ways. As a whole, humanity dislikes being cooped up; a lack of free will leaves people antsy and desperate to find a way to escape their figurative or literal confines, even if, when free, they still choose to not do much at all.…

    • 1966 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the classic science fiction novel, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the author illustrates the impact there is on society when a privilege such as books and freedom of thought is taken, while a resource such as technology is abused. The novel focuses on the main character Montag, who in his society, represents the small population who rebel against the norms; the results of a rebellion such as Montag 's is revealed as his character develops. The manipulation of people in Fahrenheit 451 is achieved through media and standards set by their government. Through Montag 's intellectual growth and search of identity, Bradbury emphasizes how the replacement of knowledge with technology prevents people from growing outside of the norms of society.…

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays