Mikenna Rase
November 8, 2007
One relationship can change the world. Clarisse and Montag go beyond the public
standard by developing a relationship of curiosity and by challenging the way society
lives. Faber and Montag share their knowledge of books and intellectual thoughts. Their
relationship challenges the system in such a way that is displeasing to the government but
is beneficial to society, because it contributes new knowledge and progressive thinking.
Montag’s relationship with both Clarisse and Faber creates a spiral effect on his other
relationships by challenging others to believe in the use of books and questioning and
independently thinking. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Montag’s relationships affect
the society both positively and negatively.
Clarisse and Montag’s relationship delves deeper into the exterior than the typical
relationship. The way that Montag and Clarisse first meet is perceived as no coincidence,
but for a reason. Clarisse was a perfect stranger but began to introduce and tell Montag
about herself and then began to turn the spotlight on him and question his life. She left
him in shock because before her, he had never had a relationship such as theirs where
there was actually exchanging of thoughts and ideas. This sparks life into Montag and as
a result of their relationship, Montag begins to think twice about his life and whether or
not he feels that it is the right way to live. Soon he begins to unravel the way society is
also living and realizes that the things the government is trying to keep form them is
really their freedom. Books become a large part of this and make Montag begin to think
about his occupation as a fireman and whether or not he is actually helping society by
burning books. This in turn has an effect on the other firemen and makes them begin to
wonder as well. In retrospect, Clarisse’s impact on Montag affects not only him but the
way others around him started to think.
Faber and Montag’s relationship begins to build on the relationship Montag
had with Clarisse. Not only is there a different mind set from the normal but there is an
actual sense of acting on the thoughts Clarisse spurred in Montag. In the beginning of
Faber’s relationship with Montag, Faber is fearful of Montag’s thinking and
expressiveness as well as the power that Montag holds. He then becomes aware that
Montag really has a thirst from books and a yearning to keep them alive by bringing them
back into society. After Faber realizes that Montag has no intention of turning in Faber
for such knowledge, Faber and Montag hatch a plan to revive books and reading. Both of
the men scheme to re-copy books and distribute then into other firemen’s homes so that
the rest of society will start to believe that books are socially acceptable and that
possessing them and reading them is not a bad thing either. As this plans goes on,
different reactions to the books occur. Some people are shocked and absolutely horrified
at the thought of them because they are so brainwashed by the government but others
start to really think about books and their own curiosity grows. Faber and Montag use
their prior knowledge and intellect of books to bring books back and make them socially
acceptable.
Through the communication and collaboration between Montag, Clarisse, and
Faber, they influenced their society to think about the beliefs they had been given and
whether or not they personally viewed them as right or wrong. Bradbury was clearly
foreshadowing the years to come in our world when he wrote this book. People have
turned a single relationship into a movement that impacts the world all because they
believed in something and chose to do something about it. In our world today, candidates
for offices are a lot like this because they have ideas about how things should be run and
they share those ideas with the world. Just like in Fahrenheit 451, Montag along with
Faber and Clarisse had a passion to spread the ideas of thinking outside the box and
challenging what information had been given to them. These same changes are going on
today everywhere. Relationships in every day and age show people trying to influence the
world to contribute what they value as useful.
In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Montag’s relationships affect the society both
positively and negatively. One relationship can change the world forever and that’s what
Montag, Clarisse, and Faber did. They strived to achieve their goal of re-introducing not
just books, but what they represented: A way to show people that it’s okay to challenge
and question what they have been told to think.