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Katie Poppe
Mrs. Elizabeth DiGennaro
English IV
10 May 2012
Fahrenheit 451: A Burning Truth
"It's fine work. Monday burn Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner, burn 'em to
ashes, then burn the ashes. That's our official slogan" (Bradbury 6). The slogan that is, of the
futuristic fire department in the story, Fahrenheit 451. Guy Montag, the main character, which
this story takes place around, works as a firefighter. However, firefighting is nothing like the
profession it is today. This story takes place in the future where books are banned, and a fire
fighter's job is not to put out fires, but to start them. In this American city, knowing more than
someone else is not the norm. Sameness among society is promoted, and that is what the firemen
are there for. Knowledge only leads to hostility. People do not like to feel inferior to others that
have read more than them. (SparkNotes Editors, “SparkNote on Fahrenheit 451”). Literature is
seen as confusing and contradicting. Its makes people think and answer questions they never
wanted to ask. (Shmoop Editorial Team, "Captain Beatty in Fahrenheit 451").
Since books are outlawed, knowledge is not a main concern for most citizens. Instead,
they turn to the television for entertainment, much like that of Montag's wife Mildred, who
focuses on her parlor "family" more than anything else. Along with the time consuming
television, the author, Ray Bradbury, puts a major emphasis on other types of media in the world.
The radio plays extra loud with small seashell radios that broadcast into people's ears all day, and
billboards are said to be football field lengths long. In this futuristic society that Bradbury
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depicts, cars can travel over a hundred miles per hour. With the exaggerated presence of these
advertisements and faster vehicles, it provides too much stimulation for one to concentrate.
To begin with, Montag is a confident man having much integrity in his job. However, one
night on his way home he meets his neighbor, a young girl, named Clarisse McClellan. Montag
finds her very intriguing within the short amount of time that they have to spend together.
Clarisse tells Montag of a time "back then" when there used to be front porches, when books
were permitted, and when fire fighters put out fires instead of starting them. She recalls stories
her uncle has told her of a long time ago when museums had pictures that showed people things.
This young girl makes Montag think about his life and everything within it. Clarisse encourages
Montag on his path to self-awareness. This is the beginning of the turning point of Guy Montag.
With the death of Clarisse, Montag really starts to struggle in his belief of what is trueknowledge, or with what society believes to be true, ignorance. Montag contacts his old
professor Faber, who helps Montag to decide to go against the law. The story Ray Bradbury tells
in Fahrenheit 451 shows how submission into conformity discourages the type of independence
that is valued in our world. Conformity is one of the major themes in Fahrenheit 451, and its
impact is illustrated through words and behaviors. Bradbury illustrates Montag's metamorphosis
with him changing from a mindless book burner to his maturation and acceptance into a society
of booklovers. So is ignorance truly bliss? Or does knowledge and learning really create
happiness?
Guy Montag is undoubtedly the protagonist in this novel. His character is portrayed as
the anything but perfect hero by performing heroic actions very clumsily and with many errors.
Similar to that of the epic Beowulf, Montag is the hero. What differs between the two heroes is
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that Montag is not as assertive in himself as Beowulf showed to be. Montag listens to whatever
he is told and that is not always a good thing. Various people and events encourage him on his
pursuit for truth. (TheBestNotes Staff, “MonkeyNotes Study Guide Fahrenheit 451”) The
surrounding characters all have a different impact on Montag; some more than others. His mind
shows a thirst for knowledge since he hides books all along. Clarisse challenges him to look at
his own life, as he starts to begin to think independently. Clarisse McClellan, who only spends a
short amount of time with Montag, makes the biggest impact. She is fresh and exciting and her
independence and noninterest in the technological modern society amazes Montag.
(TheBestNotes Staff, “MonkeyNotes Study Guide Fahrenheit 451”) She encourages Montag to
think deeper about things, instead of just living life and not questioning things. Montag
acknowledges that his life has no meaning. Clarisse asks Montag questions that set up the entire
purpose of the novel, and influences why he acts the way he does. Clarisse asks, “Do you ever
read the books you burned?” (Bradbury 5). which clearly makes Montag question himself and
his own employment. By peppering Montag with many questions, Clarisse helps Montag to
realize that society is not as spectacular as he believed it to be. The beginning of Montag’s
uncertainty starts when Clarisse asks him, “Are you happy?” (Bradbury 7). Montag’s following
actions and decisions all are based on the internal battle he is now facing. He questions himself if
he is really happy or not.
Nevertheless, Clarisse McClellan is not the only one to have a major impact on the way
Montag acts but Captain Beatty does as well. Beatty is the Captain at Montag’s firehouse and is a
very wise and experienced man and can be seen as a threat to Montag throughout the story. He
plays the role of the antagonist and Beatty seems to be a paradox in the novel. (Shmoop Editorial
Team, "Captain Beatty in Fahrenheit 451"). He burns the books along with everyone else but
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quotes them even more, exhibiting that he has read quite a few books in his lifetime. Beatty has
seen the struggles that men go through when they are presented with the temptation to learn more
about books. Beatty shows to be a tortured victim himself when he does not try to escape death
from Montag. His easy acceptance of death shows Montag that he was ready to end his torment.
(TheBestNotes Staff, “MonkeyNotes Study Guide Fahrenheit 451”) Captain Beatty was a big
influence on Montag’s search for truth and knowledge. All in all, is ignorance really bliss? Book
burning and censorship, which are two main elements in this novel, connect through out world
history. The Nazi regime in Germany held public book burnings by immoral authors. The “Red
Scare” that occurred in the 1950’s in the United States banned certain directors, writers, and
actors who were seen as Communist.
Conformity is a main theme in the ultra-modern society in which Montag lives. Society
celebrates and embraces ignorance. Montag begins the novel as a conformist, trapped in the
system, going along with whatever society says. His resolute search for knowledge destroys the
unquestioning ignorance he used to share with nearly everyone else, and he battles the basic
beliefs of his society. (SparkNotes Editors, “SparkNote on Fahrenheit 451”). Montag fights
against ignorance through out the entire novel. The government in this civilization is allowed to
do as it pleases. Clarisse tells Montag stories of her uncle and how he went a normal speed limit
in today’s society and had to go to jail for it. Since books are outlawed, the government allows
fire fighters to destroy people’s home with the books, even if that means the owner of the house
goes down in ashes with the remains of their house. Montag is sent to burn the house of an
elderly woman with books, but gets very shaken up when the woman refuses to leave her house.
She burned along with them. The woman's dedication to her books makes Montag realize that
perhaps the happiness he lacks can be found in books. (GradeSaver, “Fahrenheit 451 Study
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Guide & Literature Essays”). Faber, on the other hand also explains, “If the government is
inefficient, top heavy, and tax-mad, better it be all those than that people worry over it.”
(Bradbury 120).
Yet symbolism can be found in the second section of the book called, “The Sieve and the
Sand." It refers to a flashback Montag had when he was a little kid trying to fill a sieve and did
not understand why it would not be filled. The society Montag lives in can be compared to a
sieve. It is unable to retain or truly appreciate knowledge; as fast as they put knowledge into the
sieve, they allow it to uselessly flow out. The sand can represent the truth Montag seeks, and the
sieve is like the human mind seeking a truth. (SparkNotes Editors, “SparkNote on Fahrenheit
451”).
Equality among society is being promoted, thus increasing the suicide rate. Along with
suicide it promotes poor decisions and empty lives. This leads to an emotionless society. Clarisse
mentions how society does not notice things like the green grass or the “pink blur” of a rose
garden. Clarisse makes comments about society as well, stating, "I guess I'm everything they say
I am alright. I haven't any friends. That's supposed to prove I'm abnormal. But everyone I know
is shouting or dancing around like wild or beating up one another. Do you notice how people
hurt each other nowadays?" (Bradbury 27). Clarisse is only seventeen but knows more about
society than most of the adults do. She brings it to Montag’s attention how no one really cares
about anyone else. People just go through the motions of every day life, with no heart or purpose.
Another example of how emotionless the society Montag lives in is when Mildred has her
friends over to watch the television and Montag loses it. He calls the two ladies, Mrs. Phelps and
Mrs. Bowles, out for not really caring about anything at all. In the duration of Montag’s outburst
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at the ladies, he yells, “Did you hear them, did you hear these monsters talking about monsters?
Oh God, the way they jabber about people and their own children and themselves and the way
they talk about their husbands and the way they talk about war, dammit, I stand here and I can't
believe it!" (Bradbury 94). Another discharge from Montag included criticizing Mrs. Bowles’
life and yelling, “Go home and think of your first husband divorced and your second husband
killed in a jet and your third husband blowing his brains out, go home and think of the dozen
abortions you've had, go home and think of your damn Caesarean sections, too, and your
children who hate your guts! Go home and think about how it all happened and what you ever
did to stop it?" (Bradbury 96). Within these eruptions from Montag he reveals valid points as to
how emotionless the society really is.
Montag’s character dramatically changes as the novel progresses. The set of characters in
Bradbury’s novel closely follows established genre traditions. Like the protagonists of many
other dystopian novels, Montag starts out as a loyal member of the future society and only
gradually shows signs of disaffection. His progress toward rebellion is aided by a female
companion (Clarisse) and an older mentor figure (Faber, and to some extent Beatty) who provide
alternate sets of values. The most crucial element in the dystopian hero’s process of initiation,
however, is the discovery of books that help explain the existence of the dystopian society and
offer the means to overcome it. (Eller, "Overview of Fahrenheit 451”). In the opening lines of
the book Montag is seen as a confident man who really enjoyed his job of book burning and was
very content with his life. The book shoes us Montag’s reaction to his work when watching a
house go up in flames with kerosene on his hands. “Montag grinned the fierce grin of all men
singed and driven back by flame." (Bradbury 2). Bradbury also reveals Montag’s confidence and
how strong willed he is in the first couple of pages too. “He knew when he returned to the
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firehouse, he might wink at himself, a minstrel man, burnt-corked, in the mirror. Later, going to
sleep, he would feel the fiery smile still gripped by his facial muscles, in the dark. It never went
away, that smile, it never ever went away, as long as he remembered.” (Bradbury 2). Just by
stating the lines “As long as he remembered” shows us that Montag has always been the happy,
self-assured firemen he was in the first pages. By the middle and ultimately the end of the book,
Montag is in search for the truth of knowledge. Faber, an old college professor helps with
Montag’s evolution. Montag had a visible goal and a path to follow that would lead him to a
better life. Montag ends his transformation by encountering other unique individuals who wanted
to start a new world. Montag rebelled from society and strove to achieve a status that would set
him apart from the uneducated. Montag learned to love Clarisse, question the world, and stand
up for what he believed in, knowing full well that his life itself was on the line.
In conclusion, Montag battled for his beliefs with ambition and strength, always looking
to the future and identifying what could be saved. For Montag, the future promised a new life,
and he pushed hard to guarantee that he would finally reach it, if not for himself, then for the
individuals that died before him. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury shows how conforming to a
society can lead to negative impacts. Bradbury illustrates the evolution of one character and how
he started out as a conformist and turned into a rebel. Montag shows that knowledge can lead to
happiness by seeing past what society views and doing what is right. Montag points out the
emotionless side of people and how standing up for what you believe is right can lead to great
things.
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Work Cited
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 1951. Print.
Eller, Edward E. "Overview of Fahrenheit 451." EXPLORING Novels. Detroit: Gale, 2003.
Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 25 Apr. 2012.
GradeSaver. “Fahrenheit 451 Study Guide & Literature Essays”. GradeSaver, 24 April 2012
Web. 24 April 2012
Hiner, Kristi. CliffsNotes On Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. New York: Wiley Publishing,
Inc., 2001. Print.
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Captain Beatty in Fahrenheit 451" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University,
Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 24 Apr. 2012.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Fahrenheit 451.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007.
Web. 24 Apr. 2012.
TheBestNotes Staff. “MonkeyNotes Study Guide Fahrenheit 451” PinkMonkey.com.
PinkMonkey.com 1997 Web. 24 Apr. 2012