Montag is going through the motions of life. He sees people die but never really understands what that means, the consequences and irreversibility of death. Montag sees people burn and sees them die but he doesn’t process what is happening. As he becomes more aware of what is happening he begins to gain a better understanding of death. Bradbury uses the immolation of characters to demonstrate the evolution of Montag’s understanding of death. The first death that Montag witnesses is the woman who burns with her books. The last is Beatty. One by a team and one on his own. In between these two deaths Montag begins to read and he begins to think more and more. Montag’s mentality shifts and he perceives the world differently, causing him to think about death in a completely new way. The first woman was never given a name. She was nameless and faceless and was just another obstacle in the society’s way. She was a stranger. Beatty on the other …show more content…
Through the eyes of Montag it was not very violent, almost peaceful. She had made her choice. She simply, “ struck the kitchen match against the railing (40).” He even directly used the word “contempt”saying how she “reached out with contempt for them (40).” Montag uses a word like that one to rationalize the idea of the carnage he causes. An idea of contempt implies that she was okay with it. It isn’t his fault in the slightest because she wanted it.It is his way of washing the blood off his hands. He also doesn’t really react. Montag watches as he, “back[ed] away and away out of the door, after Beatty, down the steps, across the lawn (39).” He just walked away. A woman was burning and he walked away. It is not that he doesn’t care but that he doesn’t fully comprehend what is happening. The use of the word “away” shows how he is distancing himself from the issue. He distances himself from the burning of the woman. He distances himself from the consequences of his actions and what death really