Essay On Montag's Hands In Fahrenheit 451

McGiveron’s critical review of Fahrenheit 451 concerns the symbolic importance of Montag’s hands. McGiveron claims that Montag’s hands are representative of his conscience and Montag only fully controls them when he “has decided to do good”, making them “reflectors of conscience.” His argument is very convincing, but I think Montag’s hands represent more than just his conscience, and, later in the novel, they do not represent conscience at all. Montag’s hands and their seemingly independent actions represent his subconscious mind: his emotions and, sometimes, his moral drives. In the beginning of the book, Montag finds a special pleasure in burning books and defines his hands as those of “some amazing conductor,” (Bradbury 3). McGiveron says

In this instance his hands represent a rising desperation to learn about books, not his conscience, as is evident on his way to Beatty after his meeting with Faber. Montag has already consciously recognized and accepted his moral obligation to learn about books and stop burning them, so his conscience can no longer be controlling Montag’s hand without his conscious recognition if McGiveron is correct in his assumption that only Montag’s conscience independently drives his hands. Later, Montag kills Beatty out of subconscious desperation, self-preservation, frustration, and anger. McGiveron claims that Montag allows his “conscience” to drive his actions, but after killing Beatty, Montag has to rationalize the murder, something he would not have to do if his conscience has accepted it. McGiveron explores the conscience behind Montag’s “unintentional” actions, but fails to explore emotional forces that affect both his decision-making and his hands. In Fahrenheit 451 Montag’s hands acting independently of conscious effort represent his subconscious mind, whether it is as emotion, conscience, or