Examples Of Ambition In Fahrenheit 451

Everybody has desires, these desires drive us as people to take the necessary steps to achieve what we want so badly. Even in literature, few characters often lack a motive that guides their every move. In Fahrenheit 451 we can see powerful displays of uncontrollable ambition, one of the most evident examples from the text is Guy Montag. Montag throughout his journey catalyzes his own life and others to fulfill his hunger for knowledge. Everything Montag does is furthered by his clear desire for intelligence and to spread this intellect and curiosity that he experiences in hopes of gaining a greater understanding of himself and the world around him. In a society where the intelligence he seeks is strictly forbidden, he continues to seek out

On page 76 we can see how this desire brings him to take life-threatening steps to gain understanding. In this section of Fahrenheit, Montag meets Faber, the old literary professor, outside his home. In a dialogue series, Montag can lure Faber into a sense of security so that he can directly speak with him. With the Bible under his arm in clear view, Faber opens the door to Montag and invites him inside to discuss. On page 74 we can again see him harboring susceptibleness in hopes of understanding. “He remembered the terrible logic of the sieve, and he looked down and saw that he was carrying the Bible open. There were people on the train but he held the book and a thought came, "If you read the book fast you will understand its words.” In these small sections of the text, Montag’s desire puts him in direct danger of being persecuted by his society. He does all of this just to gain a greater understanding of what he is reading, this can be attributed to his inclination for

This illustrates Montag’s strife in society. In some scenes, though we can see that Montag wishes to break this cycle of consonance he sees by bringing knowledge to the ignorant minds of the society he is so present. Page 94 is a great example of Montag's wish to spread the intelligence he has so far gained. Montag, in this scene, is faced with the ignorance of 3 women in his house, they talk about non-sensible things that anger Montag. His gained understanding and consciousness brings him to present a book of poems to the 3 women and read it to them. This shows him trying to break down the women's philistine shells by attempting to educate them and see the beauty in literature which he himself has noticed. We can also see him attempting to bring others to his cause in order to indoctrinate further and destroy the persecution-based