Examples Of Sacrifice In Fahrenheit 451

Sacrifice In Fahrenheit 451

In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, Montag goes through immense changes in the course of the novel, all caused by social interactions and observations of the way people in his society live their lives. As Montag is used to a certain fast-paced consumerist society, interactions with people that are different provides a new view and meaning to his life. The main matter that changes Montag for the better is the observation of sacrifice in others’ lives. Montags exposure to others' sacrifices made him question his role in the world and the deeper meaning to life.

To start with, he experiences sacrifice with his wife Mildred in her attempt to end her meaningless life for peace. She is clearly unhappy with the way she

Blake is what caused the breaking point in Montag and the biggest change in him. She sacrificed her life for books, showing Montag how books are more meaningful and more important than this life that they are living. Mrs. Blake would rather die with her books than live a meaningless life without them. This causes Montag to see the real importance of books and the unimportance of their lives. “There must be something in the books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house;there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.”(Bradbury, 48). This shows how big of an impact Mrs. Blake had on how Montag perceives books. Before, he thought that books were meaningless and empty;but she showed him that they are more valuable than life itself and are worth dying for. “Last night I thought about all the kerosene I’ve used in the past ten years. And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of the books…It took some man a lifetime maybe to put some of his thoughts down…and then I come along in two minutes and boom! It’s all over.” (Bradbury, 49). Montag has finally realized that books are not just fairy tales that were once made by lunatics, but they were made by people like him, who spent their whole lives creating something beautiful; only for him to come and destroy a lifetime of thoughts and observations. This makes him not only self aware, but also makes him fully understand the importance of books and trying to understand them.Overall, it may be said that Mrs. Blake is the last piece of the puzzle for Montag to become fully self aware and to understand the true importance of understanding books and their true purpose. She showed him that books are worth sacrificing yourself for and worth risking your life to understand their true