Fahrenheit 451 “Fahrenheit 451- The temperature at which book paper catches fire and burns…” (Bradbury 1). Ray Bradbury’s book, Fahrenheit 451, depicts a much different society from the one we live in today. Guy Montag, the main protagonist, is a fireman, but in his world, this means starting fires rather than putting them out. Literature, the written book, has become illegal and the fireman’s job is to burn the books and the houses that contain them. In this world people watch television, drive fast cars, and do not appreciate the people or world around them. Montag’s wife, Mildred, is the epitome of an average person; she does not discuss her feelings and is consumed by meaningless television. Clarisse, Montag’s new neighbor, opens his …show more content…
When his wife attempts suicide, he calls the “Emergency Hospital”. Two men come with machines and quickly “fix her”. Montag begins to question the heartlessness of the people in his life. Soon, a new family moves in next door and he meets Clarisse, a young woman with much different views on life than the majority of people. She invites Montag to view the world from a different perspective than everyone else in town, and sparks his interest in books and the knowledge that comes with them. Following the job where Montag witnesses a woman being so devoted to her books that she would rather burn with them than escape, Clarisse suddenly disappears. This ignites Montag’s desire to discover why literature is so important. Then, he meets with a previously known man, Faber, who teaches him how to understand literature and apply it. Montag hides books in his house, his wife calls in to report her husband, and he is forced to burn his own house to ashes. Before Montag is arrested, he murders his own captain, Beatty, in escaping arrest. Montag flees and hides in Faber’s house while the fire department’s main weapon, the Mechanical Hound, hunts him down. After Montag leaves Faber’s house, for fear that Faber will be killed, he finally finds refuge in the country with a group of people that are just like him, people in hiding that have a love for