In this excerpt from Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury develops Montag’s character by using a disgruntled tone that reveals how Montag's emotions are affected by his job as a firefighter and by raising a question to readers, which alludes to the fact that Montag is no longer content with living in his naïve society. The phrase “boom! It's all over.” elicits that Montag understands that someone poured themselves into their writing, and firefighters come to extinguish their words without a second thought. It is simply gone, in a minuscule amount of time. He shows remorse for the books he burned, and sees the burnings from a new perspective- that books are valued. Montag’s statement, “...how can I leave myself alone?” indicates that he is far from appeased