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Fahrenheit 451 Character Development

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The story of Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a dystopian city based in the future of 2022. The main character is a man named Guy Montag. Guy Montag is a fireman that burns books. On his way home from his job he meets a girl named Clarisse who changes his perspective on their society. Montag starts to question his boss, Beatty. Beatty is a man who thinks books are toxic to your health like the rest of society does. Over time Montag starts to become more aware about the brainwashed society. Montag has to burn a woman as a part of his job, he is confused and he feels guilty about this. This leads him to reveal his collection of books. He goes to his friend's house, Faber, they plan to burn the other firemen's houses by placing books in them. Montag …show more content…

The theme of Fahrenheit 451 is to stand out from the crowd. Ray Bradbury develops the theme of Fahrenheit 451 by using character development, the setting of the story, and …show more content…

Character development helps develop the theme because as the book goes on Montag starts to see how the society is brainwashed and ignorant toward the fact that there is a bigger world beyond them. This is shown when Montag starts to talk to Clarrisse and he realizes that she is not the same boring and mindless person as everybody else. Later Montag is talking to his wife, Mildred, and he starts to notice something when he asks, “‘When did we meet? And where?’”(Bradbury, 39-40). This means that Montag is confused on how his wife of ten years does not know how they met. This part is very important because it is showing that Guy Montag is starting to realize that something in the society is messed up and it will later on show how he is fully aware that the crowd is not smart and fully aware of their surroundings. Later on Montag thinks, “Beatty wanted to die.”(Bradbury, 116) This shows that Montag is starting to realize that Beatty wanted to get out of the world around him. He wanted to get out because he knew how much the society was actually messed up and brainwashed. He also knew that when he left the world he could be free to read books and do whatever he enjoyed doing. It was made clear that Montag is starting to realize society isn't what it seems and the way out is death. This also is shown when Montag is forced to burn the women and her books. The women wanted to die because she

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, However, when Montag aims a flamethrower at his adversary, Beatty simply “just stood there, Finally really trying to save himself, just stood there, joking, needling” (122). Beatty gives up his life to Montag, bereft of pure passion and pleasure in

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Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is a classic novel that challenges authority through self-discovery and growth. The main character Guy Montag is a dedicated fireman. He enjoys his job, watching pages of books become nothing more than burnt ash. He has never questioned anything before, nor has he had a reason to. That is, until he encounters three important individuals that seem to influence a change in Montag and ultimately change his world.

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As technology advances and increases, society becomes numb and unfeeling, relying on it to acquire the feeling of being alive. This is one of the many interpretations of the social message of Fahrenheit 451, a book that was written by Ray Bradbury. The book was published around 65 years ago in 1953, yet its themes and social message still stands up today. Censorship is a major theme in 451, brought to light by the outlawing of books and their subsequent burning. Guy Montag, the main character of the book, is one of many firemen who burn things instead of putting out fires.

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Montag set Captain Beatty on fire, someone who was once his friend. Captain Beatty was a symbol of conformity and when he died, Montag’s conformity was replaced by

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Beatty is seen as a manipulative man who directly represents the government in Montag’s world that has been taken over by higher powers of control. Because of this, society has been forced to reject all science and knowledge to make others dull and ignorant. This allows for more control over people as they lose common sense and the ability to think for themselves becoming reliant upon the government that tells them they’re “happy”. We see this same connection with Beatty’s manipulative words that are experienced after Montag goes to burn a woman’s house where she refuses to leave and lights the kerosene laid down by the fireteam herself with a match, burning herself and the house down. As a result, Montag starts becoming conscience and starts thinking, wondering what is so important in a book that a person is willing to die rather than see her books burnt.

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After World War I and during the interwar years, countries such as Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union had to pay for their loss in war. This sent all these countries into poverty and their countries were looking for answers. In a desperate time, the people from these three nations put totalitarian leaders into power in hope for fast change. When in power these leaders became dictators and did everything they could to ensure stability and loyalty to their leadership. During the interwar years, leaders rose and maintained power through the use of force and manipulation to eliminate all opposing options.

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Montag took one of his first rebellious actions. He began reading on the public train when he knew how drastic the consequences could be. Montag tried to have the people hear him and try to get some of them to want change as bad as he did. Despite the fact that Montag craves change in his society, his anger in this part of the story reflects on how he needs to understand himself so he can be happy before he can try and make others

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However, they both show evidence that they are not truly happy with their hollow lives, which lack emotion and meaningfulness. Beatty acts as symbolism for what Montag could have become. Similar to Montag, Beatty is a firefighter who has read books and educated himself. However, he insists on continuing to conform to society and tries to convince Montag to do so as well, claiming that literature is too controversial, which causes tension and does not lead to happiness. Bradbury

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Bradbury's main theme is censorship. Books are the most common this censored along with emotions and freedom. He allows the reader to visualize the fact that censorship can harm society by blocking knowledge leading to corruption and misfortune. One allusion that was made in Fahrenheit 451 was racism and how it affects people's point of view. Beatty tells Montag, "colored people don't like Little Black Sambo.

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If you had been told your entire life that books are evil, it would be hard to change your views without experiencing it for yourself. When Beatty talks to Montag, he tries to convince him that he should not be curious about books. Beatty tells him the truth about their society. By sharing this with Montag, Beatty makes Montag rethink everything that he thought that he knew about life. Beatty enabled Montag to see how terrible their society is and how unhappy he is; even though that had not been Beatty’s intention.

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First, Montag was not conscience of his surroundings. Like everyone else, he was a slave to cheap thrills, fast pleasures, and mindless entertainment. In fact, he loved his job burning books, “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (Bradbury 1). Then, his new mind began to stir when he met Clarisse.

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However, because of the lack of knowledge, Beatty, like many other men, is on the verge of committing suicide. After Montag is forced to burn his own house by Beatty, Beatty keeps approaching Montag even though Montag held a flamethrower. Montag eventually kills Beatty, and later, while running away, he realizes “Beatty had wanted to die”( Bradbury 116 ). Beatty wants to die because he is extremely unhappy and, because he has read books, understands what society has lost. He believes life is meaningless without books and has no hope that knowledge will make a return in the future.

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He would never have questioned his lifestyle if he had not been so impressionable. Clarisse forced him to reflect on his life, making him realize that he was miserable. The suicidal woman and her willingness to die for her novels showed him that books contain important information. Without Faber’s guidance and persuasion, Montag would not have considered hiding books in other firemen’s houses or joining the Harvard graduates on their journey. The influence that these three people had on Montag caused his dynamic change and instilled a curiosity in him that caused him to take action.

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In the beginning of chapter one, Montag’s believes and supports his part in society. He is also fond of his job and sees it as a pleasure to burn books. “It was a pleasure to see things burn, to see things blackened and changed.” (1). But after his encounter with Clarisse, his perspective slightly changes and he starts to rethink

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