At the beginning of the book Montage liked the fire. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with burning the books. When he and the other firefighters are burning the books he says, “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (1). He is stating how he feels happy to destroy books. He describes the burning as the pages being eaten. By saying that he is making the burning sound like a casual activity. People eat everyday and no one thinks anything of it. When people cook meat they set it on fire, this doesn’t make the burning of the books any different than cooking dinner. He also says that the fire changes the books. He is describing change as good thing, which goes hand and hand with his enjoyment of the burning. He also states “…his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history” (1). The fire makes Montage feel powerful. He feels good about himself and in control. He sees fire as something that makes that creates something beautiful. Symphonies are works of art and they make people feel complete. Writing and preforming is creating something. Montage feels that burning books is …show more content…
He isn’t excited about fire anymore. Clarisse had such an effect on awakening his mind he begins to realize how he really feels about literature. He is curious and craves knowledge. He starts to care about the writing inside what he was burning. Because of this he wants to avoid work related things. When Captain Beatty goes to Montages house, Montage says to Mildred, “Go let him in, will you? Tell him I’m sick” (50). He is afraid of what Beatty is going to do. He is trying to avoid confrontation. He doesn’t want Beatty to know his true feelings about books. He is scared about what might happen if Beatty found out. He is panicked and