Fahrenheit 451 Guy Montag Quotes

(AGG) How can one go from finding nothing wrong in the world they live in to fighting against the very rules they swore to live by? (BS-1) In the beginning, Montag is a flawed person who thinks his society is in perfect condition. (BS-2) After meeting with others and developing bonds with them, Montag challenges society and pursues knowledge. (BS-3) By fleeing and eventually retaliating, Montag completes the final phase of the anti-hero role. (TS) In the book Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag is driven to be an anti-hero by the interactions he has with people.

(MIP-1): Montag starts off as a flawed individual who believes that there is nothing amiss with his society. (SIP-A): He enforces the laws of the society by being a fireman and revels in his

(STEWE-1): Clarisse has a big impact on Montag. She is the reason Montag saw an issue with the way he was living. When they first met, “she seemed to remember something and came back to look at him with wonder and curiosity. ‘Are you happy?’ she said” (7). At first Montag is confused why she would even ask him such a question. He feels as if everything is fine and that he is happy. He then “felt his smile slide away, melt, fold over, and down on itself like a tallow skin, like the stuff of a fantastic candle burning too long and now collapsing and now blown out. Darkness. He was not happy” (9). He likens himself to a candle burning out. His smile was like a candle burning for too long and now he can not hold on to it anymore. The negative connotation of “darkness” indicates the way he feels. There is not an ounce of happiness in his body. Because of Clarisse’s question, Montag realized he was not genuinely happy. He states that “He wore his happiness like a mask”(9), insinuating that his happiness was fake. (STEWE-2): While trying to destroy the books in a house he and his fellow firemen were at, the woman in possession of them refused to

(SIP-A): An interaction with Mildred’s friends pushes Montag to finally fight against society. (STEWE-1) Mildred invites her friends over so that they can watch the parlor. Montag comes in and sees what they are doing. They eventually start talking and the things they say leave Montag in disbelief. Mrs. Phillips tells Montag that “no one in his right mind, the Good Lord knows, would have children”(92). To respond to this, Mrs. Bowles says, “the world must reproduce, you know, the race must go on. Besides, they sometimes look just like you, and that’s nice” (92). She obviously does not care less about her children. They are just an obligation to society for her. She does not have children to be happy. She has them so that the “race goes on.” The women continue talking in an ignorant manner when finally Montag snaps. He walks away and when he returns, he has a book in his hand. (STEWE-2): Through Montag’s earpiece, Faber tries to make Montag stop. Instead, Montag goes off on an angry rant saying, “Did you hear them, did you hear these monsters talking about monsters? Oh God, the way they jabber about people and their own children and themselves and the way they talk about their husbands and the way they talk about war, dammit, I stand here and I can not believe it!” (94) Montag is clearly annoyed with how the women are talking. He finds it disgusting and even likens the