Fahrenheit 451 Hands Analysis

Fahrenheit 451 Essay Our hands open a portal from our thoughts to our actions and are powerful tools for the expression of the soul. Hands permit humans to feel, touch, love, caress, embrace, give, and take. Yet these are the same hands that can murder, destroy, hurt, and ruin. From praying for forgiveness to committing a sin, human hands can be unbelievably diverse in emotion and passion. Despite the constant obedience to the mind's commands and requests, sometimes hands expressively act upon strong desire without alerting the mind, but simply committing the operation. In Ray Bradbury's science fiction novel Fahrenheit 451, the symbolic image of hands evolve from a destructive and detrimental force to a gentle and prudent one. Hands play an immense role in the development and enlightenment of Montag's perception of his society because the representation of hands begin to advance along with his character. In the beginning of the novel, hands depict destruction and demolition because they relish and savor the pleasure of burning books. Hands are accused of

For instance, as Montag's journey to enlightenment begins, his hands start to reflect his true intentions even though Montag does not want to admit it, “Montag's hand closed like a mouth, crushed the book with wild devotion, with an insanity of mindlessness to his chest” (37). Just as food and water would satisfy one's stomach, the books that his hands confiscate satisfy and fill the empty void in Montag's soul. Due to his stubborn nature, Montag holds his hands responsible and personifies them as having “a brain of his own” (37). Slowly as time moves on, the symbolic figure of hands who were once seen as destructive become gentle, and understanding. The “white hand” also embodies enlightenment as it commits the illegal operations that guide Montag to his goal