Guy As A Hero In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

With the exposure that society has to sources of entertainment, when we hear the word “hero” we think of someone who can save the day whenever there is trouble, someone who has a type of superpower. That’s not the case in the novel Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury; throughout the course of the book we get to know about Guy Montag, our main character of the book; he works as a fireman. Rather than a saving burning homes, Guy is forced to burn down any house that has even one book inside. Guy runs into Clarisse, a new neighbor that is just moving in, and begins to chat with her. We then learn about the firehouse, all of the firemen are alerted of an elderly woman who would rather die with her books than giving them up. Guy cannot stop

After recently finding another book hidden in a home, Guy was obviously expected to burn the book, so he did; Bradbury describes Guy’s feeling as “[h]is fingers were like ferrets that had done some evil and now never rested” (Bradbury 101). He feels this way every time he burns a book. Guilt rushes throughout his entire body. This shows that Guy hates burning books, and when he does he feels terrible about it. As an example of Zimbardo’s heroic persona, Guy performs an act while knowing the possible consequences; he is able to experience one of those consequences, according to the television, “Guy Montag. Still running. Police helicopters are up. A new Mechanical Hound has been brought from another district-” (Bradbury 126). Guy Montag is knowing what he is doing and any possible consequence that could happen to him. Even with all of all of the commotion of police, Guy continues to run and hide from the police to keep his

There are some people who read this book that believe that Guy is not a hero. He hates his job as a fireman, so why does he continue burning books if he hates it; one scene where Guy doesn’t seem like a hero is when “Montag snapped the safety catch on the flame thrower...A great nuzzling gout of fire leapt out to lap at the books…” (Bradbury 110). If he hates being a fireman so much and hates burning houses, then why does he continue to do it? Why wouldn’t he just quit his job as a fireman? However, who ever thinks that he is not a hero is incorrect; Guy is nothing but a hero, Philip Zimbardo helps explains, “...there’s no clear line between good and evil. Instead, the line is permeable; people can cross back and forth between it” (Zimbardo). Even if Guy is burning down homes, that can be the one moment when he couldn’t be considered a hero throughout his day. Even if someone uses evil actions at times does not mean that the person themself is