How Does Montag Change In Fahrenheit 451

Everyone can be a leader in their world, but what holds certain characters back from doing so? In the book, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Montag, the main character in the book, is unable to be an effective change agent in his society due to exploitation, isolation, and government control. Montag is unable to persevere in unbanning books because of how his boss, Beatty, uses Montag’s fear to exploit him. Montag’s choices and decisions lead him to have no allies that could assist him, which causes Montag to become isolated and excluded from society. Due to the government control of Beatty and the firemen, Montag is unable to make his own choices and decisions, which leads to a lack of independence. He is not able to be an effective change

Montag can not persevere because if he were to stand up to Beatty and speak the truth of the books, he would get caught trying to oppose Beatty and his perspectives. Since Beatty is a wise and smart man, Montag fears that Beatty might persuade Montag that books do have no meaning or purpose. Therefore Montag remains quiet and lets Beatty get to him. During the time that Montag was ill, Beatty visited Montag and went over many things. One topic that Beatty spoke about was how Clarisse was better off dead because of the way she acted. Beatty goes on to talk about how people like Clarisse are outcasts, not belonging to society and groups. He mentions to Montag, “She didn’t want to know how a thing was done, but why. That can be embarrassing. You ask Why to do a lot of things and you wind up very unhappy indeed if you keep at it. The poor girl’s better off dead” (58). Montag doesn’t disagree with Beatty but responds, “Yes, dead” (58). In this world of mass technology, knowing how something is used helps you to maintain being busy and have fun without trying to do something less entertaining. Asking why you have to do something makes you question if your actions will

Towards the end of the book, Beatty and the firemen, including Montag, hear the siren and head to the house that contains possession of books so they can burn them. Little did Montag know that this house was his and that they would burn the books that were in it. Beatty gives Montag an order to burn the books in a specific way, by himself and with a flamethrower. He also uses the Hound to threaten Montag as well. Using the Hound makes sure that Montag does not run away or resist. Faber tries to direct Montag to drop everything and run away. Although Montag’s response was, “No!...The Hound! Because of the Hound” (110). While Montag was burning the books, he felt good about burning everything that has caused him hardship. Montag mentions how if there was no solution, then there was no problem. In this case, the fire was the answer to resolving any solution. This shows that Beatty has filled Montag’s head with a bunch of false information which Montag later finds helpful. If Montag had not obeyed Beatty and the government, he would have died. Montag does not have independence all because of Beatty and his technological weapons that forced Montag to burn his books without rethinking his actions. After Montag finished burning the books, he went on to burn the parlor without hesitation. He described the people of the parlor as monsters. Beatty watched Montag burn the books, the walls, and also his house. He then threatens