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Individuality In Fahrenheit 451

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Trying to force one's identity on them, turns the light of the world into complete darkness. The burning of the Old Woman and her books intensifies passion and the death of individuality in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. She rebelled against society and stood for what she believed in. The horrific sight completely changed Montag's perspective on life. Shock filled everyone’s bodies exemplifying the importance of her actions and the impact she was beginning to make. The gloomy dystopian world presented in this book lacks the uniqueness of life and brings heartache to those living in it. If found doing something seen as “different” or “wrong” extreme consequences are brought upon you. In this world, firemen don’t put out the fires, but instead …show more content…

Montag and Beatty, his captain, thought it was going to be a normal day at work until something was immediately off. They arrived at the old woman’s house noticing “she was not trying to escape” (Bradbury 33). This was an unusual sight for the fireman and it shocked many. The old woman knew why they were there and didn't want to fight it. The fireman began to drench the books in kerosene, assuming she would leave. However, strength and passion consumed her and she wouldn't give up. Nothing could get her to leave her books. They were her whole life, her truth. Confusion filled the firemen but they had to do their job. When Beatty was on the verge of sparking the kerosene, “ The women on the porch reached out with contempt to them all and struck the kitchen match against the railing” (Bradbury 37). She had done it. The woman had lit her house on fire and decided to die with her books. Guilt struck Montag's heart like a bow and arrow. He hadn’t seen anything like it. Even though the woman was gone, she died with her one true …show more content…

Everyone was losing themselves, including Montag. In the past, joy filled the world. People were pursuing the presence of life, not taking anything for granted. Until then, when people lost the privilege to be their unique selves and technology consumed everyone. When the woman stayed motionless in her home, Beatty harshly questioned “You know the law. Where’s your common sense?” (Bradbury 35). Everyone began to look down upon the woman for doing what she thought was right. This shows the overwhelming judgment of society and how being different was unacceptable. Not only did they lose a soul that day, but they also lost one of the lasting bits of individuality in the

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We let the fireman keep the book twenty­four hours. If he hasn’t burned it by then, we simply come burn it for him’”(Bradbury 59). This shows how Beatty acts as if he is unaware despite the fact that he is aware that Montag has taken a book and is battling an inner conflict. This is crucial because it highlights how significant it is that Montag is starting to read books differently than before

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Beatty and the other firemen start going towards Montag’s house, when Mildred comes out, ignores all of them, and simply leaves. Beatty tells Montag that he must burn his own house. “ I want you to do this job all by your lonesome, Montag. Not with kerosene and a match, but piece work, with a flame thrower. Your house, your clean up.”

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733 Words | 3 Pages

In this part of the book, all of the firemen including Montag received a call to burn a house with the books in there. Here became the turning point for Montag as he saw the woman, who already had made her decision to die rather than live in a world of oppression and restricted freedom of thought which books symbolize in this part, burns with the illegal books in the burning house, refusing to go out without the assurance of the safety of the books. We can suppose that his perception is gradually changing through the phrase showing that Montag felt a huge guilt over this, unlike the other firemen or Beatty. Furthermore, during the conversation with his wife, Mildred, Montag says, “We burn a thousand books. We burnt a woman.

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1097 Words | 5 Pages

"The whole house is going up," said Beatty. The men walked clumsily to the door. They glanced back at Montag, who stood near the woman. "You’re not leaving her here?" he protested. "She won’t come" (Bradbury 39).

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775 Words | 4 Pages

Beatty is seen as a manipulative man who directly represents the government in Montag’s world that has been taken over by higher powers of control. Because of this, society has been forced to reject all science and knowledge to make others dull and ignorant. This allows for more control over people as they lose common sense and the ability to think for themselves becoming reliant upon the government that tells them they’re “happy”. We see this same connection with Beatty’s manipulative words that are experienced after Montag goes to burn a woman’s house where she refuses to leave and lights the kerosene laid down by the fireteam herself with a match, burning herself and the house down. As a result, Montag starts becoming conscience and starts thinking, wondering what is so important in a book that a person is willing to die rather than see her books burnt.

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693 Words | 3 Pages

(Bradbury 10). Due to how the society is structured, Montag had really never thought about this, which was exactly what the government wanted. Montag begins to realize how dissatisfied he is with his life and relationships from his conversation with

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1091 Words | 5 Pages

Then Montag went and did the worst thing possible, he read a poem to Mildred’s friends, Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Bowles. After he read the poem, he fled the house and went to turn in a book to Beatty. What he didn’t know is that the ladies have turn in an alarm and Mildred did too. The firemen, Montag, and Beatty made their way to Montag’s house. Beatty reveals that he knew all along that Montag was lying and made Montag burn down his own house.

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462 Words | 2 Pages

When Montag witnesses the burning of a woman who refused to abandon her books, he reflects, “There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there" (Bradbury 51). The government's fear of knowledge and critical thinking leads to the destruction of books. In conclusion, the government's manipulation of history in Fahrenheit 451 is a critical element that shapes the plot and creates a confused society where individuality and intellectual freedom are

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1130 Words | 5 Pages

We don't get over anxious or mad. We let the fireman keep the book twenty four hours. If he hasn't burned it by then, we simply come and burn it for him” (Bradbury, 59). Beatty knows that Montag is hiding a book and Beatty is very understanding, but at the same time is reminding Montag what the societal beliefs are and that Montag needs to follow those beliefs. Both O’Brien and Beatty

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863 Words | 4 Pages

In the dystopian society placed in the novel, the citizens are distracted by the government to keep them from seeing books worth of knowledge being burned. As we know firefighters are known to put out fires, although in this novel Guy Montag is a firefighter who starts them with books. Montag begins to doubt the love and passion he has for

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1637 Words | 7 Pages

(STEWE-1): After the experience, Montag returns home and while he is in bed sick he tells his wife that ”We burned an old women with her books”(47). This experience has a lasting effect on him as it would on everyone else who, ”said nothing on their way back to the firehouse. No-body looked at anyone else. They did not even smoke their pipes”(37). This important event makes everyone sad and depressed on the way back to the firehouse as they rethink what they had just witnessed even though this has happened before.

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525 Words | 3 Pages

This made Montag begin to question if he really was happy, or if he was just subconsciously masking his lack of any emotion. After his own personal struggle, he started thinking about everyone else’s happiness, and if they were also just wearing masks of happiness to disguise their lack of individuality. Second, on page 40, Montag and the rest of the firemen respond to a call, and find a woman in her home who refuses to leave. She showed the firemen a single kitchen match, and they promptly went outside to start the fire. Then the woman walked out onto the porch with the match.

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1277 Words | 6 Pages

Montag does his job well and he thinks he enjoys he it until he meets someone who changes him. He soon discovers that he is not as happy as he thought and he had been wearing a mask to hide all his true emotions. He also realizes that the society he lives in is not perfect and he becomes very confused. He is on the bed about to go to sleep, “ ‘I don’t know anything anymore’ ”,he said”, as he was thinking about how Clarisse had acted.

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1214 Words | 5 Pages

In a world that is overrun by an army of conformists, it is crucial to find one's individuality so as to not lose one's sense of self. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is set in a dystopian society in which books are burned by firefighters in order to control dangerous ideas and dictate how people should think. The book tells the story of Guy Montag, a fireman, who questions the norms of his society after meeting someone new. Montag undergoes extreme suffering, loss, and pain as a result of breaking out of the small box his world is in.

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270 Words | 2 Pages

“‘That’s all we live for, isn’t it? For pleasure, for titillation?’” (pt 1, p 56) Beatty says to Montag as he attempts to explains their society’s logic and motives for burning books and discouraging thought.. As the fire chief, Beatty has a thorough understanding of the society’s history and hopes to help Montag understand and accept his responsibilities as a fireman by sharing some of what he knows.

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