Life Exposed In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

Grace Grimsley

Ms. Prax

Intro to Literature

18 January 2023

Fahrenheit 451 The classic novel Fahrenheit 451, was written by Ray Bradbury in 1953. Futuristic qualities are encompassed in the telling of the life of Guy Montag, the fireman of this society. A society that relishes in the fact that everyone is happy, ignorant but happy nonetheless. Is everyone in society honestly happy? This question is one that Guy Montag had started pondering after his run-in with his next-door neighbor, Clarisse. In the beginning, he was as oblivious as all the citizens, he enjoyed burning books because it was the law. He did not have an understanding of philosophy or his thoughts that revolved around the way the world works. Throughout the story of Guy Montag,

The three main characters that affect the story are Guy Montag, Clarisse, and Mildred Montag. First, Guy Montag was a fireman who believed simply that life was happy and simple, he wore a black-beetle hat and a flameproof jacket on the job. Although Guy stayed a fireman throughout the novel, his belief in life changed drastically. At the beginning of the novel, Guy was a flat character; he had no complex qualities, but throughout the story, he met people who had changed his mindset about life and how the world revolves. By the end of the journey, Guy’s character developed into a round character, one who had more beliefs than nearly anyone in society. Then, there was the character Clarisse who was a staple throughout the first part of the novel, she was the first person that Guy Montag ever liked, she was his first-ever friend. She was a real character, one who had emotions and beliefs that can be reflected from her family instead of societal standards. Opposition ran within her blood, she fought against society and brought Montag along with her in her belief, and she started to change him for the better. Unfortunately, Clarisses’ life was cut short when she was involved in a hit-and-run, still, her short life impacted Guy Montag’s life and made him believe in an exceptional cause. Finally, the character Mildred Montag was a character that had no

Although there are many minor settings within this novel, the main setting would have been Guy Montag’s bedroom. “Then he reached up and pulled back the grille of the air-conditioning system and reached far back inside to the right… and took out a book. …When he was done he looked down upon some twenty books lying at his wife’s feet” (Bradbury 66). This is the main setting because this is where Guy Montag spends the majority of his time discovering who he is and what he stands for. This is the turning point in the novel where the main character makes his decision and goes against all that he formerly stood for, he became his person. Furthermore, the theme of this classic novel was the importance of knowledge and individuality in terms of a society so prone to ignorance. A majority of this ignorance is due to the fact that society is so easily corrupted by mundane topics, censorship, and even their belief that they know all there is to know about the reality of the world around them. “[Firemen] was given a new job, as custodians of our peace of mind, the focus of our understandable and rightful dread of being inferior; official censors, judges, and executors” (Bradbury 56). Further, the theme of this novel is shown through the symbols that are represented, including; fire, books, the salamander, seashells, and burnings. In connection, the fire, salamander,