Metamorphosis In Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 recounts the story of a dystopian society where firemen enforce the government’s ban against books by destroying them in mass fires. Guy Montag, a fireman charged with burning outlawed books, lives his life oblivious to the underlying repercussions of his task. After an unusual sequence of thought-provoking events, Montag undergoes an intellectual metamorphosis as be begins to question his society’s mandate to abolish books and suppress freethinking. Throughout Bradbury’s work of science fiction, the author’s protagonist transforms from a person of ignorance to one of awareness as he experiences meaningful encounters with those who question the purpose of setting books ablaze. After a typical day on the

In addition to imparting wisdom, Farber endows Montag with a special earpiece that allows him to listen and speak to his student throughout the day and night. With this small but powerful tool, Faber aids Montag in dealing with Captain Beatty, his suspicious boss, who constantly attacks and grills him about the whereabouts of stolen books. As Montag listens to the voice in his ear, he acknowledge his conversion from ignorant fireman to “Montag-plus-Faber, fire plus water, and then, one day, after everything had mixed and simmered and worked away in silence, there would be neither fire nor water, but wine” (99). Montag knew with his teacher’s assistance he would become a more intelligent and open-minded person. Furthermore, he understood that one day he would look back upon his old self with shame as he would recognize that choosing the path of reading and understanding books made him a better person. Throughout the course of the Bradbury’s novel, events and people serve as catalysts of change for Montag’s and his opinion of books. After all that transpires, Montag undergoes a change from close-minded fireman to freethinking revolutionary. He concludes books are a necessary and important part of society. Books are needed to document life-altering experiences and events, such as the city’s destruction, so