Montag's Purpose In Fahrenheit 451

It is common for people to not know what their purpose in life is. According to Edward-Elmhurst Health, “Only about twenty-five percent of American adults report having a clear sense of purpose.” In his novel, Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury explores this desire for purpose in life by telling a story of a young man who yearns to feel a sense of purpose in his own life. Although his life, at the beginning of the novel, may not give him that feeling, in the end, his willingness to change society gives him the success of feeling it. Through Montag’s interactions with Clarisse and Granger, he learns that he doesn’t have to listen to society’s rules and becomes outspoken. Through Montag’s interaction with Clarisse, Montag realizes that his role

When Clarisse speaks with Montag, she challenges him. She talks about how flawed his job of being a fireman is, but also tells him, “You’re not like the others. I've seen a few, I know. When I talk you look at me. When I Said something about the moon, you looked at the moon last night. The others would never do that. The others would walk off and leave me talking” (23). She sees Montag differently than she sees the other firemen. This is because Montag listens to what she says. To Clarisse, “the others” wouldn't give her the time of day to listen to what she has to say, but Montag does. Clarrise impels him to do things other firemen wouldn't do. In the moments when he is with Clarisse, he begins to rebel and become outspoken. Later on, when Montag no longer concurs with his job and realizes what they do with burning houses and books is wrong, he also changes his view on how he sees fire. The moment Montag is running away and sees a fire in the woods he feels different about this fire than he does with the other fires he's witnessed: “...a strange fire because it meant different things to him. It was not burning. It was

When Montag tells Granger and the other intellectuals that he has been an idiot and has made many bad mistakes, Granger comforts him and replies with, “We all made the right kind of mistakes, or we wouldn't be here. When we were separate individuals we all had rage” (150). He teaches Montag that he isn't worth anything less because of the things he did in the past. He explains that everyone has made mistakes because of the “rage” they had when they were living in society. He informs Montag that as long as he learns from those mistakes and separates himself from the person he was when he made them, then they are good mistakes. He is taught that it is okay to be different from the person he was before and to be forthright. In the end, after what Granger has taught Montag, he gains a sense of warmth and personal well-being. He thought that after all the mistakes he’s made, he didn't have anything to offer to the intellectuals. But that was not true. He offered a part of a book he remembered: “And on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bare twelve manner fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; And the leaves of the tree were of the healing of the nations. Yes thought Montag, that’s the one I’ll save for noon”(165). The “tree” and “fruits” means the faith that people have and yearn for. This shows a moment where Montag recovers a sense of faith in