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Multiple Themes In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

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Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a dystopian novel surrounding multiple themes. The author develops multiple central ideas, which include identity, knowledge, censorship, technology and ignorance. The main focus of this novel was the overarching theme of identity and learning to express yourself. We can depict this knowledge by emphasizing the journey that the main character, Guy Montag, went through. With the help of supporting characters, an oppressive society, and the understanding of self interest, we can clearly distinguish a disposition in paternalistic mentalities. Guy Montag is a fireman, with the number “451” stamped on his helmet. He works in favor of Captain Beatty, his boss. In this day and age firefighters are meant to put out fires, however in this …show more content…

The firefighters have a job to do and get it down with a smile on their face. We know Guy Montag feels this way because of the very first sentence in this book, “It was a pleasure to burn.” He was very self-aware of what he was doing, however, he had a whole new perspective toward the end of the book. We can thank the sudden change of heart to one character, Clarisse McClellan. She was a young, eccentric soul who loved all things uncommon. Nature, life, even books. The sudden disappearance of Clarisse pushed Montag to suddenly feel empathy. The society that these characters were living in played a huge role in shaping the overall theme and morality of the story. Colored people don't like Little Black Sambo. Burn it.” “White people don't feel good about Uncle Tom's Cabin." Burn it.” Page 57. This quote was said by Captain Beatty, who was trying to prove a point to Montag, saying he knows a lot about books but chooses a bad interpretation of it. The fact that he can quote literature shows he has read books in the past but chooses to find them unimportant. This shows that even society looks down upon books and follows in a more superior

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Guy Montag is a fireman, whose job is to burn the unknown, such things that could cause the community to reason, debate or express their point of view. However, later, he encounters an unusual and meticulous teenage girl, who changes his perspective of the world and everything he thought he had known. Afterwards, Montag starts to question the existence of the whole society and how could he live under that circumstances. Montag begins to gain knowledge and came up with his own reasoning that “Everything burned” and something had to be

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He later meets a girl named clarisse who changed his perspective about society and the way it was run. As time goes on Montag struggles with his job as a fireman, burning books instead of fighting fires. He wants to learn more about books to know what he is missing. He steals dozens of books to learn more of what’s in them and later befriends a retired college professor who helps him go against society. Through

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Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 features a fictional and futuristic fireman named Guy Montag. As a fireman. Montag does not set out fires. Alternatively, he starts them in order to fire books and, fundamentally, cognition to the human race. He does not hold any 2nd ideas about his duty until he meets seventeen-year-old Clarisse McClellan.

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In Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag is a fireman. A fireman’s job is to burn books, not stop fires. If one was caught with books in their home, the firemen would burn the book owner’s house down. Nobody would expect Montag to read books and get other people to read books, but he does. Book reading starts an extensive line of events, including Montag murdering his boss.

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In Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag develops as an adventurous protagonist when he experiences many conflicts in the road of trials. For example, Mildred calls the department informing them about the hidden books in their household, consequently, Beatty drags Montag to his house to burn it. ‘“Why,’ said Montag slowly, ‘we’ve stopped in front of my house’” (Bradbury 106).

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A flaming desire for change in his life. Montag is first introduced as an obedient, hard-working, model citizen. He does what he’s told and doesn’t create any problems. Free thinking is not a value in his society, so Montag bends his human will to fit in. Clarisse, Montag’s Neighbor, disrupts this mindset.

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A usual fireman will try to put off fires but Montag is a fireman that starts a fire with his flamethrower and burns books and the houses where they are illegally kept. Firemen wore helmets that had the numeral numbers of 451 which represented the temperature that paper burns. Montag meets a young girl named Clarrisse and suddenly realizes the emptiness of his life when he was questioned about his happiness. Since then, Montag questions what he had been doing and what he had not and searches for an answer/reason why stuff was like the way it was. Guy Montag can be a brave character because he decides to put himself in a situation where he is the outlier in the society.

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Then Montag experiences disturbing events. His wife attempts suicide by overdosing. An old woman has a stash of hidden literature and wants to be burned alive along with them. Then, he hears that Clarisse was killed by in a car crash. His satisfaction with life decreases, and he begins to search for a solution in his book stash.

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In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag portrays a firefighter whose life begins to change in the dystopian world when he meets a strange girl named Clarisse McClellan who is different than most people. “Strange. I heard once that a long time ago houses used to burn by accident and they needed firemen to stop the flame”(8). As Montag begins to know McClellan more, he also becomes more curious, which lands him in serious trouble in the 24th century dystopian world. Although Montag has a good job with a loving wife and a nice house, he is not pleased with his life, there is no meaning or purpose to life, which makes him important to the story.

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Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is a uniquely shocking and provocative novel about a dystopian society set in a future where reading is outlawed, thinking is considered a sin, technology is at its prime, and human interaction is scarce. Through his main protagonist, Guy Montag, Bradbury brings attention to the dangers of a controlled society, and the problems that can arise from censorship. As a fireman, it is Guy's job to destroy books, and start fires rather than put them out. After meeting a series of unusual characters, a spark is ignited in Montag and he develops a desire for knowledge and a want to protect the books. Bradbury's novel teaches its readers how too much censorship and control can lead to further damage and the repetition of history’s mistakes through the use of symbolism, imagery, and motif.

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