Through this essay I hope to achieve a well-structured essay explaining the ways that fire is symbolized in the novel Fahrenheit 451. Montag, who starts off as a follower, ends the story as an independent thinking and capable to make his own decisions on what’s best for him. All the while, fire follows him everywhere throughout the story. At a first glance it is clear that fire is symbolic due to Guy Montag being a fireman and therefore taking part in burning the books, but throughout the story fire evolves by gaining different meanings to him. Knowing this, I would like to explore the idea of fire originally being represented as destruction, then as a symbol of security and most importantly the concept of fire, or in this case the phoenix,