Gavin O’Dell
Mrs. Magnusson and Dr. Dumont
Roots of Thought Honors R4/S4
10 February 2023
Warmth and Cold Developing Guy Montag’s Journey
Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel written in the early 1950s by Ray Bradbury. The book takes place in a society that has given up knowledge, most prevalently books, and embraced ignorance and brain-numbing technology to keep themselves uninformed and content. This story revolves around Guy Montag, a fireman whose job is to burn books. Once Guy learns the true value of knowledge his eyes are opened to how truly drab and meaningless his society is. Bradbury uses similes, metaphors and imagery to form a subtle, yet strong association between fire and warmth representing ignorance, and cold and water representing
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Clarisse introduces Guy to the world through a new lens and he is set on a new path of curiosity and a search for knowledge. One of the very first descriptions Bradbury uses for Clarisse is that her face is “bright as snow in the moonlight” (Bradbury 7). This may seem like just a way to emphasize Clarisse’s pale complexion, but Bradbury’s intentions while using this simile go much deeper. Bradbury uses the word snow to illuminate Clarisse’s nature and what her impact on Montag will be throughout the story. This comparison portrays how cold represents knowledge because it is used to describe Clarisse, who began Guy’s transformation by teaching him how to be curious. Additionally, Bradbury builds on this introduction of Guy being a fiery, ignorant man and Clarisse being a cool, knowledgeable person by adding imagery to depict the atmosphere around them. When Clarisse and Guy walk together Bradbury employs tactile imagery, describing the air as the “warm-cool blowing night” (Bradbury 6). This insinuates how Guy and Clarisse’s personalities begin to mix by showing the temperatures associated with them beginning to mix. This shows how Bradbury’s use of figurative language displaying warmth and cold helps to portray Guy’s journey and those that affect him during