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To kill a mockingbird examples of symbolism
To kill a mockingbird examples of symbolism
To kill a mockingbird examples of symbolism
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Whereas water has the ability to flush out undesirable traits, fire has the innate gift of destroying negative objects or ideas completely. To be able to control a substance of that nature-one that is non living yet so alive while purifying all in it's path- brought Montag great pleasure because it gave him the ability to exercise
In “Forged by Fire” by Sharon M. Draper, Gerald, the main character in the story, grows into a brave man. In the beginning, Gerald starts a fire in his mom’s apartment. Gerald gets scared from the flames, sounds, and heat that he goes behind the couch to hide from the fire. After the fire, Gerald lives with his aunt. On Geralds’s 9th birthday, Gerald’s mom came to the house with a sister for Gerald, but he doesn’t want to see neither of the two.
In this part of the book, all of the firemen including Montag received a call to burn a house with the books in there. Here became the turning point for Montag as he saw the woman, who already had made her decision to die rather than live in a world of oppression and restricted freedom of thought which books symbolize in this part, burns with the illegal books in the burning house, refusing to go out without the assurance of the safety of the books. We can suppose that his perception is gradually changing through the phrase showing that Montag felt a huge guilt over this, unlike the other firemen or Beatty. Furthermore, during the conversation with his wife, Mildred, Montag says, “We burn a thousand books. We burnt a woman.
As a firefighter, he is expected to put out fires. But in the novel, he is the one who starts the fires. As it states in the novel, “it was a pleasure to burn.” (#1). When it declares this in the novel, Ray Bradbury is talking about Montag and the other firefighters.
Montag views burning as a pleasure and the fire symbolizes power for him. He doesn't realize the significance burning and fire have in his society. We see a change in Montag when he says, “There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing” (Bradbury 148). Once Montag realizes what is in books, he views burning them as fundamentally evil.
Although as everything progresses in the book, fire now takes a whole new meaning and turns into a symbol of rebirth and new beginnings, As Montag witnesses the destruction of his past life and instead of being devastated he takes it as a fresh start and need for change. On the other hand what is represented as purifying and cleansing force is water. When Montag finds himself by the river after escaping the city, he submerges himself in the water, it seems as if the ashes
Serenity, Montag. Peace, Montag.” Fire, a dangerous tool the firemen use to control public activity, symbolizes peace to some, as it cleanses their society of what they’ve considered more dangerous than the act of destroying property and people. Montag burning Beatty to death being the most obvious example of fire being powerful within the book, yet “Fire is bright and fire is clean” (pp. 59) As Michel Foucault says, “Freedom of conscience entails more dangers than authority and despotism.”
Montag, the main character, is a fireman and he begins to realize that the way of life that he lives in is severely flawed and starts to retaliate against society and asks help from an old friend named Faber. Beatty, the man that goes up against Montag, is also Montag 's fire captain, later in the story Montag kills Beatty to survive. Now, Montag murdered Beatty and that is against the law, but Montag has been justified in burning Beatty, it was either Montag or Beatty, if Montag didn’t kill Beatty it seemed Beatty would kill him. Montag had also trying to protect himself and Faber, Beatty had wanted to die anyway. Montag was already in trouble, by burning Beatty he gave him a second chance to escape and run to sustain his way of life.
In that split second Montag made the decision to take matters into his own hands. Montag pointed the flame thrower at Beatty and told him “we never burned right” (113). Relating it back to what Clarisse had told him about how the firemen used to help people put out fires (6). Instead of the modern society where they start the fires. Montag finds himself in a situation of running from his past life and moving towards people who can help him understand and break away from society's rules.
Moreover the fire also resembles the purging of Montag. Montag’ burning of his house and the TV signifies his rebellion and rejection of the vales of his society. Through burning his own house Montag like a phoenix destroys his old self by fire to be reborn from the ashes as a new person once again. Killing captain Beatty symbolizes the destruction of the system, because by doing so he frees himself from the influence of his society which give him the chance to think and choose freely for first time in his life. Also, another side of fire is also revealed to Montag ay the end of the novel when he meets the rebel group.
(STEWE-1) The first words of the novel are literally:”It was a pleasure to burn, It was a pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed”(Bradbury 1). Montag is already described as a bit of a pyromaniac, a person with an obsessive desire to set fire to things. To be clear Montag is a fireman, but not the kind that puts out fires, the kind that starts fires to burn books. (STEWE-2)
He is the character that is the perfect example of what the society they live in was created to be. Montag burning him was a symbolic moment that represented Montag leaving the society he had lived in his whole life and making his life what he had wanted it to be. It was Montag burning
Government organizations often use symbols to portray their power or military strength. Writers also use symbols to convey a message to the reader. In his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses symbols to help readers track the loss of civility of the boys. The fire is both a symbol of hope and the reckless behavior of the boys.
Beatty understands the way the world works in retrospect to the events leading up to the current situation of their government. As a fireman you must know what you are doing and how it benefits your society. Beatty explains the reason that books are banned to Montag, and doing so helps us understand the most important factor in the story. You must not offend anyone whatsoever. To maintain peace you must cease from reading or writing anything that could slightly be taken out of context.
Fire becomes a way to hide something. To destroy evidence. To shadow a bright thought in even brighter flames. Montag has been opened up to see past his own society. Later in the story, once escaping the city on the eve of war, Montag comes across a group of friends by a campfire.
