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True Identity In Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451'

1450 Words6 Pages

Darren Wong
Ms. Strauss
ENG1D1-16
30 May 2016
One's True Identity

Most people often experience differently stages of personal growth in their life. People all around the world are all currently at stages in finding one's true identity. This notation is clearly indicated in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, where a proud and content fireman named Guy Montag starts to question his own life and subsequently turns into a person of intelligence, knowledge, and free thinking. Throughout the novel, Guy starts to question the values of the society and the real values of his inner consciousness. It is important to understand that life is about finding one's true identity. Montag is a unique individual who finds his true identity through symbols, conflicts, …show more content…

This is crucial because it helps to maintain a good mental and emotional welfare. First off, Montag discovers his individuality through Clarisse. This is shown when Clarrise says, "Are you happy" (Bradbury 7). Clarisse helps Montag discovers his individuality because it shows Montag that he is not happy and that he has inner doubts about himself which he hides. Clarrise expands Montag horizons here, and questioning his happiness makes him do something he has never done before. In doing so, Montag starts to question his own path and what he perpetrates everyday, which leads to his rebellion. Clarisse helps Montag realize that his marriage has no real meaning. It sets off a chain reaction in Montag's mind. This challenges Montag to think, rather than ignoring what he does not understand and to question the common 'normal' views of society. This is very important for our mental and emotional because it forces us to think outside the box and expand our boundaries. Secondly, Montag discovers his unique individuality through Mildred. For example, this is shown when Mildred says: "Books aren't people, you and I read and I look all around, but there isn't anybody! My family is people. They tell me things; I laugh, they laugh! And the Colors!" (Bradbury 69). This displays to Montag that society has no real meaning. Society does not want to have true knowledge, they just want to be happy. Society does not really want to think, they just want things to be handed to them so it would be easy. It shows Montag the contrast between Mildred and Clarisse. It shows how Mildred has no real fellings, and she does not really care about anyone except her 'family'. She is shallow and materialistic. She portrays the ordinary lives of people in the society to Montag. This is important for any person's mental and emotional well being because in order to be open to new ideas and concepts, we must view the

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