What Does Fire Symbolize In Fahrenheit 451

Fire can be symbolic for good. It can also be symbolic of bad like hate. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, fire is symbolic of many things, both good and bad. Montag, the protagonist, after meeting a girl named Clarisse starts a transformation. It is through Montag’s transformation sparked by Clarisse throughout the novel, the houses burning bring the people together, The Phoenix represents transformation because it rises out of the ashes. Fire is symbolic in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury because it symbolizes transformation throughout the novel. The questions that Clarisse asks Montag helps Montag transform from someone with minimal emotion to someone who starts to express his opinions. Clarisse helps Montag realize that he has emotion. As Montag discussed with Clarisse “Why is it,” he said, that one time at the subway entrance, “I feel I’ve known you so many years?” “Because I like you,” she said, “and I don’t want anything from you. And

The phoenix represents transformation because it rose out of the ashes. As Granger tells the story “There was a silly damn bird called a phoenix back before Christ, every few hundred years he built a pyre and burnt himself up. But every time he burnt himself up, he sprang out of the ashes” (Bradbury 177). The phoenix rising out of the ashes shows transformation because goes through a transformation from burnt to alive as it rises from the ashes. The phoenix shows transformation because it was the rebirth of mankind as it rose through the ashes. As Granger continued the story he mentions “He got himself born all over again” (Bradbury 177). The phoenix transforming from burnt to newly born as it rose through the ashes signifies the rebirth of mankind because it went from old to new. If the fire was shown any other way in the novel, it would no longer represent