Fahrenheit 451 Essay - Montag's Change of Heart
1
Aaron
Mrs. MacDonald
ENG 2D
April 24, 2012
Guy Montag’s Change of Heart
People always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. This is the case as well in Fahrenheit 451, the novel, written by Ray Bradbury, is the story that follows a normal man, Guy Montag, who lived a normal life in his civilization post apocalptic as a fireman. Although where he is from, it is not a fireman’s duty to put out fires, but rather to burn books. It is because of his profession he battled his conscience to find answers to his many questions. Throughout this book, Montag changed his perceptive on literature in his society for the better because he became a critical thinker and stopped being passive like everyone else where and actually broke away from the rules and started to read books. This is made possible through the influence of his mentor Faber, a teenager named Clarisse, and the elderly lady he was seeing perish in a fire he started to destroy the books she had.
One of Guy Montag’s major influences, I believe, was the seventeen year old “social outcast,” Clarisse McClellan was to blame for Montag’s change of heart towards the rules in his society regarding literature. Clarisse is a belligerent, curious girl. She is being viewed by the citizens of Montag’s dystopian country as anti- social because she did not conform to the society’s norms; she is often asking why something is done rather than how something is done as appose to everyone else in her environment. Although her way of living ultimately leads to her demise when she is struck down by a car, she is the major contributor for Montag’s mid-life identity crisis and the catalyst towards his change as a result. This is evident in the novel because she helped Montag realize that he was not truly in love with his wife, Mildred. While on a walk with Montag through the rain, Clarisse brings on a superstition when she finds the last remaining dandelion in her garden. She says to Montag, “If it
Aaron
Mrs. MacDonald
ENG 2D
April 24, 2012
Guy Montag’s Change of Heart
People always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. This is the case as well in Fahrenheit 451, the novel, written by Ray Bradbury, is the story that follows a normal man, Guy Montag, who lived a normal life in his civilization post apocalptic as a fireman. Although where he is from, it is not a fireman’s duty to put out fires, but rather to burn books. It is because of his profession he battled his conscience to find answers to his many questions. Throughout this book, Montag changed his perceptive on literature in his society for the better because he became a critical thinker and stopped being passive like everyone else where and actually broke away from the rules and started to read books. This is made possible through the influence of his mentor Faber, a teenager named Clarisse, and the elderly lady he was seeing perish in a fire he started to destroy the books she had.
One of Guy Montag’s major influences, I believe, was the seventeen year old “social outcast,” Clarisse McClellan was to blame for Montag’s change of heart towards the rules in his society regarding literature. Clarisse is a belligerent, curious girl. She is being viewed by the citizens of Montag’s dystopian country as anti- social because she did not conform to the society’s norms; she is often asking why something is done rather than how something is done as appose to everyone else in her environment. Although her way of living ultimately leads to her demise when she is struck down by a car, she is the major contributor for Montag’s mid-life identity crisis and the catalyst towards his change as a result. This is evident in the novel because she helped Montag realize that he was not truly in love with his wife, Mildred. While on a walk with Montag through the rain, Clarisse brings on a superstition when she finds the last remaining dandelion in her garden. She says to Montag, “If it