9B
2/1/13 Essay 2 “ If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.” In the dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag relates to this quote in the story by going against the government and fighting for books. In the beginning of the novel Montag has no respect for books as he is a fireman and burns peoples house down that is caught with books, but later finds out about the truth of books. This refers to the theme of state-sponsored censorship. In the beginning of the story Montag meets a young girl named Clarisse McClellan. She makes him think, which he isn’t used too. She is the first to change his perspective on books and society. He speaks to her everyday for 7 days, he starts to feel happy around Clarisse and she teaches him how corrupt the government is to the citizens.
In the middle of the novel Montag has a call to burn down a house. The woman whose house they are going to burn down sets her own house on fire. Montag takes this as a sign that there is something special in books that a woman can take her life for them. That night Montag steals a book from the woman’s house. It was a poetry book.
Montag meets up with Faber, an old man he met on the park bench, and tells him to help him. He gets caught by Beatty and is told to set his house on fire. There is a big controversy about finding Montag for reading books. By trying to find the truth about books Montag meets Granger who takes him to a group of intellectuals. They show him how they keep books in their mind instead of their hands.
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