Significance Of Fire In Fahrenheit 451
Throughout the novel Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury we see a world where books and knowledge is no more and where the destruction of all books is handled by Firefighters. Reading through the novel you are taken through the life of Guy Montag a Firefighter who has lost his hope on his profession and wants to find a meaningful way to live his life. Through a quest to find knowledge, going against his profession Montag starts preserving and reading books instead of burning them. This causes an immense amount of trouble for him causing him to have to flee the city to find refuge with a group of exiled professors who will in time give Montag a new outlook on books and knowledge. Fire is a major symbol and plays a major role in the way Montag
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The changes in understanding of fire would change Montag’s mental state as well as how he lead his life from start to end. It is said “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (Bradbury 1). Montag early in the novel loves to burn, he looked to it as a pleasure to do somewhat as a necessity in his life. Fire changed completely the object that was being burned it would never look the same. Fire in this manner showed a symbolism of change, Montag not completely understanding this yet loved the change and effect that it left but that would change later in the book. As Montag’s life progressed he understood that what he was doing was wrong, thus making him want to rebel against authority. As Montag’s understanding of fire starts to change he says “Fool thought Montag to himself, you’ll give it away. At the last fire, a book of fairy tales, he’d glanced at a single line. “I mean,” he said, “in the old days, before homes were completely fireproofed-” Suddenly it seemed a much younger voice was speaking for him. He opened his mouth and it was Clarisse McClellan saying, “Didn’t firemen prevent fires rather than stoke them up and get them going” (Bradbury 31). In this quote it shows how Montag’s understanding is changing he is now starting to believe that fire is not good and shouldn’t be used. He has finally understood what
The changes in understanding of fire would change Montag’s mental state as well as how he lead his life from start to end. It is said “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (Bradbury 1). Montag early in the novel loves to burn, he looked to it as a pleasure to do somewhat as a necessity in his life. Fire changed completely the object that was being burned it would never look the same. Fire in this manner showed a symbolism of change, Montag not completely understanding this yet loved the change and effect that it left but that would change later in the book. As Montag’s life progressed he understood that what he was doing was wrong, thus making him want to rebel against authority. As Montag’s understanding of fire starts to change he says “Fool thought Montag to himself, you’ll give it away. At the last fire, a book of fairy tales, he’d glanced at a single line. “I mean,” he said, “in the old days, before homes were completely fireproofed-” Suddenly it seemed a much younger voice was speaking for him. He opened his mouth and it was Clarisse McClellan saying, “Didn’t firemen prevent fires rather than stoke them up and get them going” (Bradbury 31). In this quote it shows how Montag’s understanding is changing he is now starting to believe that fire is not good and shouldn’t be used. He has finally understood what