The Metamorphosis of Guy Montag

Ray Bradbury originally wrote his novel, Fahrenheit 451, as an indictment against the censorship evident during the McCarthy era of America, and it has since become one of the few modern science fiction books that can be considered a classic. The adulation of this novel is due to its plethora of symbols, metaphors, and character development. Bradbury's character development is singularly impressive in this book because he shows the evolution of the main character, Guy Montag, "from book-burner to living-book" (Johnson 111). His maturity is displayed by his growing understanding of the world in which he lives and by seeing the flaws in his society. Bradbury illustrates Montag's metamorphosis with him changing from a mindless burning drone to his maturation and acceptance into a society of like-minded booklovers.

The first words of Bradbury's novel state, "it was a pleasure to burn" (Bradbury 3). These words sum up the beginning character of Montag; he enjoys burning, and his job is to "answer alarms not to put out fires, but to start them (Moore 103). Guy Montag is a fireman, a man who is trained to spray kerosene on books, and light them in a spectacular show. He has never questioned his job or the reasoning behind burning books. He takes pride in his position, even shines his "beetle-colored helmet" as he hangs it on its hook (Bradbury 4). With fire Montag "bring[s] down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history", and he revels in the power of destruction that fire holds (Bradbury 3). His only view of fire is a product of his job as a fireman; he sees fire as a machine, which simply burns and devours the freedom of the people. In this period of his life, Montag feels comfortable with machine, especially the machines that produce fire. He sees nothing wrong when his wife lip-reads his words instead of listening to him speak. When Montag first meets his young neighbor, Clarisse, he thinks of her in a mechanical mindset (Johnson 111). He sees them