Theme Of Rebellion In Fahrenheit 451

Imagine a world where books are banned and treated like terrorists of the mind. Imagine a place where the government controls what people say and do. Imagine a world without Shakespeare, Twain, Steinbeck or Harper Lee. If this world would contain the elements just listed, how would the world be impacted by the banning of books? This question is answered in Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451. Montag Guy, the protagonist of the novel, is one of many firemen in this dystopian society whose main job is to burn literature. Throughout the novel Montag starts to inquire about the value of his profession and his life. While he is struggling with this he flees his oppressive and censored society and joins an off the grid group of intellectuals. In
In the novel, a rebellion is sparked by Montag when he killed Captain Beatty when Beatty tries to burn Montag’s house, “You always said, don’t face the problem, burn it. Well, now I have done both” (147). Montag commits the first physical act in the rebellion against the government. In truth, throughout the novel Montag and Clarisse, a character readers meet in the beginning, and Professor Faber are reading and memorizing books, which can be seen as an act of rebellion. The burning of Beatty is the first major act of revolt. After Beatty is gone, the society sends out the mechanical hound to find Montag, as he is on the run. When Montag approaches the river, he meets a group of people who memorize books to retain the information in them. “‘I am Plato’s Republic… We are all bits and pieces of history and literature and international law’” (177). This group of “rebels” so to speak, are each a book. These citizens went off the grid and retained the information the government forbid. When people are unhappy they are going to find a way to make the world their own and fight back. To go along with this, in the concluding pages of the novel Montag’s city is destroyed, “And in that instant saw the city, instead of the bombs, in the air… the city stood, rebuilt and unrecognizable” (185). The city he had known his whole life, suddenly gone but Montag was not going to give up. Montag and the group of rebels he has befriended made their way to the city, “A time to break down, and a time to build up… there was a tree of life… And the leaves of the tree were for healing of the nations.” (190). The goal now was to rebuild, but rebuild in the way that is beneficial for everyone in society. In conclusion, rebellion would be an effect if the government forbid books throughout