Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Fahrenheit 451

Good Essays
535 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Fahrenheit 451
We are reading a classic bestseller by Ray Bradbury entitled Fahrenheit 451.

Guy Montag is a fireman who's job is to burn books. Guy violates the rules by starting to read this makes many people mad. There is now a whole bunch of problems throughout the department and at home. Each one of the characters can fit into a certain archetype. An archetype is a certain category of personalities for each character. There are many characters in this book that can fit into several different cultural archetypes.

I think that Captain Beatty portrays the perfect villain archetype in the book, I will show you why with some quotes. "The whole house is going up."(38) This quote is when they go to the old woman's house to burn books. Captain Beatty decides they should burn the whole house down instead of just the books, he is also killing a woman. "Here we are."(110) This quote comes when they pull up to the house that they got the call from. Beatty says in a happy voice "here we are." Montag sees that it is his house and Beatty is liking the fact that Montag is suffering. Beatty is a villain because he is violating everything, and I guess committing crimes but he is also tricking Montag into doing these acts of crime too.

Montag fits perfectly into the archetype of a rebel, I will now explain why. "We begin by beginning."(68) This quote comes when Montag shows Mildred all the books he has been hiding.

She asks him where do they begin and Montag answers. "Dover Beach."(99) This quote comes when all of Mildred's friends are meeting with each other. Montag listens and doesn't like what they have to say. He reads a poem called "Dover Beach" and the women are mad that he decided to read, so they leave and go home. Montag is being a rebel because no one is supposed to read books, especially Montag. This is why I think that Montag is a rebel.

The man named Faber portrays the perfect caretaker arcetype in the book.. "Your coming along fine too."(91) This quote comes when Faber gives Montag an earpiece. Faber is now going to make sure Montag knows what to say when he goes back to the fire department to talk to Beatty. "It's an insidious plan, if I do say so myself."(86) He tells Montag this because they are taking a big risk by reprinting books. If they get caught they would be killed. I think that Faber is a perfect caretaker because he is watching over Montag in away.

There are many characters in the book that fit into several different cultural archetypes.

In this essay I have told you some of the characters that fit into certain archetypes. I think that each one of them could fit into many archetypes. Faber and Montag are good people, because they are willing to help and try new things. Captain Beatty is a manipulative type of person he can act nice or he can be as bad a person as you can be. I think that there are so many characters that fit in different archetypes, that Ray Bradbury did an excellent job when he wrote this classic bestseller.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury uses character development to support the theme of the importance of knowledge versus ignorance of knowledge. The knowledge books contain is ignored by society because of strict laws that prohibit people from reading books, and requires the burning of books. The law also influences people to ignore the knowledge contained in books with the hope of creating an equal society. Throughout the novel Guy Montag transforms through his interactions with others and self-realization to support the theme of the importance of knowledge versus ignorance of knowledge. He changes from a man who burns books, to one who enjoys and sees the value in them.…

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Guy Montag: He's the main character of this novel. He is a fireman. He is married with Mildred Montag. He is not happy. He is also curious and brave.…

    • 212 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Montag grows increasingly dissatisfied with his life the more he talks with Clarisse. He starts to wonder if perhaps books aren’t so bad after all, and even steals one from a house he burns down. Meanwhile Clarisse disappears, and his boss, Captain Beatty, is growing suspicious. He lectures Montag on the dangers of books and explains the origin of their profession. Far from rejuvenated, Montag feels more rebellious than ever. He spends the afternoon with his wife reading a secret stash of books…

    • 1320 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the book Fahrenheit 451 Montag was the main character. Montag had a very important job as a fireman. He had worked on the force for a while living an average life up until he met Clarisse McClellan. Clarisse was a very odd girl who loved school and to reminisce the old stories about the old times her uncle had told her. Many people believe that Montag is not a hero, but that is simply not true. Montag's actions above all and are actions of a hero, in spite of his flaws. First off I will tell you why and how Montag did what needed to be done. Next, I will tell you how Montag was helpful. Last, I will tell you how Montag took responsibility for his own actions.…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Montag’s views on society changes throughout Fahrenheit 451 as he reads books and meets several characters. Such as Clarisse, Beatty, and Faber. Clarisse asks questions that open his eyes to the emptiness of his life and society. Beatty who ruthlessly manipulates and bullies him with his vast knowledge of literature. Then, Faber who uses him to do what he could not because of his cowardice. Montag is a very conflicted character, when he starts reading books he is overwhelmed and confused by the complexity of what he has never seen before. This confusion leads him to make some terrible decisions.…

    • 384 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As Montag gains knowledge of what the world could be his traits develop to change him into a new man. In the beginning, Montag gets pleasure from fire. He burns “illegally owned books in the houses of their owners” for a living (F451 Summary). He “[grins] the fierce grin of all men,” making the reader feel that Montag is sadistic (Bradbury 4). Later on in the book, Montag burns Beatty alive because “he [knows] he [is] two people” and Montag needed to be different. As Montag starts change, he experiences internal conflict.…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Beatty’s death gave Montag a new way of life by forcing him to understand what he has done. That it is a harsh world and it is either burned or be burned (125). Upon this realization Montag is on the run, fighting for his life. “Yes, he thought, where am I running?” (124). The Montag before is gone and a new Montag is born. Now, there is a Montag who cares, a Montag who sees the truth in the lies, a Montag who is on a mission to repair society.…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    At the beginning of the novel Guy Montag, he seems to be a simple man. He never questions his government’s policy of burning books. Instead he found great gratification in his job of burning books and the homes that housed illegal books. The book explains the love he had for his job; “Montag grinned the fierce grin of all men singed and driven back by flame. He knew that when he returned to the firehouse, he might wink at himself, a minstrel man, burnt corked, in the mirror. Later, going to sleep, he would feel the fiery smile still gripped by his face muscles, in the dark. It never went away, that smile, it never ever went away, as long as he remembered.”…

    • 527 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout Ray Bradbury’s bestselling novel Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag’s wife Mildred is introduced, described, and explored. From start to finish the novel tells us of Mildred’s fears, changes our perception of her, and most importantly, describes who and what she represents. But the question is, who is this apparently cowardly, inconsistent zombie of a character.…

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Montag was your average firefighter in his ignorant community, who did what was told without hesitating. Until he decided to rise against and fight for what he believed. Despite his flaws Montag’s thoughts and actions are those of a hero. He is brave and a leader, he values knowledge, and he learns from his mistakes and tries to fix them.…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Granger welcomed Montag into their group, and almost completed Montag’s transformation. Granger handed out an unknown liquid, but it changed the chemical index of his perspiration and made him smell [especially to the hound] like a different person. As Montag converses with Granger, he says that “even if she [Mildred] dies, I realized a moment ago, I don’t think I’ll feel sad.” Montag realized the relationship he had with Mildred, had zero connection and love. He says this independently and without assistance. It shows how Montag has learned to think in a more complex way than his previous members of society. Even Though Montag had just met Granger, Granger’s impact on Montag was monumental, and he is now completely dependant on his independent thoughts, which develops the theme to stand up for one’s beliefs. All in all, Montag has been developing into an intelligent character over a short period of time, with the assistance of Clarisse, Faber, and Granger, which develops the theme of standing up for one’s beliefs, in Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Using Clarisse McClellan as a catalyst, Bradbury begins to show how Montag questions his perceptions of society, which creates an inner conflict within himself. Before Montag met Clarisse, he was a proud fireman always ready to start a fire…

    • 1175 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Towards the beginning of the book, Montag meets a girl named Clarisse. The relationship that they share together causes him to slowly rearrange his beliefs from doing his job and enjoying the violence and destruction, to now realizing that books are a wonderful thing and his job is corroding his life and his relationships with others. Most people can relate to this type of relationship because most people are influenced by the people they hang out with, like Montag was with his friendship with Clarisse. Later on, when he is running away from the government after he killed Beatty, he starts to wonder if all of the things that he did were worth it. He also thinks about if he should have done what he did. While this conflict occurs, the author demonstrates that the violence that Montag has caused has been destroying his life and that the technology around him is disrupting his interactions with other people, just like in our society.…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    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…

    • 1355 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    All books have one thing in common: Theme. In Fahrenheit 451, books are burned and against the law. Guy Montag, a curious fireman who burns books, is taught some important things about life by a mysterious girl named Clarisse. When she disappears, Montag is forced to take the matter into his own hands. In the novel, Ray Bradbury discusses many themes. The three main themes were: Conformity vs. Individuality, Freedom of Speech and the Consequences of Losing It, and The Importance of Remembering and Understanding History.…

    • 810 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics