Ignorance is an odd thing. Many people berate people who are unknowing, but then always say that ignorance is bliss. Is ignorance truly bliss? Yes, ignorance is a true bliss, because when someone is ignorant, they will never know. Ignorant people don’t have the knowledge to understand that they are anything but oblivious. When people are oblivious to the world’s problems, they are naturally happier, they don’t have the knowledge ruining their lives. Who is happier, the man who questions the meaning of life or the man who doesn’t need to?
Think of Montag before he meets Clarisse, he is pleased and comfortable with his life. He does not question, he does his job, which he takes pride in, goes home to his beautiful wife, and enjoys himself. He does not crave the knowledge since he doesn’t know that it’s there. It’s how the author introduces Montag; “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.” (4) Montag smiles while destroying the knowledge that he later goes on to crave and risk death for. He is ignorant, and he content while being so.
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He is desperate, he has lost everything that he loves and is now decimated. Clarisse has died, he burned a woman for doing the exact thing he’s doing now, his wife betrayed him, he lost his home, he killed a man, and he will never see Faber again. His life is in shambles and everything he loves has gone. Montag’s feelings of despair show when the bombs drop; “Montag, lying there, eyes gritted shut with dust, a fine wet cement of dust in his now-shut mouth, gasping and crying, now thought again, I remember, I remember, I remember something else.” (160) Montag his crying for his family, and all he has to comfort him is Ecclesiastes and Revelation. He only as his knowledge to cling, and in the end, is it worth
He is always following others' rules and he never has a chance to decide and act based on his own ideas and moral standards. In most occasions, Montag is just a reflection of people's expectations. Montag's job consisted of setting fires (which is very ironic) and burning books because knowledge was considered a threat to the higher authorities. In his community people never had time to appreciate the little things around them; their lives were driven by technology and entertainment. However, one day he met a girl named Clarisse, she made Montag realize that he was not happy and that things in his community were not right.
He was not happy. He said the words to himself. He wore his happiness like a mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back" (Bradbury 9). Here, Montag realizes the fictitious illusion of happiness that society has put him under, thanks to Clarisse’s inquisitions.(STEWE-2) When Montag meets with Clarisse again, he continues to wonder about his previous thoughts and his beliefs.
In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, Montag, the protagonist and book burner, battles between the light and dark sides of society, first with Beatty, his boss, and the government and then with Clarisse, a neighbor girl and Faber, an English professor. Montag is stuck in the dark burning books and is ignorant to the world around him. He moves towards greater awareness when he meets Clarisse and is awakened to the wonders of deep thought and books. Finally, he risks his life by trying to save the books.
Guy Montag a firefighter but instead he starts the fires. In the book Fahrenheit 451, Montag Mildred, and Beatty are impacted by the alienation. By looking at Montag, one can see he is lost which is important because he has to go to other people for help. Everyone around him was alienated from the real world and believe everything they hear.
In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury the character known as Montag is ironic. On the first page of the novel, it states “With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world,...” This shows irony because Montag is introduced to the readers as a fireman. This quote explains to us that Montag is the one shooting venomous kerosene at the world, or in other words he is the one making the fire. Montag’s wife, Mildred however does not show irony, but shows lackadaisical behavior.
So he began a pursuit of knowledge; making enormous changes internally; while showing his personal imperfections externally. Without a doubt, Montag proved to be a dynamic, three dimensional character. To be sure, learning about the world's complexities adds meaning to one's life and makes it so that true happiness can
Knowledge and Ignorance in Fahrenheit 451 Imagine a society where all books are banned from the public and if any are found they are burned into ashes. This is a reality in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, which delves deep into problems a society becoming more and more dependant on technology may face. In Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury shows many problems which range from technology to violence, one important topic that is discussed is knowledge and the theme that a society cannot function without knowledge You can clearly see this idea starting to form within the first few pages of the novel, when the protagonist Guy Montag has an interaction with a girl named Clarisse. As they are talking Guy Montag says “You think too many things”(pg 9).
Is ignorance bliss, or do knowledge and learning provide true happiness? The book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury depicts a dystopian society, the main character in the novel Guy Montag is a fireman, in his society books have been banned by the government in fear of independent-thinking by their citizen. Montag starts to question the government and whether the government 's motives behind books are just. In the story Fahrenheit 451 the main character, Montag is constantly questioning his decisions, ideas, and what is wrong and what is right. In Fahrenheit 451 Montag 's encounters, the parlor walls, books, and people whom he meets reveal the idea that knowledge leads to happiness and that, with ignorance, you only wear a mask of happiness.
At the end of the novel, Montag is not in the best place in his life. He was talking to Faber and he said, “this is happening to me” (108).
Bombs, guns, suicides, homicides, and murders won’t destroy a society, ignorance will. Guy Montag lives in a technology filled dystopian future where they burn books and knowledge. As one of the book burning fireman Montag starts to question his beliefs and how everyone act the same. He ends up stealing books and killing his old friend and runs away into the woods, just before his old world gets bombed. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 author Ray Bradbury exposes the idea that ignorance and lack of knowledge lead to violence and destruction; this becomes clear when burning of books start a war and end up destroying the civilization without the people even realizing.
He tried desperately to get others to see his ways. In fact on page 100 he even revealed a book to his wife's friends. “ But Montag was gone and back in a moment with a book in his hand”. It was clear montag's goal was to try and open up someone’s eyes, anyones
As Clarisse questions why Montag begins to think about his actions and how they affect people as well as society. The reader realizes Montag is a puppet in the dystopian society following the protocol as he is told by society. Montag’s inability to reason with what he is doing makes him gullible. Montag’s society would consider him dangerous within his society, but in reality he is escaping what is a dysfunctional.
Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is a classic novel that challenges authority through self-discovery and growth. The main character Guy Montag is a dedicated fireman. He enjoys his job, watching pages of books become nothing more than burnt ash. He has never questioned anything before, nor has he had a reason to. That is, until he encounters three important individuals that seem to influence a change in Montag and ultimately change his world.
This passage consists of the scene in the firehouse, where Montag asks what happened to the man who hid the books at a fire they had started the previous week. What is odd about this is that in the dystopia, wanting to converse and express ideas is seen as strange, and rarely done, showing he is now thinking for himself. Despite this, Montag shares his curiosity, and even expresses his empathy, saying that ,"No", any man whose house and books are burned down must go through a stage of suffering for a reason, and therefore should not be deemed insane. This shows growth in his character, and shows the reader he is not the prideful and content character he was at the beginning, as he has become aware and is deciding that the work of a fireman
Wayne Dyer once said, “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don 't know anything about.” In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, ignorance is a common theme portrayed throughout the novel. It sets the impression of how all of the characters feel due to a society that has outlawed books. Guy Montag is a firefighter, whose job is to burn the books. Yet, he often steals them without the chief firefighter, or anyone else knowing.