What Does Montag's Conflict In Fahrenheit 451

Montag changes in many ways, one of which is that he changes physically. Guy Montag had been keeping books from the government and was repeatedly spitting out quotes when he talked causing multiple people including his wife to report him. Near the end of the book, after Montag had gotten stabbed by the mechanical hound, he tries to escape while this is going through his head. “A shotgun blast went off in his leg every time he put it down and he thought, you’re a fool, a damn fool... No excuse, though, no excuse.

Montag grows to learn to stand up for his beliefs from Clarisse, the book lady, and the hobos in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. First, Clarisse teaches Montag to stand up for his beliefs by doing it herself. This is proven when Bradbury writes, “I’m antisocial they say… It’s so strange. I’m very social indeed”

Fahrenheit 451 Essay Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is a science fiction piece about a dystopian society in which books are treated as enemies and burned by so-called firefighters. The main character, Guy Montag, is one of these firefighters who meets a girl named Clarisse McClellan who changes his life by teaching him to think about life from a different standpoint. This novel has three parts, and each one relates to fire in a way. In the first one, “The Hearth and the Salamander”, the reader is introduced to Mildred, Montag’s wife who never questions life, and Captain Beatty, Montag’s fire captain who is somehow incredibly knowledgeable.

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.

Montag eventually reaches a point where he can’t stand his normal life anymore. Clarisse, intentionally or not, has shocked Montag back into his childlike curiosity. All he wants to do is learn, something he’s never felt so attached to before. This is how Montag becomes comfortable enough with his wonder to start reading books. Within just a few moments of interaction with her, Clarisse was able to bring back the curiosity in Montag’s

In other words, Clarisse embodies joy because she fearlessly talks about things that in any other case would be considered awkward. For example, while walking back home, Clarisse remarks, “ Are you happy?”(Bradbury 7). Her question is simple, yet for some reason it leaves Montag bewildered. This quote is significant because it paves the way for a new outlook on his life. In other words, Clarisse’s question leads Montag to finding that he is actually very unhappy with his current existence.

One pathos of countless generated in Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 was when Montag begins to question as well as truly notice his life for what it is after talking with Clarisse about topics he never unquestionably talks about. After he is asked about his happiness, Montag begins to evaluate more deeply what is going on in his life and tries to find a fitting answer to this small innocent question. “He felt his smile slide away, melt, fold over and down on itself like a tallow skin, like the stuff of a fantastic candle bring too long and now collapsing and now blown over… He was not happy…” (Bradbury 9). Montag tried quietly laughing the question off by saying he was a happy man, but as he walked into the dark bedroom the mask he portrays as happiness

Montag is extremely curious about books, and the idea of freedom that it drives him crazy. He becomes so crazy that he lies to his wife, and kills his boss. Montag will go to any extent to gain freedom, in the means of breaking laws, and hurting

Montag realizes that not everyone is willing to see the faults in their society. Trying to change that is futile. The reader, in turn, recognizes that many people are afraid of knowing more. They are afraid of seeing the wrong in what was perceived as perfect, as good, as

(AGG) People have rebelled against their society many times because they do not agree with it, such as Martain Luther King Jr; he rebelled against his society in a non-harmful way because he did not agree with how it worked. (BS-1) Before Montag was not guided he agreed and worked alongside his society because of he was the type of person to want to be the ideal person of the society. (BS-2) The things Montag sees and goes through causes him to think about what the society is doing and whether what they are doing is wrong or not.

“you’re not like the others...when I talk, you look at me. When I said something about the moon, you looked at the moon, last night… the others would never do that… that’s why I think it’s so strange you’re a fireman, it just doesn’t seem right for you, somehow” (Pg 21) Clarisse, 17 years old and crazy really makes Montage question who he is as a person. If it weren’t for her, he might not ever have had the thought to go against the society to do what’s right. This relates to the theme because society is trying to change everyone to be the same but because of Clarisse, Montag realizes questions who he is as a person and learns right vs wrong which helps him to stand up against the bad things that society is doing and do the right thing.

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.

His contact with a 17 year old girl named Clarisse McClellan, an elderly woman who was willing to die for her books, and an old professor named Faber, help Montag start to question things and begin a transformation that takes him from the rule following, book burner; to an idea challenging, book reader

It is seen here Montag was following Clarisse’s footsteps and that throughout this novel he was trying to follow what Clarisse stood for. This is accomplished when Montag begins reading and vacates his job. Looking back, it can be seen Montag had an appreciation for Clarisse like a mentor. Clarisse influenced Montag to read books and therefore eventually act

Inspired by this new knowledge, he acts courageously in an attempt to change his life and the lives of those around him. Montag must abandon all previous views and principles he had about society to enable a change. Through the character of Montag, Bradbury suggests that individuals are courageous when they sacrifice themselves for the improvement of society, even when there is a risk of achieving nothing. Initially, Montag seems as static and obedient as all the others in this totalitarian society; however, through talking with Clarisse, Montag’s views change, causing him to question the rules around him.