Montag Analsys Essay

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Character Analysis: Guy Montag

        What would you do if an idea of love ran through your body like a virus and changed everything you ever knew?  What if that love had a power of its own, and you knew you had to change something? What if that love was for books and the power inside them?  In the science fiction book Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury conveyed a message about this concept of books through a character Guy Montag. Throughout the plot, he steadily grows and changes; by the end of the book, he is a completely different person.

        Montag worked for the government as a fireman, burning the homes of "criminals" who dare to possess books. At the start of the novel, Montag’s charcoal hair soft-colored brows and blush ash smeared checks, created an unshaven look, that conformed to him to appear in unison to other coworkers. He was a part of the totalitarian system, where he lived without thought or question about his role in society. The book opens with, “it was a pleasure to burn.” We can infer from the very beginning that Montag is very in tune with what the society has taught him to believe. Montag enjoyed his cruel and destructive work; he was amused when watched the suffering he inflicted upon others. Despite the seeming pleasure he receives from his job, Montag began to think something was missing in the life.

        Montag’s life began to change when he met Clarisse, a seventeen-year-old neighbor; he was amazed at her independent thinking and open defiance of convention. She was not amused by their society, which challenged Montag when she asked him if he is happy. When faced with this question, Montag acknowledged that his life had no meaning.  The more he thought about it, the more he was dissatisfied with the vacuum of his own life. He then admitted, “He was not happy,” on page 12. This made him self aware because he recognized his problems within himself. He was aware of his feelings. He felt a deep sense of guilt and pain because of the condition of society. From that point on, he wanted to revolutionize himself. Montag was poised for change, ready for a new, more meaningful existence; he then showed how he was no longer living as "one" within society, which focused a lot on his "happiness". Thereby, Clarisse was the first who encouraged Montag on his way to self-awareness.

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         Montag then created an internal conflict within himself.  He then changed the way he thought about his job further when he witnessed a women kill herself. Although this woman was caught with her book, she did not kill herself  because of that fact. She killed herself to prove that she couldn’t live without her books, and proved that there is a deeper meaning within them. In fact, Montag realized this on page 51 when he said, “there must be something in books, things that we can’t image, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something ...

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