Fahrenheit 451 is set in a future world where activities like reading books, driving slowly, and walking outside are forbidden. In this society, firemen are responsible for burning books. Guy Montage, the protagonist and a fireman, takes pride in his profession and expects admiration from others. He derives pleasure from witnessing the transformation brought by the fires he sets, including the books he destroys. The smell of kerosene also appeals to him. Throughout this phase of his life, Montage is influenced by various individuals.
Claries McClellan, a young and beautiful girl, plays a significant role in inspiring Montage to embrace individuality and deeper appreciation for nature. She describes herself as a “seventeen and crazy” person who belongs to an eccentric family that engages in peculiar activities like conversing and walking. One evening, while walking home together, Claries poses a thought-provoking question to Montage: “Are you happy?”. This question deeply impacts him as it prompts self-reflection and the realization that he is not experiencing happiness.
Montage is influenced by another man named Faber to rebel against book burning. While on the job, Montage has to burn a woman and her books. Despite claiming that his hand acted on its own, Montage steals a book. He then decides to read the stolen book, along with 20 others that he has hidden in his ventilator, in an attempt to overcome his ignorance. However, he struggles to understand the content of the books and seeks help from an old retired professor named aver, whom he met in the park a year ago.
A man seeks assistance from Faber to create a replica of a book as he is required to surrender it to Beauty within a day. Faber clarifies that the man does not actually need books, but rather the information and qualities that were once found in books. He points out that the same content can be present in the “parlor families” of today, which include televisions and radios, yet these devices fail to exhibit the same level of intricate detail and awareness. Three crucial elements are absent.
