In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, protagonist Guy Montage sets out on an impossible task to reveal knowledge from the past by performing acts Of civil disobedience that challenge his society along with all those living in it; however, Montage charm ere must go through dramatic changes in order to do so. In a community where books are burned and those who possess them and the wisdom they hold are killed or admitted into insane asylums, M Anton has to discover the truth behind books despite the danger it brings him.
Not only is Montage putting himself at risk, but he is also jeopardizing his marriage with his wife, Mildred, as well as his relations hip with his boss, Beauty, who is skeptical of the secrets Montage is hiding. In , by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montage character goes through drastic changes, which enTABLE him to perform acts of civil disobedience and influence others in the society around him. In “The Hearth and the Salamander”, the realization and development Mont gag experiences as a character allows him to challenge the government and perform acts of civil did subsidence.
To the rest of society Montage’s character is viewed as an everyday citizen. Not only is he ma ride to his wife, Mildred, who stares at the television all day watching the government’s brain washing shows, but in addition Montage has one of the most important jobs in his society, a fireman. At the beginning of the Hell 2 kook, these two aspects of Montage life contribute to making him one of the most loyal citizens within his society, seemingly incapTABLE of ever rebelling against the government. As a fireman, Montage’s number one priority is to find any last trace of books existing in his community y and to burn them.
The job Of a fireman is highly respected within Montage’s community because Of the e governments strict policy on books; they believe that books hold wisdom and knowledge too con traversal to the world, and should be burned because of it. At first, Montage enjoys his job as a fireman, he says, “It was a leisure to burn. It was a pleasure to see things blackened and changed. ” (1). By saying so, Montage shows how at the beginning of the book he is a very medallion’s person much like the rest of the society.
The utter destruction and burning associated with his job brings pleas ere to Montage, and he is content living in a life where he is being completely controlled by the governs .NET. Montage doesn’t even question what his purpose in life is or why he is doing what he is doing, he just does it because he is told to do so. As the first book continues, Montage character is exposed to new concepts including a gibber, Claries, who questions Montage about his life and then mysteriously y disappears.
In addition, he encounters a woman, who continues to burn her collection of books along with herself because she would rather die than live a life without them. It is during these events when Montage has his true call to adventure, and uncharacteristically begins to steal books. Finally, he admits to his wife, but more importantly to himself that, “l suddenly realized didn’t like them [the firemen ] at all, and I didn’t like myself at all anymore. And thought maybe it would be best if the firemen the messes were burnt. ” (64).
Montage now realizes that before, burning was the only thing fulfilling hi m in life, but all along the burning was what caused him to stray away from the ultimate fulfillment, the knowledge within books. By saying this aloud, Montage realizes that he must absorb the knowledge in t he books so he is TABLE to impact others along with himself. Throughout book one of Fahrenheit 451 Montage changes from one that destroys books to one that needs them, which enTABLEs him to resist the g overspent and lead him on the path to civil disobedience.
Hell 3 In book two of , the “Sieve and the Sand”, Montage’s character begins to agonize what is truly wrong with his society, and takes action against the go Vermont through acts of civil disobedience. When Montage first starts reading the books, he encourages his wife to obtain the knowledge with him; however, despite his persistent attempts he is unTABLE to sway Mildred from her beloved television. Because he is unTABLE to fully understand the books himself f, Montage decides he must go to his friend Faber, who is an old professor and has a vast knowledge of boo kooks.
On the way to his house, Montage tries to take in as much of the book as he can, but I?s no use. The government produced advertisements playing around him are so distracting, but it is not until now t hat Montage truly recognizes this. When finally reaching Barber’s house, Montage is disgusted and says, “Nobody listens anymore. I can’t talk to the walls because they re yelling at me. Can’t talk m y wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what have to say. And maybe if talk I Eng enough, ITIL make sense. (78). The frustration Montage experiences are all let out when he discern NSA the fact that all these years he has been living in such a corrupt society that has been controlling hi m, and that those Montage specially loves, such as Mildred, are helpless. This realization truly changes Montage character that now has a deep hatred for the government, and will do anything to destroy it. When Montage returns home from Barber’s, he finds Mildred with ;o friends. After over hearing the women’s conversation, Montage is enraged.
He comes to realize it is people like this who are ruining t heir society; Mildred along with her friends are so blind and naive, but are only like this because of the government. Montage yells at the women, “Go home and think of your first husband divorced and y o second husband killed n a jet and your third husband blowing his brains out, go home and think of t he dozen abortions you’ve had, go home and think that and your damn Cesarean sections, too, and you r children who hate your guts! Go home and think how it all happened and what did you ever do to stop p it?
Go home, go home! ” (98). At this point, Montage is so fed up with his wife, and her friends and their simplemindedness that Hell 4 he outright tells them how terrible they are and how much they disgust him. By expressing this he is telling the women that he does not care what the “societal norm” is, if revolting g against the government s what it takes to influence others into reading books. Montage has gone from becoming curious about books to raging over how the government has stolen his right to knowledge a s well as stealing his wife away from him.
The changes Montage character goes through are essential f or him conduct civil disobedience and ultimately achieve freedom from the controlling government NT. In the final book of , “Burning Bright”, Montage character fully develops. During the most action packed scene Of the book, Montage is working at the fir e station, when suddenly an alarm goes off and the firemen are forced to leave their station due to a it being sent in that there was someone in possession of books.
This job has gotten increasingly harder for Montage, because he is now aware of the ultimate truth within books, but the task becomes even moor e difficult when Montage finds out that the house the fire truck pulls up to is his own. An enraged Beat y instructs Montage to burn down his house, but after Montage obeys he continues to burn Beauty as well as the rest of the firemen around him. Prior to killing Beauty, Montage says to him, ‘We never buy Rene right… “(113). Montage realizes that he along with hundreds of others have been burning the rang thing.
Instead of setting fire to the source of all knowledge and wisdom they should have been burning the repressive government. As Montage burns his house and the men, he maliciously defies the government NT and everything it stands for . The act shows how Montage hits his breaking point, but now, he must run. Montage tries to run to the river like Faber instructs, but all around him are the many families watching their television and hearing about Montage’s murder and runaway. When he FL anally reaches the river, Montage sees a fire burning in the distance; however, it was, “a strange fire beck use it meant something different to him.
