Excerpt
"And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of the books. A man had to think them up. A man had to take a long time to put them down on paper. And I'd never even thought that thought before." - (Bradbury 52)
"What more easily explained and natural? With school turning out more runners, jumpers, racers, tinkerers, grabbers, snatchers, fliers, and swimmers instead of examiners, critics, knowers, and imaginative creators, the word `intellectual,' of course, became the swear word it deserved to be." - (Bradbury 58)
"I saw the way things were going, a long time back. I said nothing. I'm one of the innocents who could have spoken up and out when no one would listen to the `guilty,' but I did not speak and thus became guilty myself. And when finally they set the structure to burn the books, using the, firemen, I grunted a few times and subsided, for there were no others grunting or yelling with me, by then. Now, it's too late."
- (Bradbury 82)
"I get hold of it so it'll never run off. I'll hold on to the world tight some day. I've got one finger on it now; that's a beginning. The wind died."
- (Bradbury 162)
"What more easily explained and natural? With school turning out more runners, jumpers, racers, tinkerers, grabbers, snatchers, fliers, and swimmers instead of examiners, critics, knowers, and imaginative creators, the word `intellectual,' of course, became the swear word it deserved to be." - (Bradbury 58)
"I saw the way things were going, a long time back. I said nothing. I'm one of the innocents who could have spoken up and out when no one would listen to the `guilty,' but I did not speak and thus became guilty myself. And when finally they set the structure to burn the books, using the, firemen, I grunted a few times and subsided, for there were no others grunting or yelling with me, by then. Now, it's too late."
- (Bradbury 82)
"I get hold of it so it'll never run off. I'll hold on to the world tight some day. I've got one finger on it now; that's a beginning. The wind died."
- (Bradbury 162)
Testimonial
The story of Guy Montag from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a very touching piece of literature that shows the passion in humans. Taking place in the 24th century, the protagonist, Guy Montag, is a fireman who works for the government not necessarily to stop fires but to provoke them. The reason being is to burn down houses that contain any type of written content, so books. Montag always questions why he does what he does his whole life as he grows a suspicious feeling of sorrow from doing his job. Montag also grows a feeling of curiosity in the story to the point where he believes that the firemen in his country are doing wrong in burning books as he believes they hold some type of important substance within them. As a person who has recently gotten more into literature books, I can understand Montag, from the perspective of a reader however. From the perspective of a person who doesn't understand the importance of books but still knows they hold something, I can relate to that too. I remember at some point in my life where I didn't care too much about literature but I still knew they held some important information in them. In contrast to Montag, I had my taste of what the books contained but Montag hadn't. That's where his feeling of interest bloomed, Montag wanted to know why they were burning the books by seeing what they contained. I feel like people who might enjoy this very empowering story would seek an interest in this book. One of the many messages from the book is sticking to what one believes in regardless of everyone else's opinions and I believe that's an experience everyone will have to come across at some point in their life. To feel like I'm the only one to believe in something is a feeling I've experienced already so even though it wasn't for the same purpose as Montag's, I was still able to relate to him. Montag felt like the job of a fireman was having a negative impact in his community in some way. This story can be indeed compared to a book I've read earlier with a similar atmosphere to it, 1984 by George Orwell. Both stories take place in a world of fear, discomfort, and questions as there are many answers that the protagonist seek throughout the stories. These worlds known as dystopias are suppose to make the reader feel sort of uneasy, they are meant to make the reader be happy that they don't live in a dystopia. Orwell's 1984 was, in my opinion, a far worse more frightening world compared to Fahrenheit 451 as in Bradbury's piece, one wasn't necessarily killed for owning books but their home was destroyed in flames. Seeing my home incinerated would make me feel upset but knowing I have to die for not obeying Big Brother seems far worse. So overall, one who might've enjoyed 1984 will very likely enjoy Fahrenheit 451 as there's a clear similarity between both stories. I know this as I enjoyed reading 1984 very much so I knew I had to check Fahrenheit 451 as well. I believe that the genre of the book set it aside from the other books. It's a sort of non-fiction dystopian story that creates a lurid atmosphere to it but I still love it. Dystopias are put in the label of "world of fear" but they can vary from so many different limitations to human rights. It can be the freedom of being an individual, being in misery for social status, or limiting what humans are able to learn by being blocked with lies. Bradbury’s piece was focused more on knowledge of people as individuals with the books being the source of intelligence. The people were prohibited from becoming too intelligent as it created unhappiness between people who were able to learn faster and those that take a little more time to process information.
***SPOILERS***
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Metacognitive Reader |
***SPOILERS***
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From the beginning, Guy Montag was just an ordinary fireman that worked to burn books as a living. He didn't know exactly why, he just knew that was his job so he went along with it. It was always present, the hesitance and the questioning about burning books, in the back of Montag’s head. Yet he always ignored this feeling until he came across a young girl named Clarisse McClellan. Clarisse was Montag's young neighbor that still attended school and was turning 17 years old soon. She was a peculiar girl in Montag’s eyes, she was a very cheerful and outgoing person who in school constantly asked the question “why” instead of “how”. This curious nature of Clarisse shows how even young people, that grow up in a dystopia where they never learned that life wasn't always the way it is, still question their government and ask “why”. There's always a point in a human's life when instead of just accepting the facts that their told as information, they begin to ask why the certain information is important. Clarisse was beginning to see this in her life and it just so happens that she came across Montag who had a questioning feeling as well. Their friendship brought back Montag his feelings and that in turn had an effect to Montag, he realized that maybe he isn't the only person that questions his world. Clarisse has told Montag what her thoughts are in school, she questions what being "social" means and she notices that they "never ask questions, or at least most don't; [teachers] just run the answers at you" with no explanation at all (Bradbury 29). Gaining information is useful but when one doesn't understand why they need to learn the information they receive, they begin to question the validity of the knowledge. Is the knowledge they're getting important? Is it even true what they are being taught? It challenges the mind to comprehend their surroundings and understand everything in deeper levels. Shortly after Montag looks forward to seeing Clarisse, she all of a sudden disappeared without any trace and Montag never saw or heard from her again. It wasn't known what happened with her until later on it was Captain Beatty that told Montag that Clarisse had gotten hit by a car and died. While it's very likely it was an accident, the odd situation led to Clarisse's family moving out of town. This can be easily a cover up to maybe a murder of Clarisse. In dystopias or even dictator controlled countries, people disappear when they're seen as a threat. Clarisse could have easily been one of these people because it's strange how both Beatty and MIldred know what happened with Clarisse. Mildred maybe because they were neighbors but she never talked to her face to face. Beatty on the other hand, he is the captain fireman of the town, how did he happen to know Clarisse as an individual when his job is burning houses? Perhaps Clarisse had books in her home and it was destroyed or she really did just die from a car accident. Further on in the story, another person that influenced this reawakened feeling to Montag was an unnamed woman that was reported to have illegal ownership of books in her house. Unlike every person that simply exited their house to avoid the flames, this woman instead told Montag, to his face, that she was going to stay in her home while it burned. Montag didn't want to leave her in there but she pulled out a match to show Montag she was serious. The lady ended up dying in flames with her books and it left the whole crew of firemen speechless once they went back to their station. This scene of the story was a very powerful one as a reader, the woman showed Montag the passion and importance she felt for just pages of text. In Montag's thoughts, he questioned why the woman did what she did, he believed There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house" instead of choosing to live (Bradbury 51). Montag was even more concerned as to the value in books after seeing a woman die with them and taking your life away for something you believe in is a very powerful message to anyone. The woman chose to die alongside her books because she knew the value in them, the knowledge they contained. It appeared as if she just didn't want to live in a world where she can't learn and increase her intelligence. The woman died with pride for what she believed in, for believing in the importance of books. This was most likely the big turn in Montag's opinions of the books because why would someone die for pieces of paper? What is so valuable about books for someone like that lady to die for them? After Montag witnessing the suicide, his chief, Captain Beatty, comes to his house to see how Montag was doing because he notices he was affected by it. Beatty goes on to tell Montag why it is that books are being burned and he goes into very big details. To sum it up, the government had made books illegal due to the unimportance the public felt towards books, even feeling hatred. It was also seen as a waste of time as an example, long novels usually are written to give the reader a message, a theme. However, these novels can easily be constricted down to become even smaller, so small that they become only sentences or even simple words. It was a lot more easy to just teach what the message of the books were than having to read the whole story to interpret the message. The flaw in that is there's no way to understand why the lesson of a story has to be learned. For example, being told not to lie is a lesson that can come from a book. Learning to simply not lie is simple but when someone asks why they shouldn't lie, the answer comes in the form of a story. More complex stories can give off the message but its up to the person interpreting the story to see why they shouldn't lie. This is where that separation of intelligence comes, some see the reason faster than others and for some reason it creates an unhappiness in the world. The idea of narrowing down stories was also brought up in 1984 as well. Winston worked to update the vocabulary in that country so it was being heavily altered and words that all have the same meaning were narrowed down to only one word, making everything a lot more simple. These two circumstances want to create a system of simplicity but it destroys the diversity and creativity in the process. Those who use a more basic struture of words would feel inferior to those that can create art with words so to fix the conflict, their horizon of words are just simply made smaller. Despite Montag’s job of burning homes that contained books, he still kept a stash of books in his home without the consent of his wife. After Beatty left his home, Montag showed his wife, Mildred, the pile of books he kept in an air duct. Panicking, Mildred wanted to get rid of all the books but Montag convinces her to give the books a chance to see if they contain something. This was the confirmation of when Montag gave in to see the value in the books that the woman died for, to see why they make people more intelligent, to get his "why" question answered of the world.
While Montag and Mildred are looking through the books, they hear a sound in their front door. Montag believes it's the eight-legged hound that helps the firemen locate and monitor houses that may contain books but Mildred believes it was just an ordinary dog. This was a foreshadow in the story because Montag was right in saying it was the hound. Both of them were having a conversation as to why the books could've been banned until Mildred was interrupted by a call. Montag then remembers, in the middle of reading, of a man named Faber that he met in a park who used to be an English professor before they were banned. Montag calls Faber but their conversation didn't last as Faber fears that he might have his house burned for knowing about books. Faber is just trying to protect himself from everyone. He just doesn't know if Montag is trying to catch more people who own books. Aiming towards former English teachers is a smart move as books and learning language go hand in hand. To understand books is to understand a language. Montag decides to go visit him at his home and takes a copy of the Bible with him. The copy was obtained from the lady that burned herself. At Faber’s house, Montag wants to forcibly get information from him about what the importance of books is but Faber is very reluctant to do so. So Montag proceeds to torture Faber by taking out his copy of the Bible and ripping pages out of it. Faber finally gives in as he dislikes seeing sacred books being destroyed. The destruction of the only remaining books of history is a pain to those who wished they still lived in the past. Faber's reaction to the ripped Bible proved to Montag that he also cares for books and he knows the importance in them. After Faber and Montag decide to keep in touch, Faber gives Montag an ear piece to communicate with. Once Montag leaves and returns to his house, Mildred had some of her friends in their home. Out of nowhere, Montag felt like he had to have a conversation with Mildred’s friends and he does so by reading them a piece of poetry. The women show a very strong dislike to Montag reading from a book and Faber continuously tells him to stop yet Montag continues to read. The women grew a hatred for books most likely because it's them adapting to their environment. This scene is just and example of two beliefs at opposite ends of the scale. Montag might've thought the women would agree with him yet instead he exposed himself as a threat to the women. After the events in his house, Montag goes to his work place to return the Bible he'd used to get information from Faber. While he was at the workplace, Beatty tells Montag he'd have a dream about him where they were arguing with each other using book quotes. Montag finds out that even Beatty was interested in books at some point in his life but know he commits to burning them. Beatty appears to have become a character that Montag is but Beatty gave in and changed. This could also be seen as a potential foreshadow to Montag's life. Beatty knows what he's going through but he ended up hating literature at the end so as the reader, it appears as Montag can become just another Beatty. They were interrupted by the alarm and they left quickly as another case of a house with books had come up. To Montag’s surprise, the firemen were in Montag’s house.
Montag found out it was Mildred and her friends that had reported Montag. Mildred was not fond of the idea of having books in her house to begin with so she was completely upset when Montag disgusted her friends with a book. It was very likely that Mildred was the one that reported Montag as she knows the stash of books he owns. As Mildred was leaving the house, Montag tries to call her but she leaves quickly and disappears. She had to have her house burned down in the hands of her husband now. After Montag was forced to burn his house by the Captain, Montag then has a heated argument with Beatty. Beatty made Montag burn his own home as maybe a lesson to not read books, Montag then started to show his true feelings of books and the job of a fireman. Beatty then notices the ear piece and he destroys it thus cutting communication between Montag and Faber. Montag is enraged by Beatty during their argument and he warns him that he'll burn him if he doesn't stop his shouting. Beatty knows he's bluffing so he believes he won't do it and taunts him telling him he won't do it. To everyone's surprise, Montag burns Beatty alive and runs out of the scene after knocking his coworkers unconscious. The hound attacks Montag as he's escaping and tranquilizes his leg before Montag burns the mechanical dog as well. Montag runs through the city for a while not knowing what he'll do now as he killed his boss and his wife left him. He runs through the the city until he realizes that he's running to Faber’s home. This instinct of Montag's shows the people he believes in. At this point of the story, Montag had performed his rebellion and there is no turning back now. Faber tells him that he can't be in his home and there were some exiled people out of the city and he can safely live with them. Montag runs through the river and ends up with other homeless people that happen to be committed to books as well. They tell Montag that once it's safe to print books, they'll write literature books from memory as each of them specialized their minds with one book. Their dedication of literacy shows that even though books are burned, the knowledge never dies until the people are killed that know of the stories. In Montag's world, that is the only way to pass down information now. The ending left me with a feeling of hope but at the same time with dissatisfaction. Montag is still alive and he's not alone in this rebellion he's a part of now but he also hasn't made a change in his society, I see it more as a beginning of his true commitment to the importance of books.
Five Questions:
While Montag and Mildred are looking through the books, they hear a sound in their front door. Montag believes it's the eight-legged hound that helps the firemen locate and monitor houses that may contain books but Mildred believes it was just an ordinary dog. This was a foreshadow in the story because Montag was right in saying it was the hound. Both of them were having a conversation as to why the books could've been banned until Mildred was interrupted by a call. Montag then remembers, in the middle of reading, of a man named Faber that he met in a park who used to be an English professor before they were banned. Montag calls Faber but their conversation didn't last as Faber fears that he might have his house burned for knowing about books. Faber is just trying to protect himself from everyone. He just doesn't know if Montag is trying to catch more people who own books. Aiming towards former English teachers is a smart move as books and learning language go hand in hand. To understand books is to understand a language. Montag decides to go visit him at his home and takes a copy of the Bible with him. The copy was obtained from the lady that burned herself. At Faber’s house, Montag wants to forcibly get information from him about what the importance of books is but Faber is very reluctant to do so. So Montag proceeds to torture Faber by taking out his copy of the Bible and ripping pages out of it. Faber finally gives in as he dislikes seeing sacred books being destroyed. The destruction of the only remaining books of history is a pain to those who wished they still lived in the past. Faber's reaction to the ripped Bible proved to Montag that he also cares for books and he knows the importance in them. After Faber and Montag decide to keep in touch, Faber gives Montag an ear piece to communicate with. Once Montag leaves and returns to his house, Mildred had some of her friends in their home. Out of nowhere, Montag felt like he had to have a conversation with Mildred’s friends and he does so by reading them a piece of poetry. The women show a very strong dislike to Montag reading from a book and Faber continuously tells him to stop yet Montag continues to read. The women grew a hatred for books most likely because it's them adapting to their environment. This scene is just and example of two beliefs at opposite ends of the scale. Montag might've thought the women would agree with him yet instead he exposed himself as a threat to the women. After the events in his house, Montag goes to his work place to return the Bible he'd used to get information from Faber. While he was at the workplace, Beatty tells Montag he'd have a dream about him where they were arguing with each other using book quotes. Montag finds out that even Beatty was interested in books at some point in his life but know he commits to burning them. Beatty appears to have become a character that Montag is but Beatty gave in and changed. This could also be seen as a potential foreshadow to Montag's life. Beatty knows what he's going through but he ended up hating literature at the end so as the reader, it appears as Montag can become just another Beatty. They were interrupted by the alarm and they left quickly as another case of a house with books had come up. To Montag’s surprise, the firemen were in Montag’s house.
Montag found out it was Mildred and her friends that had reported Montag. Mildred was not fond of the idea of having books in her house to begin with so she was completely upset when Montag disgusted her friends with a book. It was very likely that Mildred was the one that reported Montag as she knows the stash of books he owns. As Mildred was leaving the house, Montag tries to call her but she leaves quickly and disappears. She had to have her house burned down in the hands of her husband now. After Montag was forced to burn his house by the Captain, Montag then has a heated argument with Beatty. Beatty made Montag burn his own home as maybe a lesson to not read books, Montag then started to show his true feelings of books and the job of a fireman. Beatty then notices the ear piece and he destroys it thus cutting communication between Montag and Faber. Montag is enraged by Beatty during their argument and he warns him that he'll burn him if he doesn't stop his shouting. Beatty knows he's bluffing so he believes he won't do it and taunts him telling him he won't do it. To everyone's surprise, Montag burns Beatty alive and runs out of the scene after knocking his coworkers unconscious. The hound attacks Montag as he's escaping and tranquilizes his leg before Montag burns the mechanical dog as well. Montag runs through the city for a while not knowing what he'll do now as he killed his boss and his wife left him. He runs through the the city until he realizes that he's running to Faber’s home. This instinct of Montag's shows the people he believes in. At this point of the story, Montag had performed his rebellion and there is no turning back now. Faber tells him that he can't be in his home and there were some exiled people out of the city and he can safely live with them. Montag runs through the river and ends up with other homeless people that happen to be committed to books as well. They tell Montag that once it's safe to print books, they'll write literature books from memory as each of them specialized their minds with one book. Their dedication of literacy shows that even though books are burned, the knowledge never dies until the people are killed that know of the stories. In Montag's world, that is the only way to pass down information now. The ending left me with a feeling of hope but at the same time with dissatisfaction. Montag is still alive and he's not alone in this rebellion he's a part of now but he also hasn't made a change in his society, I see it more as a beginning of his true commitment to the importance of books.
Five Questions:
- Can a regular person dying for a noble cause elicit a movement for justice?
- What is more important, knowledge or happiness?
- Is it really worth the loss of your loved ones for a cause you believe in?
- Are books really that important to cause a world of fear?
- Should more people pay attention to the ideas in the back of their mind, or should it be ignored?
Theme
Ray Bradbury’s book Fahrenheit 451 focuses on the way humans learn. Through books, it is impossible to teach humans the how of questions without them questioning the why. It was present in the story with multiple characters both young and old. Guy Montag, the protagonist, was the only character to have gone through a transition with the theme. Montag was at first indifferent about the burning of books but he always questioned why in the back of his mind. It was until he met Clarisse, his young neighbor, and the unnamed woman, the one that burned with her books, that a change finally happened with Montag. The thirst for knowledge was present from the very start. Clarisse was an outcast in her school because she always asked too many questions instead of just accepting lessons as facts, she needed to understand why things were done. Clarisse showed a trait that humans naturally have and that's a trait of curiosity. As described by BBC writer Tom Stafford, "we just love to know the answers to things, even if there's no obvious benefit" and there doesn't need to be one, learning new things is always a fascinating sensation for humans. The woman could also have been similar to Clarisse in her state of curiosity. Not much is known about the woman other than her passion for her books though it very likely that she was influenced by some book that she read that fascinated her enough to maybe even love literature. The woman had to have a strong feeling for books if she chose to burn with them, people don't kill themselves for just anything minor, there has to be valid reason present.
Guy Montag was influenced by these women’s motivation of books and he went through a change in the story as well. The trait of humans wanting to always gain knowledge is present in Montag's personality. Once Beatty had told Montag part of the purpose the government had hired firemen to burn books, it led to Montag wanting to know even more as to what the books contained. If he wasn't curious then, he was certainly now because right after he showed the books he's been keeping for a year to his wife, Mildred. Montag’s curiosity and guarding of books had finally broken loose even though he still worked to burn books for a while. This transition is significant to the theme because it shows that even as older people, curiosity never dies. Montag has always wondered why he burned books in the back of his head. The world that these people live in limits the knowledge they're able to gain so people like Montag are part of that population that break their government's limit of intelligence when they really start to wonder about a certain subject, Montag's case being just what books had within them.
Guy Montag was influenced by these women’s motivation of books and he went through a change in the story as well. The trait of humans wanting to always gain knowledge is present in Montag's personality. Once Beatty had told Montag part of the purpose the government had hired firemen to burn books, it led to Montag wanting to know even more as to what the books contained. If he wasn't curious then, he was certainly now because right after he showed the books he's been keeping for a year to his wife, Mildred. Montag’s curiosity and guarding of books had finally broken loose even though he still worked to burn books for a while. This transition is significant to the theme because it shows that even as older people, curiosity never dies. Montag has always wondered why he burned books in the back of his head. The world that these people live in limits the knowledge they're able to gain so people like Montag are part of that population that break their government's limit of intelligence when they really start to wonder about a certain subject, Montag's case being just what books had within them.