FREE ESSAY ON FARENHEIT 451

FARENHEIT 451

Fahrenheit 451 is one of Ray Bradbury's most famous, wonderfully crafted accomplishments.
The book was first published in 1933, and its story entails a futuristic world in the
middle of a nuclear war. The totalitarian government of this future forbids its people
from reading or taking a part in other acts that involve individual thinking. The law
against reading is, presumably, fairly new, and the government is faced with the enormous
task of destroying all of its citizens' books. This disposal of books is the profession
of the main character, Guy Montag, who is officially, titled a fireman. He and his crew
raid libraries and homes, burning any books they find before dozens of overjoyed
onlookers interested. Montag's growing dissatisfaction with society comes from his
meeting with Clarisse McClellan, meeting with Faber, and the destruction of the old lady
on Elm Street.
Guy Montag enjoyed his job. He had been a firemen for ten years, and he had never
questioned the pleasure of the midnight run nor the joy of watching pages consumed by
flames...never questioned anything until he met a seventeen-year-old girl who told him of
a past when people were not afraid. This all changes though when, while walking home from
work, he encounters a young girl named Clarisse, who, through her innocence and oblivion
to the world around her, shows him that society is crumbling and that he can be a part of
the solution as everyone else is the problem. Because of the conversation with Clarisse
McClellan, the17-year-old next door neighbor, he realizes that his job he is doing is not
right. This conversation makes him think about what books really have to offer. For the
first time in his life, he questions what he sees around him: his wife overdosing on
pills, Clarisse getting hit by a speeding car and killed, and even the book burning which
he does every night for money. Now understanding that the reason of banning books is
outweighed by the need for individualism My uncle says it was once different(31). He
knows what the government is doing is wrong because he is burning the work of men that
took a lifetime to be written. So Montag's meeting with Clarisse McClellan makes him
understand that he is not happy and not truly in love with his wife. Montag interprets
the world around as mindless pawns that are controlled by the government. Montag attitude
changes from being a burner of books to be a saver of them as the novel progresses. 
Montag's second dissatisfaction with society comes from his initial meeting with Faber.
He first meets Faber in the park on a bench reading a book hidden in Faber's coat. Montag
wonders what is it in books that someone would risk their life for. It causes Montag to
think about books and understanding the need for them. With this Montag is finding the
importance in books, he realizes that he is unhappy and a puppet of the government. By
adopting this attitude, Montag takes the books out of the air-conditioning grille to read
with Mildred, and reads a poem to Mildred's friends. Montag realizes society has
forgotten positive human values such as love, religion, ability to appreciate nature, and
knowledge. 
As he looks at the woman who owns the virtual library which is about to be burned and who
would rather die with her books then live in a jail, he starts think how important
something is that you would die for it. Obcourse, the other firemen dismissed the old
woman as mad. Montag starts to wonder if he will end up the same. That is reason why
Montag decides to slip a book into his pocket during one of the arsons.