Part of ISU Essay

This intriguing novel, Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, is played out in a futuristic city that is plagued by a nuclear war. The main character in this novel is a tall, dark-haired man named Guy Montag. Montag’s occupation is firefighting and unlike nowadays, firemen in this futuristic city burn books rather then put out fires. The reason they are employed to destroy all of the books is to hide what lies inside of them from the people. The country where all of this is taking place is run by a totalitarian government, which has chosen to use censorship as a reason to destroy anything they do not feel is right. Throughout this book, Bradbury paints us a picture of pure irony throughout the life of the main character, Guy Montag. Montag lives in a futuristic world where happiness is the central importance of every living person. " Happiness is important. Fun is everything" (70). Montag shows the irony in an average person’s search for happiness in this futuristic world through his career choice and lifestyle, fight against censorship, and his epic battle to bring back books to the world.

Throughout this novel people live every day searching for their own happiness in life. "What do we want in this country, above all? People want to be happy, isn't that right? Haven't you heard about it all your life? I want to be happy, people say. Well, aren't they? Don't we keep them moving, don't we give them fun? That's all we live for, isn't it? Colored people don't like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don't feel good about Uncle Tom's Cabin. Burn it." (65). This quote sums up Montag’s job which is to burn books to keep people from reading them, therefore keeping them happy. Montag is an average man who enjoys what he does for a living. Bradbury describes the pleasure Montag gets in doing his job and what it means to him through quotes such as "It was a pleasure to burn" (19) or “He would feel the fiery smile still gripped by his face muscles, in the dark” (19) . In this novel Montag wears a helmet that has a large number 451 on the front of it which signifies the temperature at which books burn. As the novel starts off, Montag is portrayed as a reliable worker who never looks at what is inside of the books that he burns. This lack of interest in reading books eventually changes, when he happens to meet Clarisse on his way home from work. The pair begin talking and, when Clarisse discovers that Montag is a fireman, she raises the point that firemen, once upon a time, would put out fires rather then start them. This comment has Montag thinking that Clarisse is somewhat of dreamer so he shrugs it off and changes the subject. Becoming rather annoyed by this, Clarisse again brings up the subject of reading, which Montag believes makes people unhappy and unsociable. He announces that he has better things to do in his life than read books. Sensing that Montag’s patience is beginning to wear thin, Clarisse changes the subject to something less stressful. Their conversation continues until the pair reaches Clarisse’s front steps. Before making her way inside Clarisse asks Montag a simple, but penetrating, question which is “Are you happy?" (24). Montag, thinking that this question is completely absurd, answers quickly stating that of course he is. After Clarisse leaves his side, Montag asks himself if he really is happy and to that he answers "Happy! Of all the nonsense. Of course I'm happy. What does she think?, I'm not? he [silently] asked" (24). The one single question that Clarisse had asked Montag only a few hours earlier would eventually change the course of Montag’s life greatly.

After a sleepless night, Montag finally decides to continue his discussion with Clarisse. The next morning he heads off to work and anxiously awaits his encounter with Clarisse. Once together, they get into a long discussion about her belief in books and what life used to be like for people. All this sense of mystery begins to draw Montag in, but knowing it’s not the right thing to do, tries to steer himself clear of it all. Days pass by and both Montag and Clarisse go on with their normal lives. Later in the novel Bradbury reveals that Montag has taken a few books and has hidden them around the house, and from time to time enjoys glancing through them. After many nights of glancing over books, Montag begins to question what he does for a living and if he still wants to continue with it. On his day off, Montag decides to meet up with Clarisse once again and discuss the feelings he is having. While talking, Clarisse asks Montag why he chose to be a firefighter in the first place. He believed he was doing the right thing, but now wondered if he was doing more harm then good. Montag and Clarisse decide that they have had enough talking for one day and Montag returns home to his wife. On a day like any other, Montag and his crew get a call to check on a house that has been suspected for containing books. The firemen enter the building and begin interrogating. While searching the house, one of the firemen knocks through a glass pane on the wall to discover a hidden library. Beatty, the chief fireman, states that he has never seen so many books in one place, at the same time. While searching through the library, Montag takes one of the books and sneaks it into his bag. While still in the library, captain Beatty goes through a long explanation with Montag on how books are not worth reading and they are filled with lies and made up stories that will get someone nowhere. When the firemen attempt to burn down the house containing the books the owner, an elderly lady, throws herself onto the books and refuses to move. She says “I would rather die in the place where I started with my books then to keep living without them” (Need to find quote page). The firemen proceed to burn the house down with the woman remaining inside. After the fire, Montag questions why someone would give up their life just for a book, which in turn, gets him wondering what books really do contain and why are people so attached to them. Bradbury later describes the scene of Montag after burning the house with the lady remaining inside of it. "He felt his smile slide away, melt, fold over and down on itself like a tallow skin, like the stuff of a fantastic candle burning too long and now collapsing and now blown out. Darkness. He was not happy. He said the words to himself. He recognized this as the true state of affairs. He wore his happiness like a mask . . . ' " (26). Montag is now beginning to realize that he is truly unhappy and must find a way to resolve this. One night, when Montag begins reading over one of his books, Mildred catches him. Worried, she decides to send in a report against him the next day. Montag remains completely unaware of this and continues to read.