Fahrenheit 451 Change Analysis
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury deals with a dystopian world where firemen start fires instead of putting them out. In the novel a fireman named Guy Montag discovers the true value of books after he burns a woman with her books. The narrative contains a repeating metaphor of fire that serves as a catalyst for Guy Montag's changes throughout the novel. This is manifested in metaphors meaning many different things; the three most important of which are fire enlightening Montag, fire destroying people or society and Montag being reborn. The first important metaphor is the one of enlightenment and how fire brings light or enlightens the world. After Montag visits Faber to learn about more about knowledge and books he returns home to his wife,
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When Montag is at Faber's house for the first time they discussed solutions so that books would no longer be burned. Montag proposed a solution but Faber shot them down because they weren't impactful enough. He said of society “The whole cultures shot through. The skeleton needs melting and reshaping” (Bradbury 83). Faber means that the entire society is so far gone that it needs to be destroyed and a completely new one must rise from the ashes. The people need to be forced to change or else they never will. A huge shock will be required to fix the people's minds and that fix can only come from the destruction of all or most of the current civilization. Towards the end of the novel when Montag is sitting around the campfire with the traveling scholars he asks them what they’re doing. They respond “Right now we have a horrible job; we’re waiting for the war to begin and, as quickly end”(Bradbury 146). The scholars simply have to wait till the current social norms die with the rest of society in a nuclear explosion. Only then can they help lead the birth of a new nation that won’t be so self absorbed. In conclusion, Fahrenheit 451 incorporates a metaphor about fire and how it creates the spark to change Montag and his world that is repeated many times. It appears in three major ways, the attainment of enlightenment and learning, the burning and reforging of society, and the rising of the world from the ashes of the
When Montag is at Faber's house for the first time they discussed solutions so that books would no longer be burned. Montag proposed a solution but Faber shot them down because they weren't impactful enough. He said of society “The whole cultures shot through. The skeleton needs melting and reshaping” (Bradbury 83). Faber means that the entire society is so far gone that it needs to be destroyed and a completely new one must rise from the ashes. The people need to be forced to change or else they never will. A huge shock will be required to fix the people's minds and that fix can only come from the destruction of all or most of the current civilization. Towards the end of the novel when Montag is sitting around the campfire with the traveling scholars he asks them what they’re doing. They respond “Right now we have a horrible job; we’re waiting for the war to begin and, as quickly end”(Bradbury 146). The scholars simply have to wait till the current social norms die with the rest of society in a nuclear explosion. Only then can they help lead the birth of a new nation that won’t be so self absorbed. In conclusion, Fahrenheit 451 incorporates a metaphor about fire and how it creates the spark to change Montag and his world that is repeated many times. It appears in three major ways, the attainment of enlightenment and learning, the burning and reforging of society, and the rising of the world from the ashes of the