Guy Montag as a Hero - 1118 Words

From Guy to Hero When we hear the word ‘hero’ we think about those who fight for our country out at war or those who put their lives in jeopardy everyday protecting their community like a police officer or fireman, all of these citizens doing this for a small wage in comparison to Rap artists who rhyme profane words making millions of dollars. However you don’t have to live on the streets or have more money than sense to be a hero, you just have to make a difference. In the end identifying someone as a hero or a villain is up to you, it’s in the eye of the beholder. Guy Montag was a fireman for his community and made his mark as a hero through countless acts of courage, bravery, and emotion in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.†¦show more content†¦The others would never do that† (21). He is a very thoughtful man, and has a sensitivity about him. He also is a searcher for a deeper meaning in life. He says, â€Å"We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you’ve been really bothered? About something important, about something real?† (49). Montag is also imperfect. He is really rash and is filled with a passion that sometimes cripples his goals. He can be destructive, like when he rashly kills Beatty (113). He gets confused and overwhelmed with tough situations and sometimes doesn t know how to get out of them. All and all Bradbury knew he wanted to make Montag the hero and builds that image bit by bit. Montag represents truth. He represents the want for happiness in our lives and the search for why things are like they are. He wants to find TRUE happiness. Not the happiness everyone else thinks they have. Montag goes on his own search, breaking laws, and doing anything to find out the truth of his own life and that is why he represents the abstract idea of truth. Fahrenheit 451 depicts that a character s personality may have many more facets than are first visible. Bradbury is able to refract the crystal of Montag s character, so that it reflects into each reader s heart a different aspect of humanity. Once Montag becomes more human, Bradbury makes it nearly impossible for the reader to hold grudges about his past. Using this as a tool, Montag, the first apparent antagonist of the story,Show MoreRelatedFahrenheit 451s Guy Montag: a Hero or a Villain?1209 Words   |  5 PagesFahrenheit 451’s Guy Montag: A Hero or a Villain? Unquestionably, all novels can convey multiple meanings depending on a variety of factors with the most important being the manner in which the audience interprets the author’s words. More importantly, to professionally draw conclusions concerning the message the author demonstrates throughout a text, it is essential to discuss and apply the five literary elements of literature to the text. In greater detail, when a work itself is criticized or evaluatedRead MoreCharacterization Of A Hero In Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 4511272 Words   |  6 Pagespeople hear the word hero, most assume it means a person with super strength, with the ability to disappear, or with the power to save the world and all of its inhabitants. Fictional novels portray heroes as people that make a difference in the community. This characterization of a hero is also true in Ray Bradburys novel, Fahrenheit 451. Rodney A. Smolla introduces the main character in â€Å"The Life of The Mind and A Life of Meanin g: Reflections on Fahrenheit 451† stating that â€Å"Montag begins the novelRead MoreEssay Fahrenheit 451707 Words   |  3 Pagesin literature. Good guys and Bad guys, anyone can understand that, but literature chooses to go deeper. Literature chooses to create the Heroes journey, and make it take on a much greater meaning than the reader or Hero had previously believed. For example, the fireman Guy Montag originally he had wanted to be able to understand his own life, and the paradoxes in it, with the help of the books he was secretly saving from the other firemen. Montag can be considered the Hero in Fahrenheit 451, althoughRead More Montag as Hero in Fahrenheit 451 Essay909 Words   |  4 PagesMontag as Hero in Fahrenheit 451    Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 451 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 professionRead MoreFarenheit 451 Paper1504 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿Ã¢â‚¬Å"Faith is the heroism of the intellect† (Charles Henry Parkhurst). In Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the protagonist, Montag, is an intellect. In the society he lives in, books are illegal. The government feels threatened by people with the knowledge that books promote. Montag has the infamous job of a fireman, an odd twist on our society’s fireman. Fireman in this time start fires rather than stop them and the fuel for the fires are books. The govern ment attempts to suppress thinkers; peopleRead MoreFahrenheit 451 Who Influences Guy Montag1068 Words   |  5 Pagesinfluences Guy Montag is seventeen year-old Clarisse McClellan. The first time Guy and Clarisse cross paths occurs when Guy is walking home from work close to midnight. They meet on an empty sidewalk and quickly begin conversation. As they continue talking, Guy notices that Clarisse is not an average teenager because of the deep questions and thoughts she has. Clarisse questions Guy’s contentment and makes him realize the absence of love and pleasure in his life. Clarisse acts as a goad to push Guy towardsRead MoreAnalysis Of Ray Bradbury s Fahrenheit 451 1090 Words   |  5 PagesRay Bradbury’s theme in Fahrenheit 451 is that a hero is one who makes a change for the better in society. In my rewritten version, my theme is that one who fails to change society is never a hero. Before my essay begins, Montag is running from the police/government. His occ upation as a fireman is to incinerate books and he fails to do so by saving a couple of books before anyone sees them. As he reads the books, he learns about the tragic endings which used to be real. He wonders why the governmentRead MoreJust As We Do On Our World Montag By F. Scott Fitzgerald1512 Words   |  7 PagesJust as we do in our world Montag, the protagonist, follows the laws of society and is just a ordinary fireman, living an ordinary life. At first Montag is portrayed as typical brainwashed member of society but throughout novel changes becoming a wise, confident, and brave leader that inspires followers. Montag’s duty as a fireman is to destroy knowledge that is in books and promote the burning of them in order to provide happiness to the civilians of the society. Montag later encounters ClarisseRead MoreEssay about Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 4511725 Words   |  7 PagesBooks are obsolete, so they are burned. Our hero of this story is a amp;#8220;fireman;. O nly, these futuristic firemen donamp;#8217;t fight fires, they burn books. They burn them so people donamp;#8217;t think, and so everyone is of equal intelligence. They donamp;#8217;t want anyone to rise up and be higher than the next person. This firemanamp;#8217;s name is Guy Montag. He lives in a condominium with his wife Mildred. The story sets off as Guy is walking home from work. The Hearth and theRead MoreComparison Between 1984 And Fahrenheit 4511404 Words   |  6 Pagesprotagonists and antagonists of both 1984 by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury reveals how the texts in question challenge and restructure the outdated ‘myth’ of moral absolutism through characters which do not comfortably fit the mould of ‘hero’ or ‘villain’. With reference to these characters and evaluation of their morality in relation to three key branches of normative ethical theory – namely deontological ethics, virtue ethics and care ethics– this essay will explore this statement, in