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.