The Evolution of Guy Montag in Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

Joshua Nili, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Jun 23, 2007 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."

The grim picture painted by Ray Bradbury in Fahrenheit 451 is a troubling image of what he believes society is doomed to become. As a growing state of fear grips the lives of people from around the world, governments gain more space to dominate the people with new rules and regulations. This bleak foreboding is an all too real possibility for mankind to experience in the future.

However, the transformation of Guy Montag, from a simple minded conformist, to a radical bent on reshaping society is a unique story. Montag's transformation into a free-thinking man at the end of the story is a direct result of his exposure to several key individuals and the teachings that they pass down to him. These teachings eventually lead him down a road of change, where the most fundamental beliefs of his society became foreign and irrational.

The book's first show of intellectualism takes place at the start of the book. Montag shows minor hints of being "different" from the rest of society as is evident in his unique interaction with Clarisse. He finally begins to understand how he is different when he begins to speak to her. Before he even sees her, he fears her, fears her for everything that she represents, yet he comes to love her. During their first encounter, she begins drilling Montag with questions, and forces him to think outside of the narrow picture painted for him by an oppressive government. In their society, such a thing is absurd, because mankind has lost many of its unique characteristics; people no longer feel curiosity, and in turn do not feel the need to question other people and their surroundings.

The people of this new age do not even appear to be human, they lack the ability to act as free-thinkers, and function as zombies do, they are lifeless individuals who listen and obey whatever they are told. However, Clarisse is genuinely different. She thinks for herself, and questions everything, making her blissfully unique in a world of ignorance. Montag learns from Clarisse, and eventually thirsts for his daily encounters with her. He comes to question everything he took for granted, and begins to understand the depth of the situation which has been his life for the past 30 years.

She also teaches Montag something humanity has apparently forgotten. He learns to understand the human emotions of compassion and love. After Clarisse delves into Montag's marriage, he realizes that not only does he not love Millie, but he doesn't feel any emotion for her whatsoever. However, the loss of an individual he had spoken to for a week, Clarisse, represents one of the triggers that lead to his change. Montag was further touched by the old woman, who chose to die with her books rather than live without them. Mrs. Blake, a woman passionate in her beliefs, chose to guard the books she loved with her life rather than live without them.

Montag, unable to comprehend why anybody would go to such lengths to do such a thing, once again realized the enormity of the situation which was prevalent throughout society. He finally asked himself why somebody would chose to die for books, items of which had little to no importance. Mrs. Blake became a martyr, and gave Montag another reason to become a man who actively fought for the pursuit of knowledge. He took a risk, Montag stole a book, the Bible, and saved it from the blazing inferno which wiped out the rest of the books that Mrs. Blake chose to die with.

The final element that led to Montag's evolution was Faber. A college professor, Faber was the last of a dying breed of men. His intellectual colleagues had been separated as the age of ignorance began to dawn over mankind. His valued knowledge and thoughts were shunned as the years progressed, until he was eventually an outcast. However, once Montag came to him, and opened himself up, Faber became a revitalized man bent on achieving what he was too scared to do before.

Faber cultivated the spark in Montag, and turned it into a flame that would eventually burn brighter than any fire that he had ever started. Into this flame, Faber fed every bit of emotion which he had withheld for so long. The fear which had tormented him was finally outweighed by the yearning to do something. With a visible goal, and a mentor to lead him, Montag finally had a visible path to follow that would lead him away from the abomination which he had called a life.

Montag's development as a character is marked by and the result of his encounters with other unique individuals who each represented a piece of what he became. The curiosity, compassion, and determination led Montag away from the city which he loathed, and pushed him into a new world where men and women lived to preserve what they feared may have been lost forever. In a world where "the family" was a reference to the television, and life was based around getting the best entertainment system, Montag rebelled and strove to achieve a status that would set him apart from the dwindling, uneducated masses. Montag learned to love Clarisse, question the world, and stand up for what he believed in, knowing full well that his life itself was on the line.

He battled for his beliefs with ambition and fortitude, always looking to the future and what could be saved. For Montag, the future promised a new life, and he pushed hard to guarantee that he would finally reach it, if not for himself, then for the individuals that died before him.