Guy Montag Character in the Novel Fahrenheit 451

People can change throughout their life with the influence of someone in your life or the impact that has progressed within you with the help of others. Montag changes to a different person from a burning book fireman to a independent person who increases its knowledge from reading books all with the help of the people surrounding him.

In the novel Fahrenheit 451, it talks about a character named Guy Montag. Montag works as a fireman. It may be confusing since firemen in this society burn books instead of putting them away. One day as he was walking home from work, he meets a girl named Clarisse McClellan. Clarisse likes to read books and asks Montag "Do you ever read the books you burn?" (Bradbury 8). The question that she asks him changes his point of view on certain things in life that he wants to know. She then asks him "Are you happy?" (Bradbury 10). It takes him some time to respond as he examines where he is at this point. He knows that there are multiple reasons why book burning exists and being unaware of it is not satisfying enough for him. As he progresses to find out why book burning is an occupation, he doesn't really change but he starts to understand things differently.

After his encounter with Clarisse, he heads home to find his wife Mildred laying down unconscious overdosed on sleeping pills again. Got to clean 'em out both ways", standing over the silent woman. No use getting the stomach if you don't clean the blood. Leave that stuff in the blood and the blood hits the brain like a mallet, bang, a couple thousand times and the brain just gives up, just quits. (Bradbury 15). The machine is used to pump Mildred's stomach to remove the harmful substances and replace her blood. The next morning, Mildred wakes up and she completely forgets what happened even though her overdosing on sleeping pills is just like a normal thing.

Montag goes through a big phase of change as the novel continues on. These changes were influenced by his boss Captain Beatty, the Captain of the Fire House. Beatty knows that Montag is in a possession of a book that he doesn't wanna give up and he wants to convince himself that Montag doesn't have anything with him. Montag changes mentally but physically as well. "You can't ever have my books" (Bradbury 38). As work goes on for Montag and his co-workers, they arrive at an old woman's house to burn her books. But she refuses to leave her house and her books so she decides to stay. She opened the fingers of one hand slightly and in the palm of the hand was a single slender object. An ordinary kitchen match. (Bradbury 39). Instead of the firemen burning the books that she has in possession, she burns them herself and commits suicide leaving herself burning as well. Montag can't believe what just happened and he's having trouble subsist with what just happened.

Based on what was happening around him, he starts to wonder what was so great about these books that would cause someone to take their own life away with it. Every time he has to burn a house, he takes a book and keeps it to himself. Beatty starts to get suspicious with Montag and he decides to warn him. We don't get over anxious or mad. We let the firemen keep the book for twenty-four hours. If he hasn't burned it by then, we simply come burn it for him" (Bradbury 62). Montag meets up with a retired English Professor Faber. They become good friends and good partners when it comes to keeping secrets from Beatty. Montag knows that Beatty is coming for him to burn his house but he isn't bothered with what's going to happen because he won't let anyone change his life again.

Even though Montag never changed in a good way, we got to witness how he progressively changes throughout the novel even if it meant risking everything.

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