The True Meaning of the Story Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

You want to protect your own life and when your are threatened you do whatever it takes to be safe again. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, that is the case with this novel about this story. Guy Montag must fight through constant battles to stay sane. And Many things reveal this. Things like figurative language and irony are just two of those. But they are not the smallest. I believe that they are essential to the novel and the plot as well as showing the true meaning of the story.

In one instance after Guy Montag has already burned his house down and has set his boss on fire as well, the narrator says And then he was a shrieking blaze. (Ray Bradbury) This is referring to Beatty whom is now on fire. Guy Montag did this for one reason, to protect himself. You see if a guy tries to arrest you and you can't run and you have too much pride to surrender peacefully then you try something new. And that is what Montag does. Except he decides to commit an act of murder by flaming his own boss and killing the firemen behind him. If his own life had not been jeopardized and Faber's life hadn't compromised in this event it more than likely would never had happened. At another point after doing this and being attacked by the Hound he is trying to run. But he is made aware that his leg isn't agreeing with that plan. In fact Montag says Move you fool, move! (Ray Bradbury) He is personifying his leg by calling it a fool and telling it to move. You see, the procaine going through his body is making his leg like a immovable person and he needs to move fast. He is trying to desperately save his own life by doing whatever it takes to get gone. Even though he is in an insane amount of pain, he keeps moving to get out of there. The other idea of irony kick in here as well and gives more insight to the meaning of the book.

When Montag arrives at his own house when his boss tells him to burn it, he is told to not do it the normal way but a way that is a little more personnel. What is weird is the fact that Montag has done this several times to other people's houses and now he must do it to his own. His boss says Not with kerosene and a match but with a flamethrower, your mess you clean it up! His boss is referring to the problem at hand. Montag no longer is rightful citizen since he has kept the book or I should say books much longer that the allowed 24 hours and therefore has violated federal law. If he doesn't burn his own house down he dies for treason and if he does it he is arrested so either way he is a dead man walking a tightrope that just keeps getting slimmer and slimmer by the second. But he does know this, if he can keep his boss talking he can allow for his wife to escape. The book does not say this but think about it. If you were married and you were about to be arrested and your spouse could also be and you were able to distract the oppressor long enough to allow for them to escape, would you? Of course you would! Your natural instinct is to protect yourself and those whom you love the most. And if anything gets in the way then you cut it down and destroy it. In the beginning part, we find out that Montag is a fireman. I personally thought He stops fires But really we soon realize that Montag starts them and lets them burn people's lives to the ground. Later on we learn that Montag's life burns to the ground literally by his own hands.

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