Imagine a hopeless society where everyone was brainwashed with meaningless technology, books were strictly forbidden, and the true meaning of life was long forgotten. For Montag, that is society was very real. The central idea of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, conveyed by the themes of the sections — awakening, seeking knowledge and truth, and rebirth— is that independent thought can help to overcome great obstacles, which is what leads Montag to step away from the wasteland of modern society to where he truly wanted to be. The first section, “The Hearth and the Salamander”, is where Montag begins to break away from being like an average person in society. The hearth has long been a comforting symbol of home.
Natural imagery in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is often used to represent truth, knowledge, or clarity of thought; in contrast, technology is shown as destructive and disengaging. Guy Montag begins as a fireman who enjoys burning books, blind to the flaws of his society. All of the people and events that occur in Montag's life and help him find his true path are strongly associated with nature. Technology often illustrates how characters like Mildred, Montag’s wife, and the Hound are empty and void of individuality. Whereas nature always seems to provide Montag with a certainty of his path, technology shields society from what is truly important and discourages free thinking.
Initial signs of Montag’s rebellion continue to occur throughout the novel. When he is told to burn down a woman’s house he protests to the other firemen as they are happy to burn her with the house as she refuses to get out. ‘You’re not leaving her here?’ Montag continues to argue and he urges the woman to save herself and get out. However the woman was willing to sacrifice herself because of the books and sets the house on fire herself, leaving her still inside but Guy and his crew enough time to escape. Another sign of Montag’s rebellion is when he meets Faber and they devise a plan to destroy the firehouses.
Montag is an humble character that has to deal with people with suicidal problems, and self-righteous people preventing others from receiving the knowledge from books. The dynamic character is stuck in a life that was chosen by ignorance, and is determined to find a new life through books. In addition, the phoenix that appears often in the novel signifies that Montag's life is finally purified and reborn by the very fire he has been spewing for years. During the course of the plot, Montag evolves from an apathetic, conformist fireman, the very essence of socially acceptable stagnancy, to a new man filled with strong ideals and beliefs. He has a new purpose in life, to preserve books and the knowledge they contain.
The Importance of Perspective “It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view” and the view point you see the world from hinges on your behaviour (Eliot, 91). Fahrenheit 451 is based around the world of Guy Montag, a fireman whose job it is to burn books and the houses that contain them in order to assist the government in supressing dissenting ideas. The government believes that these dissenting ideas come from thinking and as a result they fill people’s lives with television and radio to avoid giving them down time for thought. Early on, Montag is fine with this oppression of free thought until he meets a young girl. This girl turns his understanding upside down and Montag winds up stealing a book from a burning, contacting an old English professor to assist him in his rebellion.
“Fahrenheit 451”, Ray Bradbury’s novel, presents a darker image of what the future could be with an eerily futuristic and glum tone. It is a world where there is no individual thought, and books are seen to cause conflicts. “We burn them to ashes and then burn the ashes. That's our official motto.” The firemen who have a responsibility to protect the people, ironically burn books filled with history and thought. The government caters to people’s material needs, and prevents them from thinking too deeply on matters.
The Moon Landings introduce landmark controversy through political, social, environmental, scientific and exploration factors. All arguments prompt deliberation as to whether the 1969 landings can be considered a historical landmark. #Neil Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the moon with Buzz Aldrin following 20 minutes after. The famous words of Armstrong ‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’ as he took his first step on the moon remain significant to this day. Armstrong noted that the landing had left a small crater on the moon.
Montag did not get Beatty’s hint about the books until Beatty said “Didn’t I hint enough when I sent the Hound around your place” (Bradbury 113). He wanted Montag to take his hint and get rid of the books, so they would not have to burn Montag’s house. By hinting to Montag, Beatty was trying to give Montag a second chance to go back to his old life. Even though Beatty was a high ranking fireman he was not happy. After killing Beatty, Montag thought “Beatty wanted to die.
Project Horizon was the plan to establish a military base on the moon, one with minimal personnel required to function. It was designed to launch Atomic missiles onto America’s enemies. The nuclear arms race was omnipresent in the '60s, and Project Horizon made room for its possible expansion to the moon. It pondered the pros and cons -- scientifically, militarily and psychologically -- of detonating a nuclear device on the moon or nearby. Once the danger of this sunk in, project horizon was disbanded America then turned its attention to the development of the Apollo Space Program and its first launch, Apollo 1.
Even the forest fire in the end of the story, that was meant to destroy, ended up being the boys key to rescue. In the beginning of this book, one of the most important parts is when Jack let the fire go out to go hunting. Although hunting is not necessarily barbaric or a loss of civilization, it is still what leads up to the loss of civilization. When Ralph realizes the power of the fire and admits that if everyone does not do their duty and cooperate in keeping the fire going, all hopes in contacting civilization outside are shattered. The fire is their