Essay on Dystopia and Montag

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Carolyn Arosell
Mrs. De Lellis-Johnson
CP English 11 pd. 6
February 5th, 2015
Transformation of a Hero
John F. Kennedy, former president of the United States, is best know for being truly inspired to better his country and attempting to bring peace to the rest of the world. However to Kennedy creating peace didn’t mean censorship of opinions and conformity of the masses. He wished to inspire people to do what they thought to be right and help their fellow man. As he said in a 1961 address to the UN General Assembly, “Conformity is the jailer of freedom, and the enemy of growth”. However none of this positive thinking towards individualism was present in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. While Guy Montag, the novel’s protagonist, did not have a political leader inspiring him to be himself he was still provoked by other characters throughout the novel. By pushing Montage to act against their dystopian society Clarisse, the nameless women, Beatty, and Granger helped facilitate his transformation from a conformist to a resistant hero. Clarisse provokes Montag to ask questions that could be detrimental to the flow of their dystopian society. Clarisse is in the first person that we see Montag come in contact with that really makes him think about their society and the way the world works. She not only makes him think about others but specifically himself. When Montag is just about to part from Clarisse, she seems to have remembered something: “Are you happy?”(10) She asked him. Montags initial response is to say yes, however this question seems to haunt him throughout the rest of the night and most likely for the rest of his journey. She made him really think about if he values the life he lives. Later on Montag does realize that he isn’t happy. Things like Mildred’s overdose, their TV “family”, strangers being in his home, and just the lone fact that he and Mildred never commutate all displease him. Later on in the book you see that Clarisse and Montag really develop a deep relationship. He realizes that they are more alike then he initially thought. As Clarisse and Montag are walking once again she brings up the fact that she has a psychiatrist: “They want to know what I do with my time. I tell them that sometimes I just sit and think. […] And sometimes, I tell them, I like to put my head back, like this, and let the rainfall in my mouth. It tastes just like wine. Have you ever tried it?”(23). This suggest that she really trusts Montag for sharing all this personal information with him even though he is a fireman and is often perceived as evil. Not only does Clarisse trust Montag, but Montag also trusts her. Later, after Clarisse has left, Montag steps outside and catches rain drops on his tongue. This shows how much of an affect Clarisse has on him and how willing Montag is to accept advice from others. The Nameless old women Montag came into contact with in the middle of the novel reflects a turning point in journey. The old woman shows Montag the value of life and makes him question his actions as a fireman. This moment is extremely important in Montags transformation. Here he is forced to burn a woman who essentially shares the same values as him. The fact that she died for her books shows Montag that he is not the only one who deep down is fighting for this cause: “The women knelt among the books, touching the drenched leather and cardboard, reading the gilt titles with her fingers while her eyes accused Montag”(38). Montag gets the feeling the old women knew that he was different like her, making him feel worse for killing one of “his own” people. In addition the fact that she remains nameless makes you feel like she is not important, however she is probably one of the most essential people in Montags transformation. After Montag made the decision to let her burn he felt a huge amount of guilt because he had never imagined he would ever kill another human being. She had lost everything, not just her books and
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