Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Essay

â€Å"There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them† -Ray Bradbury. In the past there were events that affected book writers. People will get together to burn books because they thought it was inappropriate or they were against their literature. Montag is a fireman in a futuristic society who would start fires instead of put them out. After he meets Clarisse a young girl different from all teenagers in that society Montag will find himself doing things he never did before. In Fahrenheit 451 Montag will have a huge change in his life that will make him different from other people. There were people who contributed to that change, people who Montag would never thought of meeting or people he had already knew. Clarisse had Montag analyzing his happiness and questioning himself which caused him to do things he never done before. When Montag and Clarisse were walking Clarisse asked him if he was happy with the life he was living. â€Å"Of course I†™m happy. What does she think? I’m not?†. Montag seems really bothered by the question Clarisse asked him. Montag is positive about his happiness, he knows he’s happy with the life he’s living He knows he’s â€Å"happy† but by someone else asking him that kind of question it doesn’t seem like he is. â€Å"He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it†. Once Clarisse asked him about his happiness he started thinking about it and he knew he wasn’t happy at all. He thinks that Clarisse opened his eyes about it. Montag also feels like Clarisse was the one who took his happiness by asking him that question. Mildred proved to Montag he wasn’t really by the way she acts towards him. She was the one who woke him up and made him do something so he could have his happiness back. Mildred as a wife should listen to Montag and make him feel better. Instead Mildred would totally ignore him and seem careless every time he would say something. â €Å"†I’m hungry† â€Å"Last night† he began. â€Å"Didn’t sleep well. Feel terrible† she said. â€Å"God I’m hungry I can’t figure it† â€Å"Last night† he said again. She watched his lips casually. â€Å"What about last night† â€Å"Don’t you remember†Ã¢â‚¬ . Mildred doesn’t really listens to Montag He always tries to tell her something but she seems careless about it. He feels like he’s not getting the attention he wants from her. â€Å"â€Å"When did we meet? Where?†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"It doesn’t matter.† She was up, in the bathroom now, and he heard the water running, and the swallowing sound she made. â€Å"No, I guess not,† he said. This demonstrates that all this years of marriage meant nothing to Mildred. By her not remembering how they meet tells that Mildred doesn’t really care about their marriage. Faber encouraged Montag to overcome his fears not by giving him advice but by showing Montag he also feared. Faber was always the type to follow the rules so he wouldn’t get in trouble and face the consequences. Montag didn’t want to be a coward like Faber that’s how he overcame his fears. â€Å"For a little while I’m not afraid. Maybe it’s because I’m doing the right thing at last. Maybe because I’ve done trash thing and don’t want to look the coward to you†. Faber has never made a change in his life because he has always been afraid of the consequences. He tells Montag that he has to face his fears which make him feel like he’s doing the right thing for once. â€Å"â€Å"Mr. Montag you’re looking at a coward. I saw the way things were going a long time back. I said nothing. I’m one of the innocents who could have spoken up and put when no one would listen to the ‘guilty’†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Faber is telling Montag that he never had the courage to stand up in what he strongly believes its right. He categories himself as a person who’s afraid by the consequences. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Clarisse, Mildred and Faber had Montag doing things he never did before. They had him questioning, making him realize and encouraging him to get over his fears. He was doing things he never saw himself doing before in his life. Even though those things he do had its bad consequences he never felt that good about himself. Many people won’t confront their fears because they’re scared of the consequences but once people they overcome those fears there will be nobody who will stop them to do what they think it’s right. WORK CITED Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Simon and Shuster paperbacks; New York, 2012