Cassandra Morataya

Mr.Choi
English 9B
February 28, 2019

Fahrenheit 451
“​And on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bare twelve manner of

fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the

nations.”​ ​Fahrenheit 451​ was written in 1953 by Ray Bradbury. The meaning of the book has

become more relevant than before. Guy Montag who is a fireman, doesn’t bring down fires , he

makes them. He burns the “illegal of commodities”..books. All Montag knows is to burn books

he never questioned it. Until he meets a young girl named Clarisse who changes his whole

perspective of the world he thought he knew. He begins to question everything he has ever

known.

One of the main characters is Guy Montag. He’s known as dynamic and a Protagonist

character. His traits are that he’s heroic and idealistic. He faces Man vs. Man and Man vs.

Society conflicts. He faces a man vs. man conflict when they burn and elderly woman’s home for

having hundreds of books, to his thought they were just going to burn the books but instead she

burned herself with the books, she was willing to sacrifice herself for the books. “ The woman

knelt among the books, touching the drenched leather and cardboard, reading the guilt titles with

her fingers as her eyes accused Montag. ‘You can’t ever have my books,’ she said.” Montag felt

guilty for what happened, he didn’t understand why she did that if it was just a book. He

wondered what made the book so special. He also faces Man vs. Society because later on in the

story he starts thinking about everything that he’s believed in. He starts to read poems wondering

what they mean and what makes it so important. Mildred notices and gets away leaving her

‘family’ behind. “He kept moving his hand and dropping books, small ones, fairly large ones,
Cassandra Morataya
Mr.Choi
English 9B
February 28, 2019

yellow, red, green ones...Mildred had backed away as if she were suddenly confronted by a pack

of mice that had come up out of the floor.”

Mildred Montag is known as Guy Montag’s wife but their relationship isn’t like everyone

else. They didn’t really love each other, well Montag didn’t seem to love Mildred as tested with

the dandelion. If the dandelion doesn't leave anything on your chin after you rub it on it indicates

that you don’t love anyone. Mildred is known as a static character. Her traits are that she is

selfish, forgetful, and they way she lives in just sad. She faces a Man vs. Society conflict where

she thinks that she’s too weird for everyone in her society and that she doesn't fit in but she also

believes it herself. She also may face a Man vs. Man conflict in the beginning of the book when

she “tried” to kill herself even though she doesn't remember it happening. “The object he had

sent tumbling with his foot now glinted under the edge of his own bed. The small crystal bottle

of sleeping tablets which earlier today had been filled with thirty capsules and which now lay

uncapped and empty in the light of a tiny flare.”

Clarisse McClellan was the girl who walked the streets at night looking at the moon,

waiting for the sun to rise, and wanting to taste the rain. She knew Montag for a while before she

died or possibly moved away. Clarisse is known as an indirect character. Her traits are that she is

innocent, curious, and full of life. She also calls herself “17 and crazy”. Clarisse faces a Man vs.

Society conflict, her and her family are very opposite from the rest of their society. They like to

talk all night, no tv, and most of the time with all the lights on in the house. Everyone else thinks

that they are a very strange just to begin with, her uncle once got arrested just for walking

(Leonard Mead). “The psychiatrist wants to know why I go out and hike around in the forests
Cassandra Morataya
Mr.Choi
English 9B
February 28, 2019

and watch the birds and collect butterflies. I’ll show you my collection someday..they want to

know what i do with all my time. I tell them sometimes i just like to sit and think.”

In conclusion ​Fahrenheit 451 ​was a book that may relate to today’s time. For example

the books, as technology gets more advance every single day the books are starting to be seen

less and less, you can now read “books” on your own phone. In the book they are all based on

technology they don’t do a lot besides to sit and watch tv or for school they learn not to interfere

with a book.