{"id":5821,"date":"2018-01-29T17:00:16","date_gmt":"2018-01-30T01:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kibin.com\/blog\/?post_type=essay-writing-blog&p=5821"},"modified":"2019-03-19T13:19:07","modified_gmt":"2019-03-19T20:19:07","slug":"fahrenheit-451-characters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kibin.com\/essay-writing-blog\/fahrenheit-451-characters\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything You Need to Know About 4 Fahrenheit 451 Characters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fahrenheit 451<\/i> is a favorite book for teachers to assign\u2014and a favorite for students to read. It\u2019s a classic dystopian novel written in the \u201850s and set in the 24th century.<\/p>\n

Even though it\u2019s not quite the 24th century yet, Ray Bradbury did get a few things scarily right about the future, technology-wise.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s even more surprising is that no matter when you read Fahrenheit 451<\/i>, it always feels relevant, at least in some way. Themes of escapism, censorship, and media all play big roles in that. But it\u2019s the characters that bring us here today.<\/p>\n

Great characters = a great story\u2014but you can’t write a great essay if you don’t know much about them.<\/p>\n

So I\u2019m here to tell you what you need to know about the four main Fahrenheit 451 <\/i>characters.<\/p>\n

(Need to write about themes in Fahrenheit 451 <\/em>instead? Read 4 Important Fahrenheit 451 Themes That Are Worth Analyzing<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Guy Montag: The Phoenix<\/h2>\n

Guy Montag<\/a> starts out as a pretty proud fireman. He\u2019s not like the firefighters we know today, of course. Because buildings are now basically fireproof, firemen set fire to books. Not just some books\u2014all books<\/i><\/b>.<\/p>\n

Our main man Montag starts feeling a bit bad about his life.<\/p>\n

After a conversation with the neighbor girl, Clarisse, he realizes just how empty his life is. To him, everyone he\u2019s surrounded himself with now seems, to him, to have this false sense of happiness that he was buying into too.<\/p>\n

He realizes that he\u2019s in this loveless relationship with a woman he can\u2019t even remember meeting for the first time. To top that all off, he and his crew have to burn a lady alive when she refuses to part ways with her beloved books.<\/p>\n

What would make someone choose death over living without books?<\/p>\n

He has to find out, so he starts hoarding books in his house. He reaches out to a retired professor named Faber, who agrees to help Montag in his studies and even hatches a scheme to start printing books again.<\/p>\n

Of course, Beatty and Mildred (Montag\u2019s wife) catch on to his budding literary curiosity. Mildred even goes as far as turning her husband in. But as the firemen prepare to burn down Montag\u2019s house, Montag turns the fire hose on Beatty and sets him ablaze.<\/p>\n

Montag flees the scene and gets Faber\u2019s help to escape the city. Once Montag\u2019s out, he meets up with some rebel intellectuals. The city gets bombed, and Montag joins the rebels to start a new society.<\/p>\n

Of course, there\u2019s much more nuance to the narrative.<\/p>\n

But this isn\u2019t about what Montag did as much as it is about Montag himself. He\u2019s certainly got the most development out of any of the Fahrenheit 451 <\/i>characters. But he is <\/i>the main character, so that\u2019s fitting.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
Great characters=great story, but you can’t write a great essay if you don’t know much about them.<\/a><\/div>\n

Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

So what do we know about Montag?<\/p>\n

Montag starts off as any other drone of this futuristic society. It\u2019s not until he meets a young, idealistic girl who exposes him to philosophy and the joys of nature that he starts questioning things. Once he starts on that path, he can\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n

Montag is characterized by his extreme emotions. Once they awaken inside of him, he can\u2019t control himself. He reads poetry (illegally) in front of Mildred and her friends. And then he lights his boss on fire.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like he had been living in this gray, dull society, was reborn, and then had no idea how to navigate through society. But it works out for him in the end. You can see how it\u2019s fitting that he wears the phoenix insignia of the firemen.<\/p>\n

Essay Idea #2: <\/span><\/strong>Analyze the phoenix symbol and how it characterizes Montag.<\/p>\n

Bonus read:<\/span> <\/strong>How to Identify and Write About Literary Symbols With Confidence<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Captain Beatty: Beatty the Baddy<\/h2>\n

Captain Beatty<\/a> is one of the most unlikeable Fahrenheit 451 <\/i>characters.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s cruel, manipulative, and hypocritical. He\u2019s everything wrong with the society Bradbury created. He hates everything books represent, but he is oddly in tune with what books actually have to say.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s that all about?<\/p>\n

Beatty tells Montag that every fireman gets curious about books at one point or another. It\u2019s here, you might guess, that Beatty himself gets curious about books. He even starts yelling contradictory literary quotes at Montag, showing that Beatty has read quite a bit.<\/p>\n

Bradbury uses Beatty to show the reader what the leaders of society think. It\u2019s through this character that we learn that books are banned because they lead to too much confusion.<\/p>\n\t

\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
Stuck on Your Analytical Essay?<\/div>\n\t\t\t
Check Out These Example Analytical Essays<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tYes! Show me examples.<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

He also admits that, although he once quested for knowledge, he now enjoys the simple, instantaneous pleasures in life. Moreover, Beatty tries to control Montag, which represents the authoritarian society they all share.<\/p>\n

Beatty encourages Montag to read the books he hoarded for 24 hours and then return them, which gets Montag hooked on books. Then, Beatty tells Montag to return to a later shift at work, only to drive Montag to burn down his own house.<\/p>\n

Captain Beatty\u2019s power-hunger is ultimately his downfall. He goads Montag into setting him ablaze, and Montag obliges.<\/p>\n

Essay Idea #4:<\/span><\/strong> How does Beatty represent Bradbury\u2019s fictional society as a whole?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mildred Montag: The Zombie<\/h2>\n

If Beatty represents the authoritarian side of this society, Mildred Montag<\/a> represents the common citizen. With her pale skin, she resembles someone who\u2019s dead. And really, with the escapism she displays, she might as well be.<\/p>\n

Mildred escapes to the comfort of her three television screens. She even calls the characters her family. She longs for a fourth wall of televisions, which just points further to her need to drown out her real life with fantasy.<\/p>\n

Mildred is so lifeless that, when she overdoses, she doesn\u2019t really seem to care. It\u2019s also not stated explicitly whether the overdose is on purpose or an accident.<\/p>\n

If it isn’t, she just mindlessly downed pills the same way she mindlessly consumes everything else in her life. If it is on purpose, it leads the reader to wonder if Mildred really does have emotions deep down that she just can\u2019t handle.<\/p>\n

In the end, she turns in her own husband and drives away.<\/p>\n

Essay Idea #6:<\/span> <\/strong>Describe the role Mildred plays in Guy\u2019s life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Clarisse McClellan: The Hippy<\/h2>\n

I call Clarisse <\/a>a hippy because she\u2019s the only one in the story who seems to love nature at all. She rejoices in its beauty and all the sensations of the natural world. She\u2019s the opposite of everything and everyone around her, especially Mildred.<\/p>\n

Clarisse\u2019s role in Fahrenheit 451<\/i> is that of a catalyst.<\/p>\n

She sets everything in motion by asking Guy questions and opening his eyes to the fact that he\u2019s unhappy. Her joy for life makes him want to have the same.<\/p>\n

She ends up getting run over by a car\u2014a tragic end to one of my favorite Fahrenheit 451 <\/i>characters. Her death highlights the inhumanity of society\u2014not only in how she dies, but also in how Mildred tells the news to Guy.<\/p>\n

Essay Idea #8:<\/span> <\/strong>Compare and contrast Clarisse McClellan and Mildred Montag.<\/p>\n

Bonus read:<\/strong> Compare and Contrast Essay Tips from a Kibin Editor<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Next Steps for Writing About Your Favorite Fahrenheit 451 <\/i>Characters<\/h2>\n

And there you have it\u2014four of the most important Fahrenheit 451 <\/i>characters and a few essay ideas to get you started.<\/p>\n

If you need to see some examples for inspiration, look at what some other students have written:<\/p>\n