Montag
Guy Montag—simply referred to as "Montag" throughout the bulk of the narrative—is the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451. The events of the novel are told from his perspective, and the plot is primarily driven by the evolution of his personal choices as he navigates the rigid, dystopian world around him.
At the beginning of the story, Montag is a third-generation fireman. He spends his workday burning books—all of which are illegal contraband—for the fire department. He is obedient to the fire captain and content in his work, and he never stops to wonder why things are the way they are. When he meets a new neighbor, seventeen-year-old Clarisse McLellan, on his way home from the fire station one night, she challenges his traditional thinking, and Montag's view of the world begins to shift. Clarisse is different than anybody he's met before—she is thoughtful and inquisitive, and she encourages Montag to ask questions about the world around him. Her perspective leaves an impression on him, and he slowly begins to question the established rules of society in ways he never has before.
As their friendship develops, Montag's sense of the world around him changes. The system that used to seem efficient and tidy begins, instead, to feel authoritarian and oppressive. As he becomes more and more disillusioned with the social order of his environment, his outward behavior begins to change, too: he begins hoarding books in secret, acting strangely around others, and actively seeking out the friendship and guidance of those who live in contravention to established norms. These choices ultimately upturn life as he knows it. By the book's close, Montag's perspective on life has shifted dramatically, and he is living outside of society entirely.
Expert Q&A
The impact of the old woman's self-immolation on Montag in Fahrenheit 451
2 Educator Answers
Summary:
The old woman's self-immolation profoundly impacts Montag, leading him to question his role as a fireman and the society's anti-book stance. Witnessing her willingness to die for her books sparks a crisis of conscience in Montag, causing him to reflect on the value of literature and the oppressive nature of his society.
In Fahrenheit 451, why does the old woman burn herself with her books and how does it affect Montag?
In Fahrenheit 451, the firemen are called to a house on Elm Street when they receive a tip that there may be books hidden in the attic. When they get to the house, they find the owner of the house recalcitrant and resolute; the old woman simply refuses to concede her defeat. She answers defiantly when the firemen question her about the whereabouts of books in her home.
You know where they are or you wouldn't be here.
In the past, the police had always preceded the firemen; they could always be depended upon to usher the inhabitants of the home away before the burning started. In this case, however, some human miscalculation has engendered such a twist in affairs that a rebel has managed to plant herself right in the path of the flamethrowers. As the firemen drench the books with kerosene, Montag desperately begs the old woman to come away with him. However, she refuses. Her resolve mirrors that displayed by two men, charged with heresy during Queen Mary's reign, who died courageously at Oxford on October 16, 1555.
Her courage in the face of death is the catalyst for Montag's own rebellion. He starts to question the wisdom of burning up a defenseless old woman with her books. In his conversation with Mildred, he reasons that the books must represent something of value if they are powerful enough to propel an old woman to die with them. Beatty's later explanation about the need to destroy controversy of any kind and the need to preserve uniformity at all costs fails to satisfy Montag.
We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against. So! A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it.
Due to the old woman's actions, Montag is no longer satisfied with the status quo. Far from accepting Captain Beatty's words, he finds himself compelled to confront the realities of his life and his work as a fireman. Bear in mind that all revolutions start this way: one man questions and seeks answers and then feels compelled to seek out others of like mind (later, you will see Montag join a group of book rebels). So, you can see what an impression the old woman's courageous death has on Montag.
Hope this helps!
In Fahrenheit 451, how is Montag affected by the old woman's fate?
After speaking with his insightful teenage neighbor, Clarisse, Montag begins to examine his life and discovers that he is not happy and his marriage is failing. Shortly after interacting with Clarisse and analyzing his life, Montag responds to a routine fire call and arrives at an old woman's home. While Montag is dousing her book collection with kerosene, he ends up stealing a book. Captain Beatty then instructs the old woman to exit her home before they set it on fire and she refuses to leave. The old woman makes the conscious decision to die alongside her book collection, and Montag witnesses her commit suicide.
The old woman's suicide has a profound effect on Montag, who comes to the realization that literature must be valuable and worth something since the woman refused to live without her books. Montag then refuses to go into work the next day and tells Mildred,
There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing. (Bradbury, 24)
Montag then makes the decision to turn to books for answers to life's most pressing questions before consulting Faber for advice. Overall, the old woman's suicide influences Montag to turn to literature for answers in hopes of attaching meaning to his life.
Montag's Rebellion and Realizations in Fahrenheit 451
15 Educator Answers
Summary:
In Fahrenheit 451, Montag's rebellion against the oppressive society culminates in his killing of Captain Beatty. Montag realizes Beatty's taunting and threats to harm Faber push him to act. Beatty, who knows Montag's interest in books, instructs him to burn his own house with a flamethrower, further provoking Montag. Beatty's reckless behavior suggests he wanted to die, as he continually insults and challenges Montag even when faced with a flamethrower. Montag's act of killing Beatty signifies his break from societal control and his determination to protect Faber and resist censorship.
What realization does Montag have about Beatty in part 3 of Fahrenheit 451?
Montag has always been intimidated by Beatty. In fact, when he goes to Faber, he goes with two ideas in mind. He wants Faber to teach him about books, and he wants to be able to respond to Beatty. When Beatty uses logic with Montag, he quotes all these authors and books, things unfamiliar to Montag. He is so good at it that each time he quotes something, he finds an opposite example and confuses Montag totally. Montag tells Faber,
"God, how I want something to say to the Captain. He's read enough so he has all the answers, or seems to have. His voice is like butter. I'm afraid he'll talk me back the way I was. Only a week ago, pumping a kerosene hose, I thought: God, what fun!" (pg 89)
However,at the beginning of Book Three, when they show up at Montag's house to do the burning, Beatty taunts Montag. He finds the green bullet and threatens to find Faber.
"We'll trace this and drop in on your friend." (pg 118)
This infuriates Montag, and he releases the safety catch on his flame thrower.
"Thinking back later he could never decide whether the hands or Beatty's reaction to the hands gave him the final push toward murder." (pg 119)
Beatty taunts him again.
"Well, that's one way to get an audience. Hold a gun on a man and force him to listen to your speech. Speech away. What'll it be this time? Why don't you belch Shakespeare at me, you fumbling snob? .....Go ahead now, you second-hand litterateur, pull the trigger." (pg 119)
Montag did, and Beatty became a shrieking blaze.
"....no longer human or known, all writhing flame on the lawn as Montag shot one continuous pulse of liquid fire on him." (pg 119)
Beatty ran to his backyard, retrieved four of the books Mildred had missed, and ran for his life. Suddenly he fell to the ground because a realization came into his head.
"Beatty wanted to die.
In the middle of crying Montag knew it for the truth. Beatty had wated to die. He had just stood there, not really trying to save himself, just stood there, joking, needling, thought Montag, and the thought was enough to stifle his sobbing and let him pause for air. How strange to want to die so much that you let a man walk around armed and then instead of shutting up and staying alive, you go on yelling at people and making fun of them until you get them mad, and then....." (pg 122)
Montag realizes that Beatty wanted to die and provoked him into killing him.
In Fahrenheit 451, what quotes show Montag killing Beatty?
In part 3, Montag responds to a firecall and is surprised when Captain Beatty arrives at his home. Captain Beatty then makes Montag destroy his house using a flamethrower and instructs him to burn his book collection. Once Montag finishes burning his home, Faber begins to yell at him via the green bullet. Captain Beatty becomes suspicious, slaps Montag in the head, and picks up the green bullet. Beatty then listens to Faber speaking on the other end and threatens to track the device, which motivates Montag to switch the safety off the flamethrower.
As Montag points the flamethrower in Beatty's direction, the captain begins quoting Shakespeare, daring Montag to pull the trigger. Finally, Montag tells Captain Beatty, "We never burned right" and proceeds to pull the trigger. Bradbury vividly describes the scene:
And then he [Captain Beatty] was a shrieking blaze, a jumping, sprawling, gibbering mannikin, no longer human or known, all writhing flame on the lawn as Montag shot one continuous pulse of liquid fire on him. There was a hiss like a great mouthful of spittle banging a redhot stove, a bubbling and frothing as if salt had been poured over a monstrous black snail to cause a terrible liquefaction and a boiling over of yellow foam.
This description creates the image in the reader's mind of Captain Beatty liquifying from the intense heat as his body twists and jerks in pain. As Montag shoots the steady stream of flames, Bradbury describes Montag's reaction:
Montag shut his eyes, shouted, shouted, and fought to get his hands at his ears to clamp and to cut away the sound. Beatty flopped over and over and over, and at last twisted in on himself like a charred wax doll and lay silent.
After killing Captain Beatty, Montag threatens to shoot the other firemen and destroys the Mechanical Hound. The Mechanical Hound manages to wound Montag, who flees from the scene with a paralyzed leg and heads toward Faber's home. Later on, Montag thinks about Captain Beatty's reckless behavior and comes to the conclusion that he wanted to die. Montag thinks to himself,
Beatty wanted to die. In the middle of the crying Montag knew it for the truth. Beatty had wanted to die. He had just stood there, not really trying to save himself, just stood there, joking, needling, thought Montag, and the thought was enough to stifle his sobbing and let him pause for air.
In Fahrenheit 451, what does Beatty instruct Montag to burn his house with?
The answer to your question is simple: Beatty tells Montag to burn his house with a flamethrower. It says as much in the following quotation:
I want you to do this job ... not with kerosene and a match, but piecework, with a flamethrower.
This happens when Beatty and Montag go to Montag's house in Fahrenheit 451. Beatty knows that Montag has taken a liking to reading and to books. This quotation above is a demand by Beatty that Montag give up that curiosity.
There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.
The irony is that Montag is a firefighter whose job it is to burn the books that he is interested in! And why does Beatty suggest a flamethrower as opposed to a simple match? The answer lies in the degree of intensity of the action. Beatty desires Montag to fully reject his love of books. Therefore, Montag, can't just light a match and walk away. Instead, Montag must be the instrument of destruction by engaging the flamethrower and watching the books burn.
Why does Montag kill Beatty in Fahrenheit 451?
When they arrive at Montag's house to burn his books after Mildred turns him in, Beatty hits him in the head, shaking loose from his ear the green bullet that Faber uses for communication with him. Beatty snatches it up triumphantly, saying he knew Montag was in communication with someone. Now Beatty plans to trace the source of the green bullet and arrest Montag's friend.
Montag responds to this news of the threat to Faber by turning off the safety catch on his flame thrower. Faber sees this but, surprisingly, isn't deterred from continuing to taunt Montag. He insults Montag by calling him a "fumbling snob," then proceeds to recite Shakespeare's Julius Caesar at him. When he tells Montag to pull the trigger on the flame thrower, then to "hand it over," Montag reacts by choosing to pull the trigger and incinerate his boss.
Montag had a reasonably justifiable rationale for killing Beatty, in that he would protect Faber by doing so. However, even with that threat in front of him, Montag hesitates. It is only when Faber gets increasingly insulting and belligerent, even though he is well aware of the danger, that Montag turns on him.
Montag had a reason for killing Beatty, which was to save Faber, but in the end it was a combination of Beatty's death wish and the threat to his friend that caused Montag to act.
Why does Beatty make Montag burn his own house in Fahrenheit 451?
Beatty wants to punish Montag for the transgression of owning books. As he says to Montag when they arrive at his house and the firemen start breaking windows as a prelude to burning it,
"For everyone nowadays knows, absolutely is certain, that nothing will ever happen to me. Others die, I go on. There are no consequences and no responsibilities. Except that there are. But let's not talk about them, eh? By the time the consequences catch up with you, it's too late, isn't it, Montag?"
Beatty feels he has given Montag chances to reform and that Montag has not taken them. Beatty is a smart, angry man who has a sadistic streak, and he wants to rub in Montag's face the fact that a fireman is not allowed to own books. He therefore mocks and jeers at Montag, trying to show him the futility and powerlessness of his frail paper volumes against the destructive force of the fireman's flames.
Beatty's sadism—his desire to punish Montag and make him suffer acutely—comes out when he says to Montag,
"I want you to do this job all by your lonesome, Montag. Not with kerosene and a match, but piecework, with a flamethrower. Your house, your clean-up."
Montag ultimately decides that Beatty provoked him by arming him with a flamethrower and having him burn his house because Beatty had a death wish and hoped for Montag to kill him:
Beatty had wanted to die. He had just stood there, not really trying to save himself, just stood there, joking, needling, thought Montag . . .
Why does Beatty make Montag burn his own house in Fahrenheit 451?
Toward the beginning of the novel, Captain Beatty informs Montag that firemen are allowed to possess a book for twenty-four hours before they burn it on their own. However, if the fireman does not burn the book after twenty-four hours, the firemen are called to burn it for him. The policy of having the curious fireman burn the book himself indicates that the fireman has eradicated his intellectual pursuits and fully supports the government institution. Likewise, Captain Beatty wants Montag to burn his own house as a gesture of Montag's compliance and acceptance of the government's stance on censoring books. Captain Beatty might also want Montag to destroy his own house because of the psychological impact it would have on Montag. By burning his own home, Montag is acknowledging that he alone was the cause of the destruction, initially by reading novels and then by actually torching his home.
What does Montag realize about Beatty after his death?
After Montag shot Beatty with his flamethrower, he hobbles through the city
until he falls face first on the ground. While lying on the ground, he realizes
that "Beatty wanted to die." (Bradbury 116) Montag believes Captain
Beatty wanted to die because he just stood there and dared Montag to shoot him.
Montag finds it strange that Beatty would make fun of an armed man and continue
making derogatory comments towards him, instead of keeping his mouth shut and
trying to escape the situation. Montag's belief that Beatty wanted to die goes
deeper into understanding the psychology of Captain Beatty. Captian Beatty was
a "walking contradiction" and Montag knew it. Beatty was well-read and
educated, yet was the foremost opponent of the literary movement. Beatty more
than likely was struggling with deep-seeded, internal issues that dealt with
literature and living in a censored society. Such conflicting traits can
manifest into irrational life decisions, like the one Captain Beatty made in
front of Montag. Bradbury does not explicitly state whether or not Beatty
actually wanted to die, but his conflicting personality traits and irrational
decision making suggests he may have had a death wish.
In Fahrenheit 451, what does Faber give Montag to use against Captain Beatty?
Montag knows how intelligent and wily Beatty is. Although he disdains books and believes in destroying them, Beatty is very well read. He is always a few steps ahead of Montag, ready to outmaneuver him, and Montag is aware of this fact. Montag therefore asks Faber for help, saying,
Can you help me in any way tonight, with the Fire Captain? I need an umbrella to keep off the rain. I'm so damned afraid I'll drown if he gets me again.
Faber tells Montag that building radio transmitters is his hobby. He gives Montag a tiny transmitter he has developed. Montag can wear it in his ear, undetected, and through it, Faber can hear Montag's conversations with Beatty and help guide Montag in how to respond to him. As Faber puts it,
I'll give you things to say. We'll give him a good show.
Faber calls himself a "coward" for sitting safely in his room while Montag goes out and faces Beatty directly. Nevertheless, Montag finds having Faber to rely on through the transmitter very helpful as he rebels against his former life as a fireman and tries to escape his dystopian society.
What item does Montag receive from Faber before confronting Captain Beatty in Fahrenheit 451?
What Faber gives him is “a small green-metal object no larger than a .22 bullet,” which Montag says looks like a Seashell radio. In fact, this is an in-ear receiver/transmitter, which will let Faber listen to Montag’s conversations and speak to Montag privately. This “green bullet” is part of Faber’s plan to exercise influence over all the city’s firemen, and it will let him “hear and analyze the firemen’s world, find its weaknesses, without danger.” He says he can “put out ears into all parts of the city, with various men, listening and evaluating.” So, on the surface, Faber plans to listen in on Montag’s conversation and give Montag advice as he tries to outwit Beatty. In reality, Faber shows that he plans to manipulate Montag just as directly as Beatty does, and that this manipulation is part of his plan to reshape the city’s approach to books and learning. This “green bullet” system of influencing firemen would help to undermine the book-burning system and, as Faber sees it, restore learning to the world. Montag seems to recognize that he is being manipulated when he says, “I’m not thinking. I’m just doing what I’m told, like always.... When do I start working things out on my own?” Nonetheless, he accepts Faber’s guidance and follows his advice.
What revelation does Montag have about Beatty in Fahrenheit 451 after killing him?
In Part Three, Captain Beatty threatens to trace Montag's green bullet and arrest the person on the other end assisting him. Captain Beatty then proceeds to ridicule Montag and dares him to pull the trigger. Montag ends up shooting and killing Captain Beatty in the middle of the street and is immediately attacked by the Mechanical Hound shortly after killing the captain. After surviving the Mechanical Hound's attack, Montag realizes that Captain Beatty wanted to die. Bradbury writes:
In the middle of the crying Montag knew it for the truth. Beatty had wanted to die. He had just stood there, not really trying to save himself, just stood there, joking, needling, thought Montag, and the thought was enough to stifle his sobbing and let him pause for air. How strange, strange, to want to die so much that you let a man walk around armed and then instead of shutting up and staying alive, you go on yelling at people and making fun of them until you get them mad, and then... (57)
Captain Beatty's ability to quote literature indicates that he is a well-read man, which conflicts with his occupation. Despite Beatty's extensive literary knowledge, he is in charge of destroying novels and censoring literature. In Part One, Captain Beatty revealed that he was once curious like Montag and discovered that the pursuit of knowledge made him feel "bestial and lonely." Taking this into consideration, one can surmise that Beatty's conflicting feelings and literary knowledge foreshadow his demise and desire to die. Captain Beatty struggles to compromise his affinity for literature with his occupation and cannot thrive as an intellectual in Bradbury's dystopian society. He resents the fact that he has compromised his pursuit of knowledge and affinity for literature to conform to an ignorant, superficial society, which is why he wants to die.
What revelation does Montag have about Beatty in Fahrenheit 451 after killing him?
Montag realizes that Beatty wanted to die: "In the middle of crying Montag knew it for the truth . . . He had just stood there not really trying to save himself . . ." (108).
There are two ways to look at this.
First, is Montag just telling himself this to ease his guilt? When reading the showdown between Montag, holding the flamethrower and having just burned his house and books, and the defenseless Beatty, it seems that Beatty does not expect Montag to really go through with it. Remember, for much of the novel, Beatty has been able to confuse and manipulate Montag. Why should he think any different now?
However, when one thinks of the themes inherent in the novel, such as apathy and passivity and alienation and loneliness (http://www.enotes.com/fahrenheit-451/themes), it is not that hard to believe that Beatty could simply be tired of living a life devoted to destruction.
What two items were exchanged before Montag left Professor Faber's house in Fahrenheit 451 and why?
In part two of Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit
451, titled "The Sieve and the Sand," former professor Faber and Montag
have a very long conversation in Faber's house about Montag's
desires to escape ignorance and the inability to think for himself. They
discuss multiple ways to get citizens thinking again such as sabotaging the
firemen program by planting books in firemen's houses, in order to make the
whole system look corrupt, and printing their own books. At first Faber is far
too scared of the dictatorial government to comply with scheming against the
government. However, when Montag torments Faber's soul by tearing pages out of
the Bible Montag has brought, Faber finally agrees to help Montag and
shows him two objects, reproaching himself for having been too
afraid to agree to working together earlier.
The two objects are tiny radio transmitters
Faber has built and designed himself. The radio transmitters are "no larger
than a .22 bullet," small enough to fit in a person's ear unseen by other
people. Also, the devices not only allow the person wearing one to hear the
person on the other end, they also allow the person on the other end to hear
what's going on with respect to the wearer of the device. As Faber explains, "I
can sit comfortably home, warming my frightened bones, and hear and analyze the
firemen's world, find its weaknesses, without danger." Hence, Faber gives one
device to Montag while keeping the other for himself. Since they both have
radio transmitters, they can now be in constant contact with
each other. In addition, Montag leaves the Bible with Faber.
What two items were exchanged before Montag left Professor Faber's house in Fahrenheit 451 and why?
At the beginning of Part Two of Fahrenheit 451, Montag visits Professor Faber's apartment. He takes with him a copy of the Bible, a book which he has illegally kept and which he gives to the professor as a gift. This gift is Montag's way of thanking the professor because the professor agrees to help him to bring down the fireman system by printing copies of books and planting them in the homes of firemen.
As the men are now allies, Faber also gives a gift to Montag: a listening device which looks like a Seashell radio. This is a device of Faber's own design and it will enable the two men to communicate with each other, even though they are not in the same room, or even in the same part of town.
These two gifts symbolize the beginning of Montag and Faber's unlikely friendship and their commitment to bringing about the end of state-sponsored censorship.
In Fahrenheit 451, which passage describes Montag burning his home and killing Beatty?
Montag is conflicted. He is finally at a point that he feels he cannot go out and burn any more houses. On his last trip, he finds himself in front of his own home. This occurs at the end of Part II. (pg 110).
Beatty confronts him.
"Didn't I hint enough when I sent the Hound around your place." (pg 113)
Faber is talking to Montag in his ear. Montag is stunned that they have finally come to his house to burn it down. Beatty taunts him.
"What a dreadful surprise.....For everyone nowadays knows, absolutely is certain that nothing will ever happen to me. Others die, I go on.....By the time the consequences catch up with you, it's too late, isn't it Montag?"
Montag asks if his wife has turned him in and Beatty informs him that she did along with the neighbors he upset with his poetry reading. However, Beatty said he tried to downplay that report. Then Beatty gives Montag an order. He wants him to burn his own house by himself.
"Not with kerosene and a match, but piecework, with a flame thrower. Your house, your cleanup." (pg 116)
Montag does as he is told. He goes through each room of the house and sets it on fire. When he is finished, Beatty tells him he is under arrest. Beatty continues to taunt Montag until Montag finally takes the safety off the flame thrower and aims it at Beatty. Instead of showing fear, Beatty says,
"Why don't you belch Shakespeare at me, you fumbling snob?.......Go ahead now, you second-hand litterateur, pull the trigger." (pg 119)
Suddenly Montag shot the flame thrower, and Beatty was ablaze with fire.
".....no longer human or known, all writhing flame on the lawn as Montag shot one continuous pulse of liquid fire on him." (pg 119)
He then turned the flame thrower on the other firemen and told them to turn around. They did. The Hound was suddenly there, and he turned the flame thrower on him. However, the Hound was able to stick his anethesizing needle into his leg before he died. Montag now had to get out of town. They put on a citywide search for him, and he has an anethesized leg. He heads towards Faber's house.
What did Faber give to Montag before he left his apartment in Fahrenheit 451?
Before leaving Faber's apartment, Montag is given a "small green-metal object," no larger than a ".22 bullet." This electronic device is one of Faber's inventions and it consists of two parts: one part which goes inside Montag's ear and another part which goes inside Faber's ear. Using this device, the men can communicate, regardless of the distance between them.
Faber gives this device to Montag to aid him in the fight against Captain Beatty. Montag worries that without Faber's guidance, he will be easily manipulated by Beatty's enthusiasm for the fireman system. The device provides Montag with invaluable support, as Faber says,
Go to the firehouse when it's time. I'll be with you. Let's listen to this Captain Beatty together.
Faber believes this device is proof of his "cowardice" because Montag is leaving the apartment to face Captain Beatty while he stays at home. In reality, this device marks the beginning of their rebellion against the fireman system.
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