Montag

Guy Montag was content with his life as a fireman. He had a nice house, a nice wife and a content life. Montag had been a fireman for 10 years, and had never questioned the pleasures of midnight runs or the joy of watching pages being consumed by flames. One day, Montag meets a curious young girl, Clarisse, who tells him all about the world in a way that Montag has never thought of before. He soon realizes that the world he lives in is upside down, he no longer loves his wife, Millie, or his job. Montag starts to question the ways of the world, why do people love books? What power lies within them?

The protagonist in my story is Guy Montag, a fireman from the 24th century. The thing about Guy, the quality that makes him him, is that he is secretly inquisitive. This is something that he develops on his own . When Montag goes into a old maid's house to inspect the circumstances of the call, he finds a house of books. The fire cheif decides that they must burn the house. Montag tries to usher the lady with him, but she refuses and decides to say with her burning books. It is at this point that Montag begins to wonder, what are in books?

"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."
- Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Part 1

I believe that Guy is heroic in nature because, he goes on a journey to find himself, a part of himself that he must have been missing for a long time. He also is brave and caring, he cares about his home and his family but also feels compasion for the old woman that stays in the house and for Clarisse. He is brave to go against his workplace and his friend and firecheif 'Beatty'.

Guy Montag : [holding a book in his hand] Behind each of these books, there's a man. That's what interests me.

"Fahrenheit four-five-one is the temperature at which book paper catches fire and starts to burn"