Guy Montag as a Hero Essay

When we hear the word hero we think ab come out those who fight for our country out at war or those who intrust their bides in jeopardy e trulyday protecting their community like a police officer or fireman, on the whole of these citizens doing this for a small wage in comparison to Rap artists who rhyme profane words making millions of dollars. However you dont have to live on the streets or have to a greater extent money than sense to be a hero, you just have to make a difference. In the end identifying soulfulness as a hero or a villain is up to you, its in the eye of the beholder.Guy Montag was a fireman for his community and do his mark as a hero through countless acts of courage, bravery, and emotion in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Montag stood up for his rights on books and defied his govern manpowert, take down if it meant losing hisfamily, friends, job, and property all in order to do what he believed in. Bradbury symbolizes Montag as a sympathetic hero th rough the use of diction. Montag is one of the only divisions in the novel to actually feel an array of different emotions and understand them.For instance, after the old charr had stood atop the pile of burning books and burned with them, Montag pondered what he saw, thither essential be something in books, things we cant imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house there must be something there. (51) and for the first time Montag was exploring feelings he was not very familiar with, like curiosity and sympathy. For the first time the reader gets the feeling that Montag acts differently to the reprieve of the characters and may be on to something due to his curiosity.Montag shows sympathy in a conversation with Millie, A man had to take a long time to put them down on paper(52) referencing the author of the novels that he and his fellow firemen had burnt. Montag gradually becomes a hero however this results in getting himself into trouble. As the book progresses it is spor ty to say that Curiosity killed the cat as Montag got caught red handed. Courage, the second attribute that Montag performs,can be seen through the use of imagery. Throughout the novel Montag shows that he has courage to do the right thing change surface though things are against him.For example, Montag places his hand on the womans elbow and says, You can come with me(39) referring to the old woman who refused to allow her precious books. He tries to convince the old woman to get out of the house which was about to be burned even though other men had already told her to leave. This act requires courage because in a society presented in Fahrenheit 451, nobody cares about others and by trying to help the old woman Montag creates suspicion toward himself by the other firemen, all because he was trying to save someones life. A second example of his courageousness can be found in the river scene.Bradbury paints a picture in the readers mind, A storm of light fell upon the river and Mo ntag dived under the great illumination as if the sun had mixed-up the clouds(139) using specific word choices and exact detail. In addition to the excellent imagery Montag takes a leap of faith or in his case dowse of faith as he plummets into the river in his attempt at escaping the mechanical hound. Whether it was fluke or not the reader doesnt pick out, but Montag safely escape and stumbled upon an interesting group of men. As stated before, the hero in this book is the main character, Guy Montag which is depicted through character development.Montag is a very peculiar and careful man, and from the start, different from the rest. A lot of Montags character is revealed when he is talking to Clarisse. Hes a good listener and Clarisse spikes his curiosity even more, for example, when she describes to him how she enjoys opening her mouth when it rains, he is extremely surprised, but after she leaves, he tilts his head back and tries it too. (21) Clarisse even remarks, Youre not like the others. Ive seen a few I know. When I talk, you look at me. When I said something about the moon, you looked at the moon, last night. The others would never do that (21).He is a very thoughtful man, and has a sensitivity about him. He also is a searcher for a deeper meaning in life. He says, We need to be in law bothered once in a while. How long is it since youve been really bothered? About something important, about something real? (49). Montag is also imperfect. He is really rash and is alter with a passion that sometimes cripples his goals. He can be destructive, like when he rashly kills Beatty (113). He gets confused and overwhelmed with tough situations and sometimes doesnt know how to get out of them. All and all Bradbury knew he wanted to make Montag the hero and builds that image bit by bit.Montag represents truth. He represents the want for happiness in our lives and the search for why things are like they are. He wants to find TRUE happiness. Not the happine ss everyone else thinks they have. Montag goes on his own search, breaking laws, and doing anything to find out the truth of his own life and that is why he represents the abstract idea of truth. Fahrenheit 451 depicts that a characters personality may have many more facets than are first visible. Bradbury is able to refract the crystal of Montags character, so that it reflects into each readers heart a different aspect of humanity. at a time Montag becomes more human, Bradbury makes it nearly impossible for the reader to hold grudges about his past. Using this as a tool, Montag, the first apparent antagonist of the story, overcomes the government, which is the real antagonist, and emerges as the hero. From a work literature you have read in or out of school, select a character that, in your opinion, is heroic. In a well-developed composition, identify that character and explain why he or she is heroic. Thesis Montag is eventually known as a heroic character.