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Guy Montag Change In Fahrenheit 451

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In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag undergoes change due to Clarisse asking Montag if he is happy, witnessing an old woman burn to death to stand up for a cause she believes in, and the adjustment of the environment from a fast-paced city to the calmness of nature; Montag’s change develops a theme that even the most unlikely people are still capable of changing. A single character, such as can have a massive impact and initiate a drastic change on another character, which Clarisse demonstrates when she first meets Montag and causes him to rethink his entire life. Upon returning home after Clarisse asks if he is happy, Montag comes to the realization that “He was not happy… He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of …show more content…
On the surface, his life seems sufficient. However, realizing that he is not happy lets Montag see that he does not truly love his wife and does not find satisfaction in the way he lives. If Montag had not stumbled upon Clarisse on that autumn night, he may have never recognized his despair and went on to live his ordinary, “happy,” life. This impact by Clarisse related back to the theme because as a thirty-year-old man with a simple, successful life, it does not seem as though Montag will suddenly state that he is not happy and wish to change his life. A major event that pushes Montag to change his beliefs and begin to read books occurs when he witnesses an old woman burn herself and her home to stand up for books and the people who are willing to rebel against society and read them. Clearly shaken up from the incident, Montag tries to explain to his wife, Mildred, “It’s not just the woman that died… Last night I thought about all the kerosene I’ve used in the past ten years. And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of the books” (Bradbury

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