Author: robbyhooker

“Bet I know something else you don’t. There’s dew on the grass in the morning.’ He suddenly couldn’t remember if he had known this or not, and it made him quite irritable. ‘And if you look’- she nodded at the sky- ‘there’s a man in the moon.’ He hadn’t looked for a long time.” Clarisse is being a catalyst towards Montag in this passage by trying to get him to really think. It is interesting because instead of telling them to think like we catch Montag doing with Mildred she subtly urges him to think without literally telling him to.

This picture represents how effective Montag’s method of trying to get Mildred to think:

Beatty is a foil to Montag in the novel Farhrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Montag is full of life and thinking, wondering, and being himself, while Beatty is a very stagnant character who obeys all the rules written for firemen and does the same thing day in and day out. A quote from Beatty on page 62 will further prove my point “Montag, take my word for it, I’ve had to read a few in my time, to know what I was about, and the books say nothing! Nothing you can teach or believe.” He describes to Montag how he does not believe in learning and thinking.

I know that the man in a cubicle is an over exaggerated stereotype, however I believe this image really demonstrates Montag (the one sniffing the rose) v.s. all the Beattys in their society.

Clarisse McLellan, the neighbor, acts as a doppelganger to Guy Montag. I say this because they both are very full of life compared to most of their society. “You’re one of the few who put up with me. That’s why I think it’s so strange you’re a fireman, it just doesn’t seem right for you, somehow.” said Clarisse on page 23. She realizes at an early stage in the book that he is not like the others, he is more like her and she wants to help him realize the truths of life.

Here are some examples of doppelgangers to better your understanding of them (granted James and Dave Franco are brothers they still like very much alike.)

What Bradbury is trying to get across in the novel Fahrenheit 451 is that people around the world are starting to suppress the idea of growth quite easily. They set themselves into comfort and right when they get there they stop, there is little growth, little curiosity, little risk taking and all because the people of the world think they have what they want. There is rarely failure in the lives of these people  but at the same time is there any achievement? Like Robert F. Kennedy once said “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”  An example of this is in F451 is on page 43 when Montag asks his wife Mildred “The first time we ever met, where was it, and when?’ ‘Why it was at-‘ She stopped. ‘I don’t know.” Mildred can’t even remember how she met her own husband. People in the real world are getting to comfortable with what they are given, and instead of reaching for the stars they reach for the TV remote just like Mildred has gotten so comfortable and gone from reality. In conclusion people are climbing a metaphorical mountain in life and when they get to the top they settle there in comfort instead of going out and climbing steeper and larger mountains.

Here is a video example of the theme by YouTube star Casey Neistat showing that the only way to get somewhere in life is to hustle and always be aware.

“Maybe the books can get us half out of the cave. They might just stop us from making the same damn insane mistakes! I don’t hear those idiot bastards in your parlor talking about it. God Millie, don’t you see?” Said Montag on page 74. Montag is one of the few people in their society that realizes what is going on, I think what Bradbury is trying to say here is that there are still some people in our world that want to push for more. These people may try to get the others who are settled in comfort to grow but truly it is down to the people themselves.

A man yells at a woman in this image like Montag was yelling at Mildred: