Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury - Literature Essay Sample

Fahrenheit 451 follows the steps of narrative structure with exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution or denouement. The setting of the novel is in the dystopian community where a fireman instead of putting out fire burns books. The exposition of the novel begins with the statement It was a pleasure to burn (Bradbury, 1). In this case, the audience gets to meet a man who is totally fascinated with his job as a book-burning fireman. The novel is set at a time where people watch television and listen to music at all times. The society at that point has no concept of feelings and they tend to take other people compliments seriously like being happy because another person said so. Montag is married to Mildred. Beatty, the antagonist, is the captain of the firehouse. The firemen burn peoples houses that have books in them with the belief that books cause emotional problems and that they are better left off unread.

The primary conflict occurs when he begins to question the ethics of the society. He starts to argue with Mildred, Beatty and the rest of the peoples. The conflict and his desire to read finally causes him to leave his wife and for him to burn his house down and all her belongings. The conflict gets repaired when the city is destroyed by bombs and thereafter the societal side of the conflict paving way for the formation of a new man

The Sieve and the Sand the title of the rising action. Montag meets his new neighbor Clarisse McClellan, who is 17 years old who gets to bring self-awareness to his mind. She asks him a simple question that sparked change in his life, Are you happy? (Bradbury, 10). He begins to reevaluate his life in general, Montag wonders why Clarisse behaves the way she does. She questions everything and everyone around her and this confuses Montag. He begins to question everything and everyone in his life because of the spark that Clarisse implemented on him (Bradbury, 30). Captain Beatty suspects Montag of stealing a book and gives a talk on destroying books. Beatty is well informed about literature, regardless of what the society dictates. He gives him time to read the book to prove that it has no meaning

The Burning Bright is the title of the climax of the novel. This is one of the most intense moments of the story. Montag is caught by surprise when the salamander pulls over at his house and his wife goes into the taxi with all her belongings. Beatty explains to Guy Montag that people are attracted to fire because as it is a perpetual motion they could not come up with. He advises him to burn all the books in his house. He loves the feeling of destroying everything as he thought that his problems are being set free. Beatty taunts Montag and he points a flamethrower at Beatty. Montag proceeded to burn Beatty to death while he screams and rolls on the ground.

The falling action in Fahrenheit 451 begins when Montag flees from the authorities and the Mechanical Hound to find safety in the countryside. He goes to Fabers house who is happy to see him alive and offers him old smell clothes that could help him keep the Mechanical Hound away from catching his actual scent (Bradbury, 58). Montag travels along the river and follows the railroad and he comes across the hobo intellectuals, Granger and the other intellectuals. He joins the pack where they talk to each other about their life experiences and most importantly about the books. Montag, Granger and the other scholars decide to walk down the river stream in the belief that they will reach the city in order to reconstruct the society (Bradbury, 74)

The novels resolution is made of Montag joining the team of intellectuals composed of Granger and the other men and their decision to help them. At this point, he realizes where he belongs. He learns that all the men have knowledge of the books in their heads as they believe that memory is the sincerest method of keeping and storing memory. The group teaches him how to create and recite books from his memory in the hopes of one day coming up with written works. His main contribution is the book of Ecclesiastes. The city in which Montag lived previously gets destroyed by being blown up by jets which flew over the city. He and the other men begin the long journey to try and rebuild it and reconstruct the society in general. This group of people have the same agenda which is to change and create a society whereby people appreciate the importance of books, where imagination is a key feature and people have to think in order to undertake anything in their lives.

Works Cited

BIBLIOGRAPHY Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Reissue edition. New York: Simon & Schuster, January 10, 2012.

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