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Hong

Guy Montag- the Hero of Humanity

2 Hong

Table of Contents

Intro................................................................................................................... 3 First Idea........................................................................................................... 4 Second Idea ...................................................................................................... 5 Third Idea ......................................................................................................... 6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 7 Reference.......................................................................................................... 8

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Outlines I. Introduction II. First Idea A. Example B. Example III. Second Idea

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Corey Hong Mrs. Panks Fahrenheit 451 essay 5/21/11 Intro A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. In the dystopia of the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury where books are burned, intellectuals are removed, and the society is blinded by cheap entertainment and driving itself to the edge of destruction, a new hero is called to save humanity. In this profound novel, Guy Montag is a third-generation fireman who suddenly realizes the emptiness of his life and starts to search for meaning in the books he is supposed to burn. Montag embarks on a journey to escape his dystopian society and search for the enlightenment and happiness he has been missing his whole life. The flame of curiosity and adventure in Montags heart has been lightened up by Clarisse McClellan, and through his journey, Montag will become the light of hope in the dark world. Through his quest for his happiness and salvation of humanity, Montag shows the characteristics of a hero by courage, wisdom, and transformation from a villain to a hero. Email one of your original essays from last year or a previous year (e.g. English paper, history paper), which is a Word document in MLA format, that has at least two full
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pages of written text (complete sentences) to any email of your email addresses (e.g. class, school, etc). If you cannot find one of your papers, use a friend's paper. Add a works cited page with at least one reference if there is not one. You will be using it for the next tutorial. The first heroic characteristic shown by Montag is his courage to stand up for what is right even if it means he must face his whole society and fight a battle he cannot win. Through his journey, Montag shows his fearlessness through many provocative actions that are against the laws of his society. These rebellious actions include: reading books to find the happiness he has been missing his life- we arent happy. Somethings missing. I looked around. The only thing I positively knew was gone was the books so I though books might help; and promising never to go back to his job as a fireman. Montags very attempt at books is extreme bravery, and yet Montag continues to show more courage by breaking his family tradition of being a proud fireman. However, Montag also uses his courage to not only fight his society, but also to change it and protect the people within it. Throughout his journey, Montag struggles to protect the innocent intellectuals, like Faber and the old lady who dies with her books. In a world full of mindless slaves with no emotions, people like Clarisse and Faber were the one friends whom Montag could feel connection to, and Montag tries his best to protect his only friends from the deadly grasp of the society. Montag goes as far as committing a murder to protect his friend, Faber, and that takes insane amount of courage to do so. However, Montag brings out his greatest bravery when he sacrifices everything he has, including his life, to
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preserve the hope for survival of humanity- books. Montags heroic journey reaches its climax during the chase with the Mechanical Hound, in which Montag barely manages to escape with his life intact. This escape signifies Montag giving up his old life as a fireman in his city and leaving everything behind in order to achieve his goal, and this is a sign of great courage. These events show the hardship Montag has gone through to find his happiness and save humaniy. The heros journey of Montags life shows that a brave heart desiring to reach its destiny is one of the factors that makes a hero. Even with such bravery, Montag does not prove to be a perfect hero. During his journey, the steps he takes toward his goal often seem clumsy and misguided. Faced with the enormity and complexity of books for the first time, Montag is often confused, frustrated, and overwhelmed; it is like trying to make it through a labyrinth in a complete darkness of ignorance. However, Montag is guided through the maze by the intellectual friends he meets in his journey: Clarisse, Faber, and Granger. Clarisse becomes the first light in Montags light bulb of enlightenment by simply asking him the question are you happy? With this simple question, Montag comes to a realization of how empty his life has been, and thereby commencing his journey to search for the same happiness Clarisse seemed to have. The next share of wisdom comes from Faber, the retired English professor who guides Montag thorugh understanding the books- There is nothing magical in them at all. The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together for us. Faber shows Montag that it isnt just books that have the answer for happiness, but the values and themes within the stories being told. Faber also shows more options

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of finding the happiness- The things youre looking for, Montag, are in the world And dont look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were headed for shore. Lastly, Granger, the exiled intellectual, completes the puzzles of enlightenment with the advises of learning from the past mistakes and fixing them- weve got one thing the Phoenix never had we know all the things weve done for a thousand years, and as long as we know that and always have it around where we can see it, someday well stop making the funeral pyres and jumping into the middle of them. Granger shows Montag way humanity can be saved, and gives him a new purpose in life as a fireman who preserves rather than destroys. With the help of these three intellectuals he encountered, Montag is able to complete his heros journey. The last heroic characteristic that marks Montag as a great hero is the dramatic change in character Montag has undergone. At the start of the novel, Montag is a total conformist who has bought into the totalitarian system in which he lives without thought or question. He also works for the government as a fireman, burning the homes of criminals who dare to possess books and setting loose the Mechanical Hound to track down those victims who dare to seek knowledge. However, through his journey Montag steps into the shoes of the victim seeking for knowledge and protecting books. This ironic

transformation also signifies Montags transition from a mere slave of the society to the heroic reformer of a corrupt society. Montags dramatic transformation can also be noticed when he escapes the city and enters the nature- He stood breathing, and the more he breathed the land in, the more he

was filled with all the details of the land. He was not empty. Such feeling of being alive can be described almost as a rebirth. Montag is also able to actually feel his body for the first time in the presence of nature. Montags escape from city into the nature symbolizes the resurrection of Montag, since he is giving up his old, lifeless past as a fireman and becoming a whole new person. The last significant change in Montags character is marked by his new perspective of fire, an element of nature which Montags life has been obsessed with. All his life, fire has been a tool of destruction for Montag. However, when he witnesses the warmth of the camp fire protecting the Book People from the cold and danger of the wilderness, Montag realizes that fire can preserve life as well as destroy it. This discovery gives Montag a new purpose in life: Montag shall become a fire that preserves. Montags ultimate rebirth from a fire of destruction to a fire of life is what makes Montag a great hero. A hero is made only by his rare qualities that are hardly found in others, and Montag has these qualities that differ him from the rest of his dystopian society. Montags courage to stand up for justice, his wisdom and enlightenment to guide humanity through the time of darkness, and his dramatic rebirth that will inspire the dying humanity and bring it back to life are the factors which marks Guy Montag as a great hero, a flame of hope that will bring the light in the time of darkness.
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Reference: Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003. Print.