Fahrenheit 451 Characters Descriptions, Significance

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury’s classic work of science fiction, remains relevant in the 21st century thanks in part to the subtle symbolism tied to its characters. Each character in the novel struggles with the concept of knowledge in a different way. While some of the characters embrace knowledge and take on the responsibility of protecting it, others reject knowledge in an effort to protect themselves and their own comfort—none more so than the novel’s protagonist, who spends much of the novel attempting to remain ignorant even as he willfully seeks out knowledge in a struggle against himself. Guy Montag Guy Montag, a fireman, is the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451. In the universe of the novel, the traditional role of the fireman is subverted: buildings are largely made from fireproof materials, and the job of a fireman is to burn books. Instead of preserving the past, a fireman now destroys it. Montag is initially presented as a content citizen of a world where books are treated as dangerous. The famous opening line of the novel, â€Å"It was a pleasure to burn,† is written from Montag’s perspective. Montag revels in his work and is a respected member of society because of it. However, when he meets Clarisse McClellan and she asks him if he is happy, he experiences a sudden crisis, suddenly imagining that he is splitting into two people. This moment of splitting comes to define Montag. Until the end of the story, Montag indulges in the idea that he is not responsible for his own increasingly dangerous acts. He imagines that he is controlled by Faber or Beatty, that his hands move independently of his will when he steals and hides books, and that Clarisse is somehow speaking through him. Montag has been trained by society not to think or question, and he attempts to maintain his ignorance by separating his inner life from his actions. It is not until the end of the novel, when Montag attacks Beatty, that he finally accepts his active role in his own life. Mildred Montag Mildred is Guy’s wife. Although Guy cares very deeply for her, she has evolved into a person he finds alien and horrifying. Mildred has no ambitions beyond watching television and listening to her ‛Seashell ear-thimbles,’ constantly immersed in entertainment and distraction that requires no thought or mental effort on her part. She represents society as a whole: seemingly superficially happy, deeply unhappy inside, and unable to articulate or cope with that unhappiness. Mildred’s capacity for self-reliance and introspection has been burned out of her. At the beginning of the novel, Mildred takes more than 30 pills and almost dies. Guy rescues her, and Mildred insists that it was an accident. The ‛plumbers’ who pump her stomach, however, comment that they routinely deal with ten such cases every evening, implying that this was a suicide attempt. Unlike her husband, Mildred flees from any sort of knowledge or admission of unhappiness; where her husband imagines himself splitting into two people in order to deal with the guilt that knowledge brings, Mildred buries herself in fantasy in order to maintain her ignorance. When the consequences of her husband’s rebellion destroys her home and fantasy world, Mildred has no reaction. She simply stands in the street, incapable of independent thought—much like society at large, which stands idly by as destruction looms. Captain Beatty Captain Beatty is the most well-read and highly educated character in the book. Nevertheless, he has devoted his life to destroying books and maintaining societys ignorance. Unlike the other characters, Beatty has embraced his own guilt and chooses to utilize the knowledge that he has attained. Beatty is motivated by his own desire to return to a state of ignorance. He was once a rebel who read and learned in defiance of society, but knowledge brought him fear and doubt. He sought answers—the sort of simple, rock solid answers that could guide him to the right decisions—and instead he found questions, which led in turn to more questions. He began to feel despair and helplessness, and ultimately decided that he was wrong to seek knowledge in the first place. As a Fireman, Beatty brings the passion of the converted to his work. He despises books because they failed him, and he embraces his work because it is simple and comprehensible. He uses his knowledge in the service of ignorance. This makes him a dangerous antagonist, because unlike other truly passive and ignorant characters, Beatty is intelligent, and he uses his intelligence to keep society ignorant. Clarisse McClellan A teenage girl living near Guy and Mildred, Clarisse rejects ignorance with childlike honesty and courage. Not yet broken by society, Clarisse still has a youthful curiosity about everything around her, demonstrated by her constant questioning of Guy—questioning that spurs his identity crisis. Unlike those around her, Clarisse seeks knowledge for knowledge’s sake. She does not seek knowledge to use it as a weapon like Beatty, she doesn’t seek knowledge as a cure to an internal crisis like Montag, nor does she seek knowledge as a way of saving society like the exiles do. Clarisse simply wants to know things. Her ignorance is the natural, beautiful ignorance that marks the beginning of life, and her instinctive efforts to answer questions represent the best of humanity’s instincts. The character of Clarisse offers a thread of hope that society might be saved. As long as people like Clarisse exist, Bradbury seems to imply, things can always get better. Clarisse disappears from the story very early on, but her impact is large. Not only does she push Montag closer to open rebellion, she lingers in his thoughts. The memory of Clarisse helps him organize his anger into opposition against the society that he serves. Professor Faber Professor Faber is an elderly man who was once a teacher of literature. He has seen society’s intellectual decline in his own lifetime. He is positioned as the polar opposite of Beatty in some ways: he despises society and believes strongly in the power of reading and independent thought, but unlike Beatty he is fearful and does not use his knowledge in any way, instead opting to hide in obscurity. When Montag forces Faber to assist him, Faber is easily intimidated into doing so, as he fears losing the little he has left. Faber represents the triumph of ignorance, which often comes in the form of blunt practicality, over intellectualism, which often comes in the form of weightless ideas with no practical application. Granger Granger is the leader of the drifters Montag meets when he flees the city. Granger has rejected ignorance, and with it the society built on that ignorance. Granger knows that society goes through cycles of light and dark, and that they are at the tail end of a Dark Age. He has taught his followers to preserve knowledge using only their minds, with plans to rebuild society after it has destroyed itself. Old Woman The old woman appears early in the story as Montag and his fellow firemen discover a cache of books in her home. Rather than surrender her library, the old woman sets herself on fire and dies with her books. Montag steals a copy of the Bible from her home. The Old Woman’s hopeful act of defiance against the consequences of ignorance stays with Montag. He can’t help but wonder what books might contain that would inspire such an act.

Catholic Clerical Spiritual Bullying - 1945 Words

Catholic Clerical: Spiritual Bullying in the Church Could you give up your life for your faith? The Huguenots were willing to give up everything for their religious beliefs. Between 1562 and 1598, there were numerous civil wars and outbreaks of violence that were clearly motivated by religious differences. For centuries, the Roma Catholic Churches were the only religious system throughout Europe, however, this started to change. From 1300’s to 1540, the world would see some of the worst and horrible atrocities imaginable, causing a Religious war that changed history forever. Many historians argue that such things as politics, power, and material goods are the causes of these wars, but whereas others claim that religion is the main reason. From my religious background, and conducting the research, the evidence shows all the above is true. Along with the humanistic factors and the strong desires to understand the word of God, also play a role in the conflict. The evidence I will be using is the Bible, resource book, historical documents, historiography studies, and classic literature to prove that war was about religion, caused by men differences. My goal throughout this essay is to try and write a more objective investigative paper, in the way it presents the information from both sides of the Atlantic. The most important idea about the Huguenots was their involvement in the Protestant Reformation because they were involved inShow MoreRelatedStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesDeveloping an OB Model 23 An Overview 23 †¢ Inputs 24 †¢ Processes 25 †¢ Outcomes 25 Summary and Implications for Managers 30 S A L Self-Assessment Library How Much Do I Know About Organizational Behavior? 4 Myth or Science? â€Å"Most Acts of Workplace Bullying Are Men Attacking Women† 12 An Ethical Choice Can You Learn from Failure? 24 glOBalization! Does National Culture Affect Organizational Practices? 30 Point/Counterpoint Lost in Translation? 31 Questions for Review 32 Experiential Exercise WorkforceRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 Pagesdetermining factor to â€Å"protect the privacy interests of patients, clients, or customers.†42 A religious BFOQ may have similar results. Religion may be used as a differentiating factor in ordaining a church minister, but a faculty member doesn’t have to be Catholic to teach at a Jesuit college. Under rare circumstances, an organization may refuse to hire individuals whose religious observances fall on days that the enterprise normally operates if the organization demonstrates that it cannot reasonably accommodate

Respect Essay Free Essays

Respect Respect can be defined as a positive feeling of esteem for a person or entity. It denotes the regard and consideration shown by an individual towards others. Respect cannot be demanded, it is an asset that has to be earned. We will write a custom essay sample on Respect Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now From the very childhood kids are taught to respect their parents, elders, teachers and an unending list of social obligations. But an ambiguity arises when the teachings do no match the practical experiences. Children find it hard to respect certain persons or the same person in differing situations, viz. If a parent generally behaves positively with the children, it is normal for the child to reciprocate and show the same behaviour. But the anomaly arises when a parent confront or scold the child to make him understand a certain thing. The child wants to reciprocate his behaviour but the parent defies his behaviour and tells the child to respect him. Here the respect is tried to be imposed and not earned. This is a contradiction to respect. Nobody can earn respect by suppression or by flaunting power. It is a deliberate action that cannot be forced upon others. There is an individualistic form of respect also, which is well known as self-respect. If an individual cannot respect himself, he cannot respect any other person. A feeling of worth and rational judgement gives rise to self respect. Respect plays a roll in our every day lives. When we go to school, there’s respect. When we go to a restaurant, there’s respect. When you go to your family reunion, there is respect. You may not notice it, but that’s only because they are being respectful to you . If your not respectful then you will be disrespected because your being mean. So you should always be respectful to others so they will treat you the way you want to be treated. If you are respectful to others then you can get good jobs because they’ll like you. The better the job is the better your life will be in the future, and trust me you want a good and happy future. Jobs will get you money for your great future. So always try to advance to a higher paying job. So respect can do lots of things that will help us with our future. So never stop caring! Respect isn’t the only right thing to do, but is also the best way to make a lot of friends. You being respectful will help you from being depressed from loneliness. You should be honest, kid, nice, gentle, relaxed, and happy to make friends. The word respect is a word to summarize all of the things above and plenty more. Things like being quite while someone is talking, or not bothering someone when they’re in bad mood. I see respect all the time, that’s what makes every thing so easy to do and no one gets sad. If I ever saw someone get knocked over and there stuff is on the ground scattered all over, I would definitely help him pick it up. Because other wise I would feel bad watching them pick it up all by themselves. Always treat others the way you would want to be treated. This way you will be respected and loved. My definition of respect is being nice, generous, and helpful. Because all of those things can be the best things to do if you want to be respectful, which you should always be. So next time I talk in class out of turn, I will remember this five page essay on respect. How to cite Respect Essay, Essays