The Symbolism of Fire in Fahrenheit 451 Essay Example

stopped being a valuable weapon for Montag, becoming a destructive weapon against what had become his new treasure, books.

Before Clarisse, the fire was a vehicle for Montag’s happiness. “It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. ” (Bradbury, pg. 3) The things that “blackened and changed” referred to books burning, after Clarisse, this pleasure had gone, Montag wanted overall, that books preserved pure, immaculate. Otherwise, at the end of the novel, the change of Montag’s perception towards the use of fire can be seen in a different manner. When the Mechanical Hound had been destructed hanks to fire, Montag feel in control again. He felt it scrabble and seize his leg and stab the needle in for a moment before the fire snapped the Hound up in the air. ” (Bradbury, pg. 103) As well as the Mechanical Hound, Captain Beatty died because of fire: Montag killed him with a fire gun. These deaths relocate fire as the vehicle of what Montag felt passion towards, in this case no longer burning books, but fighting to save them. As we can see, throughout Fahrenheit 451, fire symbolizes death but also the opportunity for new things. This idea is condensed by Bradbury at the end of the novel through the character named Granger.

He exposed after looking at the fire and saying “phoenix” that “there was a silly damn bird called a phoenix…every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again. And it looks like we're doing the same thing, over and over, but we have one damn thing the phoenix

never had. We know the damn silly things we just did. … [S]omeday we? ll stop making the goddamn funeral pyres and jumping in the middle of them. ” (Bradbury, pg. 163) In the novel, Montag can be taken as an allegory of the phoenix. He represented destruction in different ways.

First, as explained before, his job as a fireman happened by means of destruction, the destruction of his perception towards society and the fight against it as well as the fight against Captain Beatty. However, he also represented renewal. His new ideas and lifestyle reflected that something new had been born from what have been burned. Montag represents the dialectics that occurs in human society but also in humans’ spirits, dialectic in old ideas and feelings fight against new ones giving birth to a new idea and a new feeling, and if it might be a strong battle it may give birth to a new way of life.

In conclusion, we can see that fire is a very important element of the novel Fahrenheit 451, it is a crucial element for the development of the story and for the development of Montag? s character. As we can see, throughout the novel fire represented destruction; nevertheless, it also represented renewal, leaving us –the readers- a warm feeling, a feeling of hope.

Bibliography

1. Bradbury, Ray, Fahrenheit 451. 1953