Fahrenheit 451 - 14

This book addresses the inward battle that everyone faces against living a life of integrity versus living a life of laziness. In the book Fahrenheit 451, the culture of the people is extremely lazy. The people take the easy route by only living for themselves. They sit all day and watch television and they do not spend time with their families. They burn all of the things that they are too afraid to face, and they do not have to work hard for anything.

It is so easy to fall into the trap of living a shallow life and only worrying about yourself, and it seems that the author really understands that about human nature and he shows the daily inward battle that we face of integrity versus laziness.

I think the theme of this book is fighting for character. It takes a lot of effort to go the extra mile to do things to help others that you do not really want to help. It takes a lot of effort to truly be concerned of the well being of others over the well being of yourself. It also takes a lot of effort to fight for what you think is right and to live a life of character and live how you want to be.

The author really portrayed this theme by sharing thoughts, actions and daily life scenarios of Guy Montag, the main character of the book. Montag consistently had to make character choices throughout the entire book. He had to choose to listen to his instincts or to listen to his authorities. From what I have found, that is always a very tricky thing to do and it is a tough decision because you need to respect your authorities but not if they are being sinful. It is often a tough line to decipher when dealing with sinful authorities.

I believe that the author of Fahrenheit 451 had much experience on his topic of writing, and did a very good job portraying the theme.

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Print.

Fahrenheit 451 - 13

In my opinion, the conflict in the book Fahrenheit 451 is a conflict within the main character, Guy Montag. He lives in an extremely selfish world, and in the book he begins to find who he is withing that world. He always would live just like everybody else. Montag would do things that were pleasing to him, and would only think about himself. He would live a reckless lifestyle and not even think about the things that he was doing. He claimed that he was happy and that everything was good and how it was supposed to be. However, deep inside, Montag knew that he was not happy or satisfied with his life at all.

A girl, Clarisse Mclellen, moved into the house next to Montag. She was not like other girls. Clarisse took time to stop and think about things. She did not think about the things that most people thought about, like which television show to watch, but she thought about things that actually matter. Clarisse thought about things that were deep and actually took thought. She also asked questions. Most people around them did not ask questions, but Clarisse did. She questioned everything that happened. She did not live like the other girls, she cared about things that mattered.

Clarisse inspired thought in Montag. He had never witnessed a person who was like her, and it really got Montag questioning his motives, his morals, and his reasoning on everything that he did. The conflict in the book was Montag against himself. One part of him was comfortable with how he lived and it seemed like that was how he was supposed to live. The other part of him questioned the reasons that he did what he did and wanted to live for more and was sick of the culture, even though he was not quite sure at first what it was that he was sick of.

As the story progressed, Montag stopped living like he used to and started changing his mindset. He stepped out of his comfort zone and did things he never thought were possible. He did those things because that is what he believed to be true and right.

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Print.

Fahrenheit 451 - 12

In my opinion, I believe the author of Fahrenheit 451 must have very good values and moral standards. I think he wrote his book showing the negative things about our society, except he put them to the extreme. I think he did this to help the reader see how awful it is and identify that the things that are happening are bad, and then see that those things are happening in our society, but just in different ways and on a smaller scale.

I believe that Ray Bradbury's perspective in writing this book was that he was against all of the bad things that were happening in our society and wanted to portray that to others in a way that they could understand and realize the reality of. Since he did not want those things to happen, he had much knowledge of the things, and amped them up so that it would show the reality of the bad things and help the reader to realize that those things are bad in nature and can ruin families, friendships, societies, and countries.

Fahrenheit 451 confronts how people deal with issues such as family, character, integrity, morals, time management, electronics, fun, leisure, pleasure, laziness, etc. In the book, it shows people who do not manage their time well, instead they do whatever they please and do not spend time doing important things. The book also tells of people who have no character or moral standards and do not value family or helping others. This book shows many people who simply live for themselves.

I think Ray Bradbury's focus on the book was to show what living for yourself can do to the society as a whole, and to show the damage that can happen when you try to run from your responsibilities and consequences. He portrays those things by showing the behavior of the people in the society that he writes about. They do not solve any of their problems, instead the burn them. And most of the people in the city live as sluggards and live a life that only touches the surface and does not go deep at all.

I think another thing he wanted us to realize that being fake and only talking about things on the surface and never going deep with people and having hard conversations or being vulnerable can lead to a sad and desolate world of fake people

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Print.

Fahrenheit 451 - 11

As Montag left the city and looked back at it, he thought,

"What did you give to the city, Montag?

Ashes.

What did the others give to each other?

Nothingness." (Bradbury 156)

In looking back at the city, Montag was looking back at his life. He realized that he gave nothing to the city. He gave nothing to the community or to the people or to anything for that matter. He tealized that he made no impact. Things would be almost exactly the same had he not even existed. He lived for himself and nobody else, he might as well not have even lived at all. There were no traces of him left back in the city, and nobody would remember him by the next day. And he was not the only one in that boat, the rest of the city lived for themselves as well.

Granger, one of the men in the group that Montag joined, told Montag;

"Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said...

The difference beween the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching. the lawn cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime.

...Grandfather's been dead for all these years, but if you lifted my skull, by God, in the convolutions of my brain you'd find the big ridges of his thumbprint. He touched me." (Bradbury 156-157)

As easy as it is to live selfishly without thinking of others, and as often as people do that, it is not often that we realize that everyone wants to touch somebody. Nobody wants to die and to be forgotten. It is actually scary to think of dying and nobody remembering you or caring that you are dead. With that said, it is quite shocking to think of the vast majority of Americans that live a life concerning themselves and nobody else. Many of us do not realize how precious life is and tht in an instant, it can be lost. We do not know hte number of days we will live. A quote I have heard before is "dream like you will live forever, but live as if you will die tomorrow". That quote should be the motto of all of our lives, but it simply is not.

Many people would agree with all of these things that I am saying, but few would actually plan how to accomplish living that lifestyle and even fewer would actually try to do it. There is just something in us now days, that is missing. Maybe it is a lack of urgency or that we live by the assumption that we will live forever. Whatever the problem is, that thought process needs to be changed. I am not just saying that because I want to sound better than everyone else or because I think it is a cute idea, but I truly think it is in the best will of overyone.

So please, take into consideration that you should live like you are dying.

Bradbury, Ray. "Burning Bright." Fahrenheit 451. New York:

Simon & Schuster, 1993. 156-157. Print.

Fahrenheit 451 - 10

The men that Montag met when he ran away from civilization seemed to just be ordinary men, but on the inside they were extraordinary. They each would read books and important passages or scripture, and memorize them. Montag only met a few of them, but they said that there are thousands more people just like them who live on the roads and look like bums but on the inside they are libraries. They are memorizing all of these things so that they may pass the knowledge down to their kids and someday, they hope the books will be written again.

As one of the men was explaining to Montag how they were able to live a lifestyle like that, he explained to Montag, "The most important single thing we had to pound into ourselves is that we were not important, we mustn't be pedants; we were not to feel superior to anyone else in the world. We're nothing more than dust jackets for books, of no significance otherwise." (Bradbury. 153)

How those men lived, was extremely humble and they must have much character to be able to live where they everyday told themselves that they were not important and of no significance. However, those men were able to live that way because they were not living for themselves. They were living for a greater purpose, which was outside themselves. They were living for others instead of themselves. It would be so easy for them to live how everyone else lives. Everyone else has such an easy lifestyle, and lives so selfishly and lavishly. Yet these men do not live for themselves, and they live on the road and have to put in much effort to live, when the other citizens literally do nothing.

As a Christian, not living for myself is something that i strive for. For me, it is not always very easy to do and I fail at it quite often. But like the men that memorize the books, I live for a greater purpose outside myself. As a child of God, I am called to a higher standard. I need to be living for others and firstly focus on loving the Lord, then loving others, and serving the world. And then, I come after that.

Bradbury, Ray. "Burning Bright." Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. 153. Print.

Fahrenheit 451 - 9

During the first 145 pages of the book Fahrenheit 451, Montag had only seen fire used as a bad thing. Montag even once speaking of fire, said, "Its real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequences. A problem gets too burdensome, then into the furnace with it. Now, Montag, you're a burden. And fire will lift you off my shoulders, clean quick sure; nothing to rot later. Antibiotic, aesthetic, practical." (Bradbury 115.)

Montag has always seen the negative connotations when it comes to fire. He sees that it destroys responsibilities and it destroys consequences. He says that if a problem gets too burdensome, then people literally burn their problems. In the society that Montag lives in, nobody wants their house to be burned, but if a neighbors house is burned, everyone stands in the streets and gawks at it. The burning of a house is made into a sort of neighborhood festivity, which helps keep the people afraid of fire and it puts extreme social pressure on people to never let their house get burned.

After Montag fled from the mechanical hound, and got away from the people that were chasing him, he was left in the forest. When he was there, he saw his world from a whole new perspective and was able to see things more clearly. After Montag was in the wilderness for some time, he finally found people. They were men gathered around a small fire. Their hands were out, and the fire was warming them not burning them. At this point, the book says that "He hadn't known fire could look this way. He had never thought in his life that it could give as well as take. (Bradbury 146.)

Montag had no idea that fire could be a good thing, not just a harmful thing. I find it so neat that he was able to see that. It was not until he saw things from a different perspective that he was able to realize that. I think sometimes, we get so wrapped up in situations in life that we often do not realize the good things in life. It is so easy to be focused on yourself and the bad things that are happening in life. But if we take a step back, away from our self-centered focus, and try to see the bigger picture and others in it, we may find that things are not as we had thought they were.

Fahrenheit 451 - 8

In the book Fahrenheit 451, fire was used in a physical way. In thinking to himself, Montag finally realizes the danger of fire, and thinks, "Its real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequences. A problem gets too burdensome, then into the furnace with it. Now, Montag, you're a burden. And fire will lift you off my shoulders, clean, quick, sure; nothing to rot later. Antibiotic, aesthetic, practicalt." (Bradbury 115.)

In the book, the firemen use fire to burn down houses and people that are disobeying. But montag realizes that what they are really doing is burning down their responsibilities and consequences, until there are no more. They hide behind fire and people view the firefighters as the 'heros', but in reality they are the wimps. Instead of facing their fears or facing their consequences, they just burn them. They don't take any chances or take any risks, they instead, destroy the possibility of risks.

The communtiy is decieved. They think the firefighters are the impressive ones that they idolize, when really they are the most fearful and immature people in the community. The firefighters hide from their problems and they use fire as their safety net, so that nothing bad can touch them.

I think all of us, in a way, are like the firefighters. Everyone has fears and everyone has responsibilities that they do not want to take care of and has consequences that they do not want to face. I believe that many people are like the firefighters and they avoid their responsibilities and consequences and instead try to get rid of them or put them on other people. Although most people now do not take care of their problems by burning them, they still avoid them and have their own way of getting rid of them.

I feel like so many people in my generation do not face their responsibilites or consequences. There are so many things these days to hide behind, and so many easy ways to weasel your way out of punishments, that I feel like so many people do not have strong enough character to live up to who they need to be.

What it all comes down to is character. If you have the character, you will not take the easy way out. Instead, you will take the road less traveled. I believe there is currently a huge character deficiency in high schools in America, today. I also believe that is a problem that can be solved. It is up to each individual whether they will choose character over laziness. I think a big problem is that many people do not look at the bigger picture and realize that having solid character is actually the better option than not, it just takes a certain level of maturity to fully grasp that.

Integrity is vital if you want to live a life that does not put responsibilities and consequences on the back burner. If we start growing up a generation with integrity, so many things in our world could change for the better.