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How Montag Changes In Fahrenheit 451

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Montag changes in many ways throughout the novel, making him a very dynamic character. At the beginning of the novel Montag loves what he does and thinks he is happy. When he meets Clarisse she ignites the spark in Montag. “’Are you happy?’ she said. ‘Am I what?’ he cried” (10). He then begins to dwell on whether or not he is happy and then he acts upon that decision to find out why. With the prompting of Clarisse by the middle of the story Montag was beginning to learn how to think for himself. However, he makes some very good decisions and some bad. Instead of burning his problems away like he used to do, he now works through them and learns from his mistakes. He begins coming up with plans to correct society and sabotage the profession of …show more content…

The whole culture’s shot through” (87). As everything he has ever known crumbles around him, he rebels. He kills Beatty, destroys the Mechanical Hound, and plants books in a fireman’s house. Montag does these things to send a message to society saying that they are going about things the wrong way. Montag says to Beatty, “We never burned right…” (119). Montag finally learns that burning does not solve problems which was unlike what Beatty had told him. Montag now understands that he was wrong in some of the actions that he took. “I think I was blind trying to go at things my way, planting books in firemen’s houses and sending in alarms” (152). As Montag is fleeing the city he transforms from being a follower to being a leader. With all eyes on him, he is showing everyone that it is possible to be different in such a conformed society. After the city has been destroyed, he and the men he met in the woods need to get moving. “Montag began walking and after a moment found that the others had fallen in behind him, going north” (164). Montag has finally learned to be different and to be a leader. He realizes that everything he had been told was not always right. This new knowledge causes Montag to

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