As this generation becomes more technologically advanced, we have steered away from literature and have turned to electronics. A large majority of society has begun to pass their time with movies, shows, and video games, instead of books, puzzles, other games to exercise the mind. Instead of sitting with a good book, most would prefer to sit in front of the TV. A complex character would be a person who is mixed between nature and experience, such as a person who has Catholic views, but believes in gay rights although they were brought up to believe it was wrong. Most stories have a complex character, such as Guy Montag in Fahrenheit 451. Montag is a perfect example of a complex character. Montag is a fire fighter, but he is not an ordinary fire fighter. In the society of “Fahrenheit 451”, firefighters do not stop the fires, they start them. In the story, no one is allowed to read or have books. Once someone is found with a book, they burn the book, along with the house, and sometimes the people as well. The government had characterized books as something that makes people unhappy. Captain Beatty would say the books “have nothing to say”, he would say that “we all had to be made alike, we all had to be equal” (Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451). The people in the society would say that education would make people upset and cause problems in the world, so it was best to keep them away from everyone. The firefighters found pride and happiness in destroying and burning, except for Montag. Montag used to find joy in burning the unknown, but then he meets Clarisse who opens a new perspective to him.
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He begins reading books and collecting them, finding he does not agree with the rules and regulations that the government has proclaimed. Being a firefighter who is reading books and is interested in them is the same as a police officer doing illegal drugs in our modern time. He begins to find that books are able to move people, and snaps when he must burn a house with the woman in it. He then reads it to his wife and her friends and makes one of the women begin to cry. The other friend then states angrily, “Life isn’t like novels. Novels and tears, novels and suicide. That was sheer cruelty….All those words…evil words, those hurt people” (Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451). It’s as if Montag has realized that the government wishes to make everyone zombies, not feeling anything, especially the way a book can move the soul. It is particularly interesting how Ray Bradbury, the author of “Fahrenheit 451”, chose Montag as the complex character. The reasoning behind this was because it allowed a certain perspective from this specific character. Through the book, the reader can see how Montag begins to start thinking and changing his beliefs and ideas. Not only does it show his change through the story, but it also shows how from a viewpoint of one of the people society is most terrified of and how someone of a different belief is able to change their opinion. Other characters aren’t able to meet people like Clarisse or Captain Beatty, and have a certain way of thinking such as Montag. Montag allows the reader be aware of the government’s, the society’s, and his own beliefs. It gives more depth and different sides of the story.
He begins reading books and collecting them, finding he does not agree with the rules and regulations that the government has proclaimed. Being a firefighter who is reading books and is interested in them is the same as a police officer doing illegal drugs in our modern time. He begins to find that books are able to move people, and snaps when he must burn a house with the woman in it. He then reads it to his wife and her friends and makes one of the women begin to cry. The other friend then states angrily, “Life isn’t like novels. Novels and tears, novels and suicide. That was sheer cruelty….All those words…evil words, those hurt people” (Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451). It’s as if Montag has realized that the government wishes to make everyone zombies, not feeling anything, especially the way a book can move the soul. It is particularly interesting how Ray Bradbury, the author of “Fahrenheit 451”, chose Montag as the complex character. The reasoning behind this was because it allowed a certain perspective from this specific character. Through the book, the reader can see how Montag begins to start thinking and changing his beliefs and ideas. Not only does it show his change through the story, but it also shows how from a viewpoint of one of the people society is most terrified of and how someone of a different belief is able to change their opinion. Other characters aren’t able to meet people like Clarisse or Captain Beatty, and have a certain way of thinking such as Montag. Montag allows the reader be aware of the government’s, the society’s, and his own beliefs. It gives more depth and different sides of the story.