Farenheit 451
...d academies. The leader of the group, an author named Granger, welcomes Montag. When the mechanical Hound loses Montag’s scent he kills an innocent man so the police do not lose the confidence of the public who want to see Montag dead. Granger then tells Montag of how the men with him have memorized literary works so that someday, when it is safe to do so, they can again print books, this time from memory. When bombs destroy the city, the men set out to build a new society where books and the free thought can grow. The definition of science fiction is a realistic speculation about possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present, and on a through understanding of the nature and significance of the scientific method. It is not about simply having characters pull out ray guns instead of handguns or magic wands. Instead, science fiction is about having characters react to a universe that’s governed, at its core, by science. The first aspect typical of science fiction works is that the plot is usually set in the future. In “Fahrenheit 451” this is definitely true. Firemen no longer put out fires but actually start them. In “Fahrenheit 451”, books are burned because they represent knowledge and awareness. Books are referred to metaphorically and in simile as birds, their pages wings. Which seems to me to represent freedom that knowledge brings and that freedom’s ability to fly. The second aspect I find typical of science fiction works is the conflict that the main character has within him and the world. I find this in the novel “Fahrenheit 451” with Montag’s frustration at not being able to immediately grasp what is true in the world. When he is on the train he thinks about when he was a young boy and how desperately he was trying to fill a sieve with sand, which is an impossible task. He becomes frustrated that he cannot fill himself and make himself whole. Like filling the sieve with sand he finds it impossible. Unlike Montag, Millie and the others are sieves of sorts although information is made readily available to them they are unable to grasp it. The final aspect I find typical of science fiction works are the technology and usually a war going on that has or will destroy the world. The technology in “Fahrenheit 451”, is quite amazing. There is the seashell radio that Millie uses to occupy her brain at night, as “an electronic ocean of sound.” The Mechanical Hound, which is able to track, down and destroy anyone at any time, leaving its victim no place to hide. And there is the flame-thrower that Montag uses to kill Captain Beatty with. With the announcement that war has been proclaimed Montag himself has just made his first act of war against society by killing Captain Beatty and fleeing the scene. As turmoil grows inside Montag so does the turmoil of war on the city. The city is destroyed by war and like most science fiction stories there is hope for a brighter and better society than the one destroyed. I feel that Guy Montag was a great hero and went through all five stages of a hero’s journey. The first is the call. Montag knew that something was lacking in his life when he met his young neighbor Clarisse. He was unhappy and could not put his finger on why. He began to question the value of his profession. The threshold was when his friend Clarisse was killed he stills a book, which was forbidden to do, from a collection that he has been sent to burn. When a older woman sets fire to her house herself and remains there to be destroyed by flames Montag is extremely shaken that someone could feel so strongly about books and the information contained in them that he begins to think maybe the books are his key to happiness. His helper along the way is an old professor friend named Faber; he gives Montag a two-way radio that will help the two to stay in touch. The challenges that face Montag after he steals and begins to read the books are outstanding. He will lose his job as a fireman and when his boss, Captain Beatty finds out about the books he makes Montag burn down his house and all his possessions. There is a problem with Millie, his wife, who doesn’t want to face reality, and the difficulty of trying to escape what he has now done. The Abyss and The Transformation was when Guy Montag kills his boss, Captain Beatty, and sets out to see Faber, his mentor, before plunging into and floating along the river, which serves to complete his transformation and tra...