Fahrenheit 451: Conflict Causes, Gains, and Losses

In my opinion, there are two major conflicts present in this book.  One of these is Montag’s internal battle over who he is and what position he should take about books.  Montag followed his father and grandfather’s footsteps of becoming a firefighter without giving it much thought.  He had been burning books for years without ever questioning his actions.  As a matter of fact, Montag saw his job as janitorial work, cleansing the world of hurt prompted from books.  Two people made him begin to wonder if he was really doing the right thing.  The first person is a seventeen-year-old girl named Clarisse McClellan.  Clarisse is often asking questions and causes Montag to reflect upon his own life- “Am I happy?”  After thinking it over for a while, he realized that he is not happy (Bradbury 5).  The other person who inspires Montag, an elderly woman found to have a house full of books, is not given a name.  When Montag and the other firefighters came to burn the house and books, she surprised everyone by lighting the house on fire herself while on the front porch, thus committing suicide (Bradbury 18).  Montag understood the message that the old woman would rather die than go without her books.  This made Montag wonder about what is in a book to make a person go to such extremes.  The conflict increases when before the house becomes scorched with flames, Montag snatched one of the lady’s books, The Bible, snuck it in his pocket, took it home and began to read it.  This step made Montag further question his role of being a firefighter.  This conflict finally begins to recede after he is discovered to have books in his house which forces him to decide which side he is on.  After killing Captain Beatty there is no going back.  It is sort of the point of no return.  Montag no longer has to wonder what his role in life should be; he knows he is an outlaw and must do whatever it takes to stay alive and to preserve the books which are stored away in his head.  The second conflict is the government’s censorship of books.  This action goes against the first amendment liberties to freedom of speech, religion, and press.  Authors are unable to share their views and people are not allowed to read the books, even if they pertain to their religion.  It would also be very difficult for pastors to preach without using any books from The Bible.  The issue of censorship did not begin with the government but with the people.  Certain books upset some minorities and people in general became less interested in reading.  Books were condensed into a mere few sentences.  Beatty thinks books are hurtful and useless- the fictional stories being only someone’s imagination while the non-fiction books are one person criticizing another.  The conflict increases when the government, in an effort to keep peace, uses firefighters to enforce the banning of books by burning any that a person is found to have.  In the book, this conflict does not exactly have an ending.  By the end of the story, many books are still illegal.  However, it does give hope that the public will someday realize that books are an important instrument in peoples’ lives and they will begin to print copies again. 

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967. Print.