Fahrenheit 451: Who is the "hero" in this book and what are some of his/her traits? What does he/she accomplish, and how is he/she portrayed? Does the hero represent an abstract idea such as goodness, truth, courage or evil?

The hero in this book is the main character, Guy Montag. Montag is a very curious and careful man, and from the start, different from the rest. A lot of Montag’s character is revealed when he is talking to Clarisse. He’s a good listener and Clarisse spikes his curiosity even more, for example, when she describes to him how she enjoys opening her mouth when it rains, he is extremely surprised, but after she leaves, he tilts his head back and tries it too. (Bradbury pg. 21) Clarisse  even remarks, “You’re not like the others. I’ve seen a few; I know. When I talk, you look at me. When I said something about the moon, you looked at the moon, last night. The others would never do that.” (Bradbury pg. 21)  He is a very thoughtful man, and has a sensitivety about him. He also is a searcher for a deeper meaning in life. He says, “We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you’ve been really bothered? About something important, about something real?” (Bradbury pg. 49) Montag is also inperfect. He is realy rash and is filled with a passion that sometimes cripples his goals. He can be destructive, like when he rashly kills Beatty. (Bradbury pg. 113) He gets confused and overwelmed with tough situations and sometimes doesn't know how to get out of them.

  Different people portray him in different ways. Clarisse portrays him as different from the rest of the people she’s talked to, and you can tell that she enjoys his company because he’s willing to listen to her. His wife Mildred thinks he’s odd and too outgoing. You can tell sometimes that she is embarrassed by him, especially when her friends are over. (Bradbury pg. 92-98) She might even be afraid of him, especially when he shows her all his books and asks her to read them with him  (Bradbury pg. 62-65). The Fire Chief, Beatty, at first sees no harm in him being curious, but soon after he knows Montag has a book in his possession, and sees him as a major threat. Overall, he’s a go-getter. A do-er. If he feels like something is wrong, he’ll go out and fix it.

Montag’s goal is to read books and find out the truth about why he feels like something is missing with his life and why everything is like it is. He accomplishes his goal, though it has downfalls. He finally gets his hands on books and even gets to memorizing them. He finds out the truth that he really isn’t happy at all, though he thought he was all along. He finds out that the world is corrupted and that books are banned because it is believed that everyone can remain “happy” that way.  He digs deeper into books and into the meaning of life than is considered safe for him, and he has to face the consequences afterwards, which include loosing his job, loosing his wife, and loosing his home.

I think Montag represents truth. He represents the want for happiness in our lives and the search for why things are like they are. He wants to find TRUE happiness. Not the happiness everyone else thinks they have.  Montag goes on his own search, breaking laws, and doing anything to find out the truth of his own life and I think that is why he represents the abstract idea truth.

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