“Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy”-F. Scott Fitzgerald. Even though heroes and tragedies are thought of as separated there cannot be one without the other. Although Montag is portrayed as a hero whose journey ends with renewal, he is instead a tragic hero. First of all, Montag loses everything in his life throughout the story. We learn he is married to a shallow and depressed women obsessed with TV. She ends up overdosing on sleeping pills and burning his books because she is essentially brainwashed. Later in the story when Montag is with the exiles he realizes he would not care if she died because of the war. A conventional hero would feel remorse for a problem he helped cause. Also, he loses the certainty and structure the city life gives him. Life on the run with no clear resolution is not what would happen to a genuine and true hero. And, by quitting his job as a fireman in protest to censorship he ends up starting a war. He has to run away from everything he has ever known to go and remember a book. …show more content…
Throughout the story Montag makes questionable decisions. When he reads a poem to the woman in the story he almost gives his whole plan away. To get caught over lack of judgment and careless action for a supposed hero would be ridiculous. And, when Beatty is quoting literature, Montag barely creeps by without giving any information out. These examples show in that in tight situations Montag acts clumsy. Secondly, Montag does not show leadership qualities. No one follows Montag except Faber, usually heroes are able to gain a large following through their adventures even in dystopian novels. It is nearly impossible to spark a revolution without people other than the wanderers to back you up. Instead, Montag does not resolve anything because he does not have the following to spark a