“Robert Reilly claims that the novel is "a frightening picture of how the products of science can destroy persons and human values" (67), but this is an unfortunate simplification” (McGiveron). This quote brings up another overlaying theme in Fahrenheit 451 which is the dehumanization of the populace in the novel. The people in this book no longer care about anything whether it be their children, war, death, or the problems in the world around them. This is because the less they had to think the more they stopped to care and they gradually stopped caring about anything at all. Death, war, famine, and pain are all just words to them and mean nothing because they no longer understand the gravity of these concepts and it is all because …show more content…
He is the role model because unlike most people he realized there was a need for change and he worked to realize his goal. Montag is the living version of the theme knowledge versus ignorance. Montag starts out just like everybody else, but he has his eyes open and he is there to prove that the rest of humanity to change to. Montag goes from being a fireman burning books to a man trying to retain their knowledge. Montag significantly changes throughout the book and he finally understands what books are about when he says, “"And someday, after it sets in us a long time, it'll come out of our hands and mouths. And a lot of it will be wrong, but just enough of it will be right." Montag realizes that it’s not the books that can change the course of history, but the ideas that they hold. He finally realizes that even if not all the knowledge is completely right it is more about how books promote thought. He knows that books are just words, but it is the emotion that they provoke and the principles that they …show more content…
The whole point of the allegory of the cave is to show that people will follow what they are shown rather than find the truth themselves which is exactly what is happening to the culture in Fahrenheit 451 with the censorship. The people are told what to watch and think and they follow blindly because they don’t know any better. Montag however realizes that books might be the key to getting them out of the “cave.” Montag figures out that books are not the sole way to save their society, but that they will help the people to begin to see their poor decision to give up on thinking and cause them to change. Even though Granger and Faber are shown as smart characters who used to be professors many people overlook the genius that Montag held within him. Montag despite only recently starting to read had unlocked the way that books could help their civilization. Montag symbolizes the potential that each person still held to learn and gain knowledge. Montag proves that just because one starts out ignorant doesn’t mean that they should be given up on and Montag truly represents the theme knowledge versus ignorance by showing how any human can break through the hold that censorship had on the people, and that all people have the capacity to become geniuses in their own respect as long as they know how to go about