Technically, the answer would be yes. Clearly Montag is the principal character, the one who leads the action in the novel, but is he the hero of this story? I'm not so sure. I found myself rushing through the reading of this book to get to the end and see how it all would be resolved, but I didn't find myself rushing through to find out what would happen to Montag. I'm not even sure I really cared about him as a character. I actually found most of the characters in this book to be cowardly and unlikable. I couldn't even answer the post below about Faber and Millie because I didn't like the way either of them played out in this book. I thought Clarisse was interesting, but she was gone too soon for me to really care. I liked Faber so much when he first appeared on scene, but he did his little part and then disappeared for Montag and for me.
The only character who stayed with me was the old woman who appears in the book for a maximum of five pages (p35-40). She is the only character I could truly see and hear in this novel. She kneels amongst her beloved books and stares contemptuously at the "firemen" and then she ruins their fun, their "routine." She takes out her own match and watches as the men run from her in shock. I love that she takes back her life and her books! For me she was the only hero in this novel.
But I'm curious to hear what you think. Maybe you agree with me or maybe you disagree. Who was the hero of this novel? Who were you routing for as you read? Montag? Faber? Millie? The old woman in the fire? Granger? Beatty? The Hound?
I would say Clarisse is the hero of the book. I was expecting for the first hundred pages that Clarisse would appear after going into hiding. Alas she did truly die. But she started Montag's uncertainty. She made him feel guilty for burning. She ruptured the "perfect bubble" of a world that Montag thought he was living in. She opened his eyes. She started the rebellion in him.
ReplyDelete-Michael Middleton
Class of 2014
Hi Michael,
ReplyDeleteI heard or read somewhere that a lot of readers feel the same way you do about Clarisse and so in the play version or film (I'm not sure) Montag finds Clarisse in the end with the other reading refugees along the train tracks. Apparently, a lot of readers wanted a happier ending for Clarisse.
I am going to have to agree with Michael on this. I agree with him because it was Clarisse who made Guy realize that burning was wrong. If it wern't for her, Guy might have never realized that burning was terrible, I think he would have just gone on with his life as it was before he met Clarisse.
ReplyDelete-Sean Craig
Class of 2013
I also agree that Montag isn't really the protagonist, as we don't really learn much about him except that he is a firefighter and that he is married. In fact, I felt like most of the characters were two-dimenisonal, with the exceptions of Clarisse and the older woman who burns herself with her books. But she is in the book for so little time that I couldn't really connect with her, making Clarisse the only person I was really pulling for at all, until she mysteriously disappears.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Boudreau
Class of 2014
I found that the old woman who perished with her collection of books and Clarisse were also truly protagonists. Although their roles were limited, they had the most influence on the book's events and in pushing Montag in the right direction. I was really hoping that all of the main characters would gain the confidence to stand up for knowledge and what was right. Beatty seemed so close to achieving this goal with his vast knowledge of literature and history, yet he was so unwilling to accept the "truth" that he did not do so. I found that most of our "potential heroes" gave into their desires to be accepted by their own community.
ReplyDeleteTanapat Bhakyapaibul
Class of 2014