Fire. Our savior, burning everything in sight. Every book will be burned. Books are the roots of all evil. Who would ever of thought that kerosene could smell so sweet? I, as a fireman, have the most important job in our society. To dispose of books and whoever is hiding them. Watching the flames swallow houses whole fills my body with raw joy. These are the nightmarish thoughts of a "noble fireman" in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. In the novel, Bradbury shows the reader that for some people, no matter what happens, it is never too late to change.
When the word "wife" is said out loud, the first thing that comes to my mind is a woman that love and cares about her husband. Mildred, Montag's wife, is the exact opposite of what a wife should be. Montag was changing right before her very eyes, Mildred didn't care for him enough to change with him. "Ladies, once a year, every fireman's allowed to bring one book home from the old days, to show his family how silly it all was, how nervous that sort of thing can make you, how crazy." (p. 94) Not wanting anyone else to witness the drastic changes being made, Mildred tries to hide them. Finally, when she is unable to avoid change any longer, she flees.
Faber was always a good person but he was too cowardly to do the right thing by himself. It took Montag's help to make Faber do the right thing, instead of hiding and doing nothing. "I feel I'm doing what I should've done a lifetime ago." (p, 131) Faber is one of the characters who shows that it's never too late to change and make the right choice.
Of all the characters who underwent changes, Montag made the biggest change of them all. He goes from a depressing, ignorant "fireman" to a man with a reason to live again. "Last night I thought about all the kerosene I've used in the past 10 years. And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of those books. A man had to think them up. A man had to take a long time to put them down on paper. And I'd never even thought that before." (p. 52) Meeting Clarisse was the beginning of all these changes, and witnessing a women burn was the turning point of Montag's life.
Freedom at last. Breathing in the smoke free air and relishing on the sweet escape. How could I ever of thought books were bad? Firemen and the government are the evil in this society, not the books. Walking through the darkness, so alone, but finally feeling good inside. Change is always possible, no matter what circumstance.
Nice, I really like this paper. I thought the way that you talked about some of the characters in different paragraphs and the ending paragraph was a great way to get accross all the changes that we all need to make sooner or later in life. The only thing that I thought lacked a little sophistication was the transitions from paragraph to paragraph. The only reason I say it, is because from looking at your other papers I know you can do it because those transitions are eveidence that you are a good writer. Other than that, this was a great essay. Keep it up Abby:)
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I really enjoyed the introduction, the whole style of it. It reflects your individual strength. I also enjoyed the way you structured the body with the treatment of different characters. Perhaps let a bit more of that intro voice bleed into the body paragraphs. The shortness of the body's text left me hungry for more, which is good news, and bad news; good because the writing is good, but bad becasue it means the treatment isn't extensive enough.
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