Fire in Fahrenheit 451 Essay

Fahrenheit 451 a fictional novel written by Ray Bradbury in the mid-50s, deals with a futuristic world where ideas, knowledge, and books are burn. A world where reading is forbidden by law and so the act of learning; where all are equal if not they are made equal. Montag, the protagonist, is a fireman, who instead of putting out the fire, he starts them. One day he meets a girl who tells him that long time ago firemen were suppose to stop the fire instead of starting them. From there Montags view of fire changes, from seeing fire as a destructive tool to seeing fire as helpful element. The appearance of the hearth and the salamander, the mythical phoenix and the fire as a harmless helpful too; changed his concept of fire.

The Hearth and the Salamander, chapter one title, is also the first great symbol in the book. The hearth or chimney symbolizes the controlled-fire. The fire that helps you, that warms you, the fire that doesnt hurts you. Yet the salamander has an opposite symbol. In mythology it supposedly was a lizard-like animal able to live in fire. It was also known for throwing fire out of his mouth. In the novel, the salamander is the name of their fire trucks, and one of the firemens symbols on their uniforms. But he knew his mouth had only moved to say hello, and then when she seemed hypnotized by the salamander on his arm and the phoenix-disc on his chest, he spoke again. These two symbols are very important for Montags view of fire since it shows him how fire can not only have a destructive use but also a helpful controlled use.

The Phoenix symbol has a more drastically effect in Montags life. A phoenix is a mythical bird that at the end of its five-hundred-year existence, it perches on its nest of spices and sings until sunlight ignites the masses. After the body is consumed in flames, a worm emerges and develops into the next Phoenix. The phoenix existence as a symbol in the novel goes in a cycle, get burnt to reborn again. As the salamander the phoenix also appears as a uniform symbol. Unlike to the phoenixs life cycle, Montag chose to leave the cycle and start to live his life. In the middle of the book, he realizes that fire maybe the easiest but not the correct way of solving problems, and so he decides to reborn. He recreated his life by saving books from houses that were going to disappear, and reading with his professor friend, Faber.

Fire can be use for good or bad, as a warmth or destructive tool. From the beginning of the novel, Montag sees the fire as a destructive tool, always by the side of the firemen. Captain Beatty told him that when houses start being fireproof long time ago, and books and knowledge cause people to feel sad and miserable, then the firemen changed their professions from cutting the fire in the house to burning books. And so fire is the salvation to all problems. All his life Montag has lived with that idea, but with his rebirth he sees fire as a good thing by using it to kill Beatty; or when he sees the escapee camp using it for heating in the end of the book.

The evolution of fire in Montags life changed from seeing it as a destructive tool, to a useful harmless instrument in the Hearth and the Salamander, the phoenix and the fire at the escapee camp. The symbol of fire in the book dealt with the novels best theme, censorship. The new image of fire in Montags life showed him the path to see the world reborn, eliminating basically all censorship.