Fahrenheit 451
"But he was not angry now, only exhausted and bewildered with himself."
Throughout the book, the author has used many forms of bewilder to describe the thoughts or feelings of a character. How does the use of restating this word describe the development of these characters?
Throughout the book, the author has used many forms of bewilder to describe the thoughts or feelings of a character. How does the use of restating this word describe the development of these characters?
I feel as though the repetitive use of the word “bewildered” in its many forms has certainly been used by the author to develop several of the main characters, namely Montag. For example, after Montag discovers that his house is being burned by his fellow firemen, the narrator (author) explains, “… he stood there, his knees half bent under the great load of tiredness and bewilderment and outrage, letting Beatty hit him without raising his hand” (118). Truly, this word is used to provide the figurative meaning that, although Montag attempted to change this broken society, he has been rendered tremendously confused and not only surprised, but bothered beyond comprehension. Through this word, the author is also emphasizing the irony of the situation, as Montag, a fireman for ten years, is being condemned by his fellow firemen. Additionally, he is instructed to burn down his own house, which relates to his bewilderment, as his perplexity is sourced from the immorality of society. Therefore, throughout the novel, Ray Bradbury uses words such as "bewildered" and its synonyms to convey the topics of obscurity and reflective contemplation, characteristics which are clearly expressed by Montag (the protagonist) and sometimes by Faber and the men who live by the river.
ReplyDeleteMontag being constantly confused throughout this book does not only show the development of Montag, but I agree with Daniel that the repetitive use of “bewilder” in its many forms show the irony of the scenario. In the scene when Montag locks Millie, Mildred, and himself in a room with books and tries to hide from Beatty, the narrator says “’We won’t answer.’ Montag lay back against the wall and then slowly sank to a crouching position and began to nudge the books, bewilderedly, with his thumb, his forefinger. He was shivering and he wanted above all to shove the books up through the ventilator again, but he knew he could not face Beatty again.” The irony in this scenario is that the fact that Montag is a firefighter and was burning books, to the fact that he is against burning the books now. He was able to convince Millie to take a look at the books when she was totally against it.
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