The Fear Factor Of Montag In Fahrenheit 451

Throughout the novel Fahrenheit 451 the main character, Montag, references how happy he is and the emotions of himself as well as other characters. One driving factor for Montag is the fear he begins to have after he meets Clarisse, even to go as far as to fear himself and what he has become.

Captain Beatty is one prime example of this. Even close to the beginning of the story, he is putting fear into Montag when he shows up at his house. Montag was afraid of being caught with all of the books and he was even more afraid of Beatty catching him. There is a sense of control over the hound that Beatty has. The essence of Beatty can bee seen through the hound when it too comes around Montag’s house and looks at him very ominously like it knows what he has done, the laws he’s broken and what he’s hiding. Beatty also is an influencer of fear because of the lack of trust between the two men. When Montag is “sick” he even knows that it’s risky for him to skip work,”I can’t call him. I can't tell him i’m sick” “Why? ” “Because you’re afraid he thought. ” Another example is when Beatty discovers the “green bullet” in Montag’s ear which further strengthens the distrust between them. Montag is forced to give into his fears at the end of the novel when he is put in a situation where he has to kill Beatty in order to escape, but regardless of whether beatty is dead or not, he is still afraid of being caught and what will happen to him if he does.

While the other characters in the story such as the hound and Beatty are a prime source of fear, there are other ways that fear are put into not only Montag, but the rest of society in general. If you are caught with a book, which is just paper with words on it, you can be burned alive for such offence, your emotions and freedom of will is suppressed. Fear of being caught is a big driving factor for Montag. He has to constantly look over his shoulder or he could suffer the same fate as the old woman in the house. As for society, they as a whole, I believe, are too afraid to speak out against the government, regardless if it’s law in place form the government or not. They are afraid to express their will to stand up for what they believe in, which in this case, the books. Faber, for example, is afraid to even leave his house or open the door for Montag. He is even hesitant after Montag was invited into his home. Even the small act of Montag tearing a book was enough to express the fear Faber had,”The book. Don’t tear it anymore. Faber sank into his chair, his face very white, his mouth trembling. ” Even society is supposedly afraid of not just Montag, but all of the firemen. “You know, I’m not afraid of you at all” This implies a lot of people are afraid of firemen. “So many people are. Afraid of firemen, I mean. ”

Societies such as the States of the U. S have their own mottos. For example Florida’s is “The sunshine state. ” In the case of Wherever Montag lives, it should be named,”The Fear Influenced State”