Monday, April 7, 2008
Montags Change
One of the biggest questions I had was why Bradbury decided to make it appear that Clarisse had vanished from the story. Was it because he thought that it would give Montag the whole book to decide who he really was? Or was it so Montag could have the chance to find his meaning? On the other hand do you think that Erich Fromm's thought of awareness to humanity and uniqueness played a role in Bradbury's thinking towards Montag's growth? In addition, how does Montag's growth show us how to be aware and unique in our own society?
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This is Eric, responding to my own question. But I definately believe that Erich Fromm's view on humanity and uniqueness was especially important in Montag's change. Montag at the beginning was a very distressed man. He lived in a society that was not meant for people to question the world in such a meaningful way. He understood that his society was built on personas. Everyone must appear the same, happy. Everyone must love the media and hate books. But after discovering his new neighbor Clarisse McCellan, Montag started to wonder about the reasons why his society was the way it was. Really Montag started to think like Eric Fromm.
You see, Erich Fromm believed in rootedness, a frame of mind, and most importantly the deap inner thoughts of the self. Throughout the whole book Montag starts to ponder and look around for some of the actual questions he held from time to time. However by the end of the book Bradbury depicts Montag running from his life in order to protect himself from being murdered. In this society Montag was viewed as too unique to handle. Everyone else in this society was in a ring and Montag escaped that ring into his own new one. Because of this action, Montag was forced out into the small intellectual ring of Granger. Entering this ring, we noticed that Montag really sparked a Frommian view on the story. He actually started to have "genuine relationships, creative ideas, and a sense of self uniqueness which were all factors of what Erich Fromm heavly believed in.
The final note is Clarisse. Why was she barely mentioned? The main reason is because Bradbury wanted Montag to constently remember her. Clarisse, to Montag, opened so many ideas up, and because of this Montag had so many things he would notice that would simply remind him of her. Because of this Montag would remember the moments in which they would go out on a walk together and discuss things that were not allowed for discussion. In my opinion Clarisse was the foundation for the entire story.
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