Fahrenheit 451 takes place in the future and is of a dystopian society where reading and possessing books was made illegal. To take care of this problem the government has made the jobs of firemen to set books on fire rather than to put out fires. The main character Guy Montag is a firefighter that was going through the motions in life and doing his job until his views and ideas were changed. He begins to question the ways of society and ultimately becomes in his own way a hero.
People are capable of great things and in order to accomplish these we all need a little help and guidance along the way. When montag burns down the books along with the woman that refuses to leave the house. Although he did not want to murder the women he was simply doing his job because she broke the law and had a whole attic full of books. Fed up with the women’s nonsense Captain Beatty “The whole house is going up”(36). This is a challenge for montag as he is not a malicious or evil person he does not feel the need to unnecessarily kill to complete the take at hand.
This event really opens his eyes towards the wrongdoings of society. This elaborates on Campbell’s idea of he hero’s journey by illustrating the belly of the whale scenario. Burning the women to death is normally something that no one would ever do especially the kind and simple Guy Montag. This shows the belly of the whale because Montag had hit near rock bottom to complete this task. Montag also during this event takes a book from the women’s home just before it was going the be burned down with the women inside.
This shows more evidence of Montag hitting rock bottom. Guy also shows another step of the hero’s journey during his adventures by meeting Clarisse Mcclellan. He does not realise just how much of an impact she will leave on his life and affect the way he thinks. One night during discussion Guy and Clarisse were conducting one of their normal conversations. It was then when she asked Montag the question that stuck “Are you happy”(7). This was something that Montag had really never even thought about before.
It really caught him off guard and made him question what he was doing with himself. This is another example of Campbell’s hero’s journey showing how Montag met the goddess. She provided Guy with the questions he needed to sk himself to complete his journey into becoming a hero. This shows Campbell’s ideas correct by completing a check on his theoretical checklist. This is clearly the meeting of the goddess because Clarisse is portrayed as youthful, intelligent, and enlightened which consequently rubs off positively onto montag to aid his journey.
These both elaborate into a deeper part of Campbell’s hero’s journey by fulfilling the first part of the journey. Montag’s venture into becoming a hero does not stop there however. He is faced with crossing a threshold of no return and being admitted into a sacred marriage. Having any book that is not approved by the government is illegal for everyone including firefighters. Montag makes the decision to take home books for a substantial amount of time and has made up a sizeable collection for himself.
This blows up in his face when Captain Beatty comes to check on Montag while he is sick. Beatty explains “We let fireman keep the book twenty-four hours. If he hasn’t burned it by the, we simply come burn it for him”(59). Montag’s expression after he leaves shows just how scared he is because his Captain knows he hes at least one book t his own home. This signals a point of no return for Montag’s journey. This is a point of no return because this step in the journey show where things really start to get interesting and irreversible.
Montag finds a new friend who helps him execute his goals. While walking in the park Montag finds a old man in the park sitting on a bench. He approaches and finds that he has the same interest as Montag and they instantly connect. The man’s name is Faber and he is a former professor. “Do you know why books like this are so Important? (79). This begins their close elationship resulting in greater plot development for the story. Campbell explains that a connection to another character during the journey is a sacred marriage.
He uses it to describe a close relationship rather than an actual sexual or marital relationship. These trace back to the hero’s journey by fulfilling the second threshold to satisfy Campbell’s hero’s journey. The third part of the hero’s journey consist of Montag Fighting off the mechanical dog as a dragon battle and Finding the homeless along the river as the crossing of the return threshold. After Montag crossed the first threshold by bringing home the books captain beatty sends the mechanical dog by Montag’s house to scare him and make him burn the books before further actions are needed.
Instead Montag just hides his books in the bush in the alley later to be found by his wife Mildred. When she calls in the books to the fire station the firemen go on call to respond. There Montag is faced with the task of burning all of his books and turning himself into police. Montag still in possession of the flame thrower sets captain Beatty on fire and the dog lunges at im while being engulfed in flames “He felt it scabble and seize his leg and stab the needle in for a moment before the fire snapped the Hound up in the air, burst its metal bones at the joints”(114).
This dragon was slayed and allowed the hero to continue the departure of his journey. Throughout the entire story Montag has been in fear of the Hound. It was always on his mind and what really made it worse was when it came by his window the night beatty came by to check on Montag. This shows progression in Campbell’s hero’s journey by adding in the ragon battle with the hound which is an overbearing fear of Montag. After all Montag has been through he finally reached salvation when he met the hobos on the river bank.
He is delightfully greeted as he arrives to the river bed immediately accepted into the group as stated “Don’t judge a book by its cover”(148). This is signaling the return threshold of the hero’s journey which marks the end of Montag’s turbulent adventure. Campbell’s journey shows how the return is a very important step include. Arriving safely to the hobos and being accepted into the group shows the return threshold to safety. Finally beating his dragon and arriving safely through the threshold montag’s journey as a hero is over safely making him a true hero.
People are capable of great things in order to accomplish these things we all need a little help and guidance along the way. The hero’s journey can be applied to writings as well as real life to help a person better understand and control their life. With no challenge in life everything would be obtainable with the raise of a hand, but the good things in life come by hard work and determination to obtain whatever it is that makes you happy in life.