Post by Lucy, Freya, Sarah and Kirsty on Dec 3, 2018 10:41:25 GMT -5
By the closing section, Bradbury explores Montag's transformation through various quotations, thus presenting us with his final state of change. The beginning of his final transformation starts with his spiritual baptism. Bradbury shows this through the quote
''he carried a few drops of this rain with him on his face.'' and proceeds to follow this up with, "now there was only the cold river and Montag floating in a sudden peacefulness."
Just as in a Christian baptism, the water cleans one of their sins, so this suggests that the river is giving Montag a fresh start and relieving him of his past. Bradbury proceeds to tell us of Montag's profound realisation of his prior actions, and expresses this through the quote;
"If he burnt things with the firemen, and the sun burnt time, that meant that everything burned. One of them had to stop burning."
For the first time in this technology driven world, Montag is given silence and stillness to think, drawing him to the realisation of just how detrimental his career is to the censorship of society. If the role of the sun is to burn, and his role is to burn, he is contributing to the burning of the entire universe.
Bradbury shows the last stage of his transformation by referencing the biblical Book of Ecclesiastes, through the quotation,
"To everything there is a season."
This is symbolic of Montag's changed state. Just as a season of the year has an inbuilt ending, and inevitably moves on, so this suggests that Montag is a changed man from the mindless drone we were presented with at the start of the novel. From this quotation, it is also shown that society cannot stay as it is, and must develop and move on, just as Montag has.
Sarah, Freya, Jenna W, Kirsty, Lucy, Jack, Jenna D