This is a very interesting question, because although
Montag does show himself to be a rebel working against the system, it is left ambiguous
as to whether Montag is consciously choosing to rebel or whether this is some kind of
unconscious rebellion. Montag is a very interesting protagonist to study, because he is
by no means a perfect hero - he is often bullied and manipulated into doing various
actions by Faber and/or Beatty and is clearly not the most intelligent character in
comparison with them. What is interesting though is the way that his hands are often
described to act of their own accord, as if they were separate from his body. For
example, take his first book robbery:
"Montag had done nothing. His hand had done it
all, his hand, with a brain of its own, with a conscience and a curiosity in each
trembling finger, had turned thief. Now it plunged the book back under his arm, pressed
it tight to sweating armpit, rushed out empty, with a magician's flourish! Look here!
Innocent! Look!"
Such
examples seem to have two purposes. They firstly underline the conditioning of Montag
and his fellow citizens. To act against the law was so contrary to Montag's nature that
his hand needs to be presented as a completely separate entity from the rest of Montag's
body and particularly his brain. Secondly, and linked with my first point, obviously the
actions of Montag's hand can be said to represent Montag's deepest repressed desires to
rebel against the system that has brainwashed him. At times this causes him to commit
morally dubious actions, such as burning Beatty.
So, whilst
you are clearly right in indicating that Montag does rebel against the system, Bradbury
chooses to describe this rebellion in an ambiguous fashion that does not clearly
indicate that Montag is choosing deliberately and consciously to
rebel.
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