Saturday, July 4, 2015

Can anyone break down this question about Fahrenheit 451 for me because I don't understand it: What allows Montag to question the rules of his...

You're probably having trouble understanding the question
because it is so ambiguous.  The question doesn't specify whether the question concerns
the personal, the social, or the legal aspects of the
issue.


For the most part, nothing allows Montag to question
his society.  He's not supposed to.  His wife tries to deny him this right, her friends
rebel when he reads poetry to them, and the law certainly doesn't allow him to question
society.  He gets his house raided once the authorities are tipped off that he has books
in his house. 


In short, then, the answer is that nothing
allows Montag to question society. 


That said, he does it
anyway.  Again, however, it's not because he is allowed to.  He isn't allowed
to. 


No dictatorial society can control even a person's
thoughts, however.  Montag can think what he wants, as long as no one else finds out. 
He questions his existence and his society until the authorities find out.  Then, of
course, he is forced to flee. 


Your teacher might possibly
be looking for you to say that the fact that Montag is a firemen gives him a little bit
of leeway.  He does get to talk about books a little bit with his captain, and Beatty
gives Montag a chance to return a stolen book--something a "civilian" might not get a
chance to do.  And Beatty at least suspects Montag of questioning society when he is
motivated to send the mechanical hound to Montag's house in order to spook Montag into
compliance.  You might be able to argue that Montag gets breaks others don't.  Thus, I
suppose it is possible that that is the answer your teacher is looking
for.


For the most part, though, nothing allows Montag to
question society, unless it's just the fact that he is a human being capable of
thought.  He just does it anyway. 


Clarisse moves him to
think.  The woman who martyrs himself impresses him.  And Faber gets him thinking, too. 
These may enable Montag to question society, but I don't know if you could phrase it
that they allow him to question society. 

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