Who is Guy Montag in Fahrenheit 451 and what is his job?

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amarang9's profile pic

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Guy Montag is the protagonist (main character) in Fahrenheit 451. At the start of the novel, Guy is a fireman. He doesn't put out fires. He starts them. His job is to burn books that are forbidden by the state. To expand on this a bit, you can consider Guy an enforcer of state ideology and an enforcer of censorship. Fahrenheit 451 is a larger work Bradbury developed from a short story he wrote in 1947. The book burning can be seen as a reference to the Nazi book burnings during the rise of the Third Reich. The theme of censorship and limitation of freedom, when it comes to books and knowledge, may be a reference to the era, 1950's, of censorship carried out by McCarthy in the United States. In general, Guy's job is to extinguish any literature that might provoke citizens to question their societal conditions. Guy's title is fireman, but his function is to suppress free thinking by burning books. He is an agent of the state (“Big Brother”); that is, until he has his awakening. 

giraffepoop's profile pic

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Guy Montag is the protagonist in Ray Bradbury's dystopia 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451. He is depicted living in a futuristic town where he works as a fireman whose job is to burn books.

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