Fahrenheit 451 question 2

The conflict in Fahrenheit 451 caused many things to be lost and gained. For one, Montag gained control of his sanity. He started out fine, hardly questioning his actions, until he met Clarisse, and the incident with the woman who burned herself. Then he started to lose his sanity by questioning his life and what not. It was apparent that he had little to no sanity left by the time he was spouting poetry at Mildred's friends. Then he killed some things, and did some running. Thus causing him to meet Granger, who gave his life meaning by telling him that he was important for having read books. "Montag." Granger took Montag's shoulder firmly. "Walk carefully. Guard your health. If anything should happen to Harris you are the Book of Ecclesiastes. See how important you've become in the last minute!" (Bradbury 151) So Granger basically caused him to regain his lost sanity, but better than before he lost it. A lot of things were lost in the novel, one of these being Mildred. She left Montag for various reasons, such as him hiding several books in the house, and spewing poetry at her friends. She tolerated as much as she could, but in the end she didn't want to deal with the situation so she called the fire department and alerted them to the books, then proceeded to leave town. "Mildred!" She ran past with her body stiff, her face floured with powder, her mouth gone, without lipstick. "mildred, you didn't put in the alarm!" She shoved the valise in the waiting beetle, climbed in, and sat mumbling, "Poor family, poor family, oh everything gone, everything, everything gone now..." (Bradbury 114) Unfortunately this didn't do much for her because the city was destroyed shortly after this entire incident, and she probably ended up dead or severely injured. Also that it was her leaving that caused Montag to flee the city, thus saving his life. Funny how these things work out.

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451;. New York: Ballantine, 1953. Print.