From a Spark to a Flame: Fire in Fahrenheit 451

Burn all, burn everything. Fire is bright and fire is clean.

Destruction, comfort, rebirth. There is a lot of fire in Fahrenheit 451 and its meaning changes for different characters and in different situations.

Guy Montag, the book's protagonist is a fireman–a book burner. The fires he sets professionally used to threaten and control the citizens and Guy loves his work. He likes "to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed".

As the book progresses, Montag finds himself being changed. The spark of imagination spreads like a wildfire from Clarisse to Guy. His curiosity grows, fuelled by encounters with Professor Faber and an old woman who refuses to leave her burning house.

Fire is a destructive force in the novel, but it also provides Guy with a way to escape. He uses a flame thrower to destroy the Mechanical Hound that is hunting him and also to murder Captain Beatty. On the run, he meets the Book People who welcome him with a campfire and they watch a bomb destroy the city. Granger, the leader of the Book People views this as an opportunity for rebirth, believing that civilization will rise from the ashes.

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