Rebuilding Alone

Rebuilding Alone

 Imagine having to rebuild and restore civilization to an area that has been destroyed by a bomb during a reckless war. Guy Montag, from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, experiences this incredible undertaking firsthand, after a bomb is dropped on his hometown. Montag and others start the rebuilding process in hopes of creating a less controlling government. Although he has practically no resources to work with, Montag does have special friends with exceptional knowledge they previously memorized from books. This knowledge enables Montag and his friends to access a great number of lessons and teachings in order to help them create a more democratic government.

Throughout Fahrenheit 451, the government controls the city and its people by not allowing citizens to obtain, read, or own books. The government believes they are protecting people from the contents of stories that may offend them. However, Montag believes the government has gone overboard in controlling the people by removing books from their lives. Therefore, while Guy is working as a fireman, his curiosity of books inspires him to salvage what books he comes across. For this reason, I believe Montag and his friends will rebuild their city with hopes that people will live by their own free will.

Bradbury suddenly ends Fahrenheit 451 as Guy Montag witnesses a bomb being dropped on the city. When his life unexpectedly flashes before his eyes, Montag realizes everything in its entirety is gone. What I presume would happen afterward is Montag would attempt to recover anything he can find from his life before the bombing. Also, I believe Montag and his rural friends will go back into the city to rebuild what they can. It will be up to them to reconstruct the city they once called home in a more democratic way by allowing books to be part of the people’s lives. Although Montag might not have the resources he has the heart to at least try to reconstruct what was once a great city.

Guy Montag’s situation in Fahrenheit 451 is similar to a scene in The Roar, by Emma Clayton. In The Roar everyone in the world is forced to move into the northern third of the world behind a giant wall while the wealthiest people are allowed to stay in the remaining two thirds of the beautiful world. When a young boy realizes this, he tries to rally together as many children as he can to reclaim the world for everyone to enjoy. This is similar to Fahrenheit 451 because both characters try to regain, or rebuild the world the way they learned it had once been.

                Guy Montag is faced with the seemingly insurmountable problem of reconstructing the city.  He and his friends each use the lessons they have learned from the books they memorized to recreate a peaceful and democratic life for everyone in the city.