Montag's identity or character is established through his voice. This is the personality that his conversation with others and the thoughts inside his head reveal. His voice shows him to be a serious, intense person who throws himself fully into his endeavors.
Montag is not one to be light-hearted. We never see him hanging around, for example, having a beer and laughing with friends. Life for him is a serious business. For example, even though he is pleased with Clarisse from the start, he asks if she has any respect for him because of the questions she asks:
"Haven't you any respect?"
He expects to be treated with dignity as adult, and he expects Clarisse to know her place as a teenager.
At the start of the novel, Montag's energy and intensity are absorbed in performing his job as a fireman burning books with all the pride and professionalism he can muster. However, as he thinks about Clarisse, Mildred's suicide attempt, and the actual suicide of a woman whose books the firemen burn, his intense, serious nature turns its attention to his perception that something is wrong with his society. He wants to read books, because he thinks they might contain the answers he seeks.
He is not lighthearted about this. He shows Millie two books he has hidden in the house--a totally illegal act--and she screams. He does not respond with humor or joy, but instead:
"No, Millie, no! Wait! Stop it, will you? You don't know . . . stop it!" He slapped her face, he grabbed her again and shook her.
She said his name and began to cry.
"Millie! "' he said. "Listen. Give me a second, will you? We can't do anything. We can't burn these. I want to look at them, at least look at them once ..."
Montag strikes his wife, and his voice is passionate. He wants her to be part of his experience in a serious and even violent way.
This voice continues throughout the novel (though it lightens a little at the very end) and helps create the book's dark, dystopic tone.
Literary voice refers to the way an author presents a plot, setting, character, etc. Voice involves style, tone, and the use of figures of speech to tap into the essence of who or what is being described. For example, readers can discover Montag's identity through his own thoughts, what he says to himself and others, and through what other characters say about him. At the beginning of the story, the first lines describe Montag's identity as a fireman who loves to see things burn.
"It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed" (3).
Not only does Montag take pleasure burning things, but he likes being a fireman for the government. However, when his happiness is challenged by a young girl, he starts to look more introspectively and discovers another part of himself that may have been hiding because of the oppressive society in which he lives. As Montag searches to fill a void in his life, he discovers more about himself and what he also wants to change. When seeking help from Professor Faber, Montag says the following:
"Nobody listens any more. I can't talk to the walls because they're yelling at me. I can't talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough, it'll make sense" (82).
At this point, Montag is confused because his identity seems to be different from that of society. In fact, it seems as though he is suffering from an identity crisis. Fortunately, Faber uses his voice to define Montag as follows:
"You're a hopeless romantic . . . It would be funny if it were not serious. It's not books you need, it's some of the things that once were in books" (82).
Montag eventually discovers what his purpose in life is, which also helps him to discover who he is. In the end, Montag is a man who values the written and spoken word. He believes in having authentic relationships that are not based on distraction, discovering all the good that there is in life, and living a life free from ignorance and government manipulation.
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