Author's notes: This is a response to pages 110-125 of the novel, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, about how pain is a necessary thing in life. The acts that Montag goes through in this section of the book have a big impact on his mental status and he does some crazy things. At the end of the reading, Montag gets stronger from his pain and that's what I'm writing about in this response. Enjoy.
“What doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger.” – Fredrick Nietzsche; Most people follow this quote when things in their lives have gotten so harsh and tormenting that it’s difficult for them to be strong. Strength is something we need in life, whether it is physical or mental strength. We need physical strength to help defend ourselves but having mental strength is the hardest thing to achieve. When we live in a world where people are cruel and conscienceless, it’s the mental strength that helps you get through it, not the physical. In the novel, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, he shows us how a man can go from the lowest point in his life to someone that has so much determination and so much drive to get where he’s going that he emerges from his pain with so much concentration and poise that he seems a new man. Pain is something we need in life to get stronger and mental strength is something we need to get stronger from our pain.
Guy Montag is a victim of physical and mental distress. He is constantly beat up by himself and others and he’s getting lost in all the confusion of it. There is a scene in the novel where Montag lights his boss, Captain Beatty, on fire, killing him. Montag had been stretched to his limits; he has finally hit the wall and goes insane, if only for a second. Montag has had a hard time controlling his thoughts and organizing them so he let all of this confusion and rage come out in a single moment. Montag was so brutally in pain, mentally, that he lost all strength, mentally.
Pain is necessary but Montag lives in a world where there isn't supposed to be pain but Montag also lives in a world where a person’s thoughts are so confined and confusing that they are forgotten all together, people were made to believe that thoughts are forbidden and that they must listen to what the power says, not to listen to their own thoughts and feelings. Montag is different, he has finally let his thoughts come out of his sub-conscious and become real. He has tried to rebel but he let his thoughts get the best of him. These intense thoughts were beating at his mind so much, it made his mind overflow. These explosive actions have caused Montag much more pain but he has learned from them. The pain he went through made him smarter and more careful, or stronger, and he has become a better and more understanding person from them.
Pain is something necessary in life and we all have to live with it, no matter who we are. Pain is something that helps us even though it may not seem like it. In the novel, Montag goes through such excruciating pain that it is rare that we go through the same thing but it is still pain and it is still necessary because Montag grows from his pain, just as we do. Pain is something that will always come with life and avoiding it will only make things worse; pain is necessary so never run away from it.
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