Analysis Of The Main Characters In "Fahrenheit 451" And "The Pedestrian"

In Fahrenheit 451 and The Pedestrian, both main characters have a sense of feeling where they’re being suffocated because their society is too invested in all the new and glorious technology while they are curious for what the world has to offer them; therefore, Montag and the uncle shares the mutual feeling of loneliness. In this case, loneliness does not necessarily mean that they’re feeling sad due to having no company, although they most likely do. It can mean that in the cold and cruel world, they just cannot seem to fit in with their fellow peers even if their best efforts are being put in. It makes sense when you take the different mindsets surrounding the leads and their people and compare it beside each other. The uncle and Montag’s perspective are developed through their attained and new knowledge of nature and books. On the other hand, the people of their society have nothing to knock them out of their dazed minds. With my opinions said, loneliness is a common theme found in both stories.

Montag starts off in the story feeling fulfilled; praising his job and loving his daily routine. He had no issue with how his life was going — he had no problems whatsoever. It wasn’t until he met Clarisse that he found himself questioning all sorts of things. From the “love” between him and his wife to the books being burned, Montag had a need to find out why are things the way they are. During this journey, there were multiple times Montag found himself lost with no answers. Such a moment can be displayed when he asked Mildred, his wife if she can recall how they had originally met. With the bland answer of “I don’t know” and “It doesn’t matter” (P40), Montag came to the scary thought that their love may have never been real. Another important moment that needed to be noted was when together with Captain Beatty, where they had to burn a woman as she refused to leave her burning books behind, Montag was filled with curiosity. He wondered, why in the world would anyone sacrifice themselves for a bunch of books? All in all, Montag finds himself transitioning to the point where he became mesmerized by the fact that many truths can be attained in books unlike the majority of his peers.

For Mr. Leonard Mead, he was also different, per say. He occasionally goes on night walks without a single soul being spotted on the streets. This seems quite maddening since the city he lives in has a population of about three million citizens. Not sighting one soul really shows the readers just how attached the people in his society are to their newly, developed technology. This observation was proved to be true when according to Mead, every house but his had their lights turned off.

The only lights that came from the dimly lit houses were the ones radiating off from their televisions’ screen. As he continued his nightly walk, he was stopped by an officer who asked him multiple questions regarding his personal life. One particular question stood out from the rest, and that was “Are you married, Mr. Mead?”. At first glance, it may seem like a simple question, however, if you think about the world they live in, it made sense to interpret marriage as a way to continue the human race rather than a relationship filled with affection and communication. In brief, Leonard is seemingly the only one in his society to acknowledge the lack of human interactions; something that sets him apart from the rest.

One similar aspect from both stories would be how they are both set in the far future with the main character having a set of different perspectives from the rest of the society. Of course with that comes with isolation. In Fahrenheit 451, apart from Clarisse and Fabien, there was no one else who supported Montag’s need to find the importance of books. That resulted in Montag being unhappy with his job and his lifestyle. The society didn’t help much either as there was a need to be “perfect”. If you were one to defy the laws then you would be outcasted, with no questions asked. As for The Pedestrian, Leonard felt a sense of discomfort as nothing interesting was happening considering everyone chose to lock themselves in their house to have their life dictated by a screen. That pressured him to hide in the “dark”, so to relieve himself from that tragedy, he would stroll outside to make his life somewhat worthwhile.