Emotions fuel the flames which push us to take action.

In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray

Bradbury, Montag, a firefighter with a new found love for books and knowledge, fights against the
governments ban on books. In this excerpt, imagery and repetition are used to reveal Montags
transition from sorrow to frustration to powerless while surrounded by people in the subway.
In the initial paragraphs, Montag feels lost and isolated. In the subway, he cant help but focus
on the pattern of tile: cream-tile, jet-black, cream-tile, jet-black (Bradbury 1). Montags numbed mind
has nothing to focus on but he repeating pattern of the subway floor. He is so depressed he cannot
focus on another aspect of his life. His sadness makes him recall a time as a child when His hands were
tired, the sand was boiling, the sieve was empty (Bradbury 1). This was a time when he felt lonely and
hurt. He recalls this because he feels the same way now.
This sadness eventually causes Montag to become angry. He struggles to keep quiet as he
clenched his book in his fists (Bradbury 1). He is not able to memorize the Bible quickly enough to
rewrite it by memory. He is frustrated because he knows he will have to give the book back to Beatty.
The subway arrives at a stop and the raucous has Montag saying in his mind, Shut up, shut up, shut up
(Bradbury 1). He is becoming more angry now that there is something distracting his memorization. He
wants it to stop.
By the end of the passage, Montag realizes there is no way to completely memorize the Bible on
this subway, and becomes flooded over with the noises of the subway: The train radio vomited upon
Montag, in retaliation, a great ton-load of music made of tin, copper, silver, chromium, and brass
(Bradbury 2). The train radio is burying Montag in a multitude of sounds. He is not able to be heard or
memorize the Bible. Montag later says, Lilies of the fieldLilies I said! Lilies (Bradbury 2). Montag is
still struggling to have his words heard as the commotion of the subway grows to an absurd point. By
the end he has given in to the noise and falls silent.
Montags sadness is brought to anger by a catalyst of noise from the subway and causes him to
feel powerless. This further fuels Montag to take power back and fight against the government.