The obvious hero in Fahrenheit 451 is Guy Montag. He is an unusual hero, some people probably would not even consider him one in the first place. Unlike most heroes, Montag never has that heroic moment that defines him, the point where he realizes his flaws, over comes them, and becomes a true hero. Montag let himself be bullied by Captain Beatty and controlled by Faber. Beatty pushes Montag to his breaking point with his crazy talk about what he believes about books, "What traitors books can be! You think they're backing you up, and they turn on you. Others can use them, too, and there you are, lost in the middle of the moor, in a great welter of nouns and verbs and adjectives." (Bradbury 107). Montag listens to Beatty and becomes confused, onto let out of his daze by Faber's voice talking to him in his ear. Montag never really makes a conscious decision about books, after Clarisse talks to him about the past he takes a book, almost by accident. Faber coaches and instructs Montag after they decide to work together to develop copies of the bible. The only decision Montag makes that is all his own doing, is murdering Beatty with a flame thrower. A true hero would never stoop so low to murder someone. Guy Montag is the protagonist and the hero of the novel. Just not a conventional hero.
After Guy is exposed to the world of books, and runs away from the city, he meets people on the train tracks. These professors welcome Montag into their group after they learn he has a portion of the Bible memorized, Ecclesiastes and Revelation. The professors also have certain books memorized and hope to one day write them down again. It is like a mental library of some sorts. The only true heroic thing Montag accomplishes is trying to keep alive the knowledge of what is inside books with the professors.
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. Print.
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