Only once in a while comes a book so great in its message, so frightening in its inferred meaning of fire as in Fahrenheit 451. Fire that is used as a symbol of chaos, destruction and death can also lead to knowledge. Fire has 3 different meanings. Fire represents change which is shown through Montag's symbolic change from using fire to burn knowledge to using fire to help him find knowledge; fire can represent knowledge as shown through Faber, and fire can represent the rebirth of knowledge as shown through the phoenix. Fire represents change in the novel because fire allows Montag to undergo a symbolic change where he stops using fire to burn knowledge but instead helps him. find it. Guy uses fire to change by burning down his house and Captain Beatty. This is demonstrated when Montag said, "We never burned well..." (119) This quote exemplifies that now, by setting fire to the Captain, he was using the fire equipment for a good and valid purpose, the right reason to burn, to purify and free ourselves from what was poisoning society, starting with Captain Beatty. He also burns down his own house and then turns the flamethrower on Captain Beatty, killing him. Montag then flees the city and finds the people of the books, who give him refuge from the firefighters and the Mechanical Hound who is looking for him. The burning of his house, his Captain and the fire trucks symbolizes Montag's transformation from a mechanical drone following orders, to a thinking, feeling and emotional person, who has now broken the law and will be persecuted as a criminal. He is an enemy of the State when he turns his back on the social order and burns, so to speak, its bridges, he is liberated, purified and has to escape... in the middle of paper... in documents, in people's heads, in any case as long as it was safe, silver fish, rust and dry rot, and men with matches.”(141). The symbolism of the phoenix makes Guy realize that the mission was an attractive mission because it was a step towards a normal society. This is how the phoenix helps the portrayal of fire in the book to be excellent. In conclusion, fire has 3 different meanings that lead you to new thoughts and insights about the world. Fire represents change which is shown through Montag's symbolic change from using fire to burn knowledge to using fire to help him find knowledge; fire can represent knowledge as demonstrated through Faber, and fire can represent the rebirth of knowledge as demonstrated through the phoenix. The overall representation of fires is not one of destruction but of knowledge, thought, new insight and recognition.