"What does not kill me, makes me stronger."

Author's Note: I think that this quote applies to this book perfectly. Everything that Montag is going through in the novel is helping him become stronger.

Imagine the thoughts going through Montag’s head right before he murdered Captain Beatty. With Faber’s voice in one ear, Beatty’s in the other, and his conscience over powering, he must of just wanted to shut everything up, get rid of at least one of those voices. “What does not kill me, makes me stronger.” Nietzsche once said this, and Bradbury emphasizes the meaning to the quote in this novel. All of your troubles help you learn, all of the obstacles your face will help you out in the long run.

In the beginning of the novel, Montag is just another person in his world, doing what he is told, not what he thinks is right. Burning books for a living used to be a good thing for Montag, but luckily Clarisse came into his life. She helped him go through rough times, and realize what true happiness is. After Clarisse’s death, Montag took things into his own hands. He started to read some of the books he had stashed in his house, and discovered what he had to do, and his strength and independence is helping him do that.

After killing Beatty, Montag was attacked by the Hound. When attacked, he was hurt with the Hound’s needle. He immediately ran away, and now is wanted. Montag must have a lot of courage to be able to go through the rest of his life knowing that he is in danger. What he has gone through is making him stronger, is making him stand up for what he thinks is right, and is making him become more independent. With the help of Faber, I think Montag will be able to show some people the way life should be, and how to be happy.

Murdering Beatty, turning against the firemen, and turning against his life style may seem crazy, but since it’s not killing Montag, it’s making him stronger. Montag is becoming stronger throughout the book, becoming more independent, making his own decisions. It takes a lot of courage for just one person to stand up against so many people, and that one person probably has gone through a lot in their life, because “What does not kill me, makes me stronger.”

Patriotism

Authors note: The prompt to this essay is "does patriotism still matter?" This essay is mostly about how I think that patriotism does still matter, and also about how not just people in the military are true patriots. 

The tears roll down her cheeks as her loved ones carry the coffin out into the hearse.

She had always had a bad feeling about her husband going to war. She had always had that gut feeling something bad was going to happen. Her husband loved his country and devoted his life to it. True patriots come in many shapes and sizes. They are true Americans who love their country, and they deserve to be honored and respected, because patriotism still matters.

Patriotism: devoted love, support, and defense of one's country. When people think of patriotism,

they immediately think about soldiers, about all of the people over in Iraq and Afghanistan. These people are all true patriots, but we forget about the people that are over here, in our country. Just look at the firemen, police officers, teachers, or our mayors.

By 1965, there were thousands of American troops in Vietnam. By then the war was in full

swing, with tons of Americans dying, and tons of people in the US sad for the troops that were losing their lives, and their loved ones. My third cousin, Larry Smith, was a troop in the Vietnam War. I never got to meet him, but my dad has told me stories. He said that Larry told him that he learned how to load a machine gun with his eyes closed, but never once got the chance to load one in battle. My dad asked him what he used instead. And Larry said, a knife. In one of the battles he was wounded, and thought to be dead. He sat still, pretending to be dead, for two days after the battle was over, waiting for the Vietnamese to leave so he could escape. Luckily, he lived to tell that story.

Her smile stretches from one ear to the next when she sees him walk out of the terminal. She runs over and gives him a hug; a hug she’s been wanted for so long. He squeezes her so hard, he’s afraid he could be hurting her. To be an American citizen is a true honor. We live in a country that is well protected, and well run. But it wasn’t always that way; people had to work to get our country to be the way it is. These people are true patriots, and we all owe them a huge thank you.