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RHETORICAL ESSAY SAMPLE BODY PARAGRAPH (FAHRENHEIT 451)

Note: This paragraph directly responds to the required analysis questions.

The rhetorical device pathos is found early in the novel when Clarisse walks with Montag and asks him whether he is happy, a moment that impacts Montag emotionally. In “The Hearth and the Salamander,” Clarisse has a conversation with Montag, describing how she is perceptive about the natural world, how society seems to move too fast, and how people spend too much time watching television. Near the end of their walk together, Clarisse asks Montag whether he is happy (Bradbury 7). He didn’t have time to think about it, because she leaves to go home. However, later when he returns home to his cold, dark house, Montag realizes “He was not happy” and “the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask” (9). Montag’s mask had covered up his true thoughts and feelings about society and his own life, but she used the power of pathos to remove it from his face. This is a good representation of pathos because the author wants the reader to feel something about these characters. What the author tries to accomplish is to have the readers feel just how empty and lonely Montag is compared to Clarisse’s happiness and peace. As a result, we form a bond with Montag, hoping he might open his heart and his mind in the coming chapters. When Clarisse asks if Montag is happy, she is trying to connect with him on an emotional level and this impacts their relationship because Montag grows closer to Clarisse and feels the power of his mind opening to new ideas. Their friendship will lead Montag down a path from which he cannot return as he begins to question his life and society. Pathos impacts our understanding of the plot because this is one of the most important moments in the novel. Up to this point, Montag has been setting houses on fire and following the orders of the fire department. Now, he takes his mask off for the first time and ponders whether there is more to life. This sets off a long series of changes in his character. The author’s use of this device is effective because Montag is beginning to actually think real thoughts and feel real feelings for the first time, and soon will begin to challenge his wife, his friends, and his boss Captain Beatty.