Part I: The Hearth and the Salamander, Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
When the story begins, Guy Montag is at a house fire with his colleagues. He is a "fireman"—a member of the emergency services who, in the future world of the novel, is responsible for destroying books. All books have been outlawed, and any citizen caught with them is taken away by the authorities.
After the fire, Montag cleans himself up at the fire station and heads home. It's been a perfectly typical day, and he takes his typical route, but he remarks to himself that he's been having "the most uncertain feelings" about one particular corner of his walk the past few nights. He's not sure where they came from, but on this particular night, those feelings turn out to be prescient—a young woman in a white dress is standing outside, and she introduces herself. She's Clarisse McLellan, a seventeen-year-old student, and she and her family have just moved into the house next door to Montag's.
As they chat, it becomes clear to Montag that Clarisse is an unusual young woman. She does not prefer to stay inside and watch programs on the "parlor walls"—large television-like screens that take up entire walls of a family's home. Instead, she likes to learn, listen, and observe—hiking, walking, butterfly collecting. She tells Montag how much there is to see when you move slowly and laments the speed with which most people in their world move. She asks him if it's true that firemen used to put out fires, and he dismisses the thought. "Houses have always been fireproof," he tells her.
As they say goodbye, Clarisse asks Montag if he is happy. The question seems so foreign to him that he's almost confused by it—it's never occurred to him to wonder before. As he returns home, he contemplates what the answer might be. After a short time, he is dismayed and astonished to realize that he truly isn't. He's been wearing his happiness "like a mask," and Clarisse has taken it off for him.
Montag goes up to his room, bewildered. His wife, Mildred, is in bed, watching one of her parlor wall programs on the ceiling. She's wearing "seashells"—a small pair of in-ear headphones that transmit sound from the parlor wall directly into her ear. As Montag prepares to get into his own bed, he kicks something with his foot and realizes it's an empty bottle of sleeping pills. With horror, he realizes that the bottle was full that morning—Mildred has taken them all. He calls the police.
Two men arrive with a machine to pump Mildred's stomach, and Montag is very unsettled by their cavalier behavior—as his wife is having her stomach pumped, they're smoking cigarettes and talking to each other as though this is business as usual. He asks them angrily why they sent technicians instead of doctors, and they tell him there simply aren't enough doctors to go around—they get nine or ten calls a night like this.
After they leave, Mildred begins to come around, and the color returns to her cheeks. It's two a.m., yet Montag can still hear laughter and voices from Clarisse's family's house across the lawn. Unsettled and confused after what has just transpired, he wanders to their front door. He considers knocking but decides against it, returning home to his wife.
In the morning, Mildred has no memory of what has transpired. When Montag leaves for the fire station, it's raining. He sees Clarisse again, standing outside in the rain, and she encourages him to open his mouth and taste it. He laughs and dismisses the thought. But once he's alone, for just a split second, he does.
As their friendship develops, Montag begins finding small tokens from Clarisse—flowers, chestnuts, preserved leaves. As they chat one day, he tells her warmly that she makes him feel like a father. She tells him how the education system has failed her generation—they're kept busy all the time, but they're never educated. Adults, too—sometimes she rides the subway during the day to listen to people, and they never talk to each other about anything.
Shortly thereafter, Montag stops seeing Clarisse around the neighborhood. At the station, as the radios are predicting imminent war, Montag probes Captain Beatty about the history of firemen. Beatty is surprised at the questions, but before the conversation becomes too deep, an alarm sounds, and the men rush to prepare for a burning.
When they arrive at the house, they find that the woman who lives there has not yet been taken by the authorities. She refuses to leave, and so preparations for burning begin around her. Montag finds himself hiding one book away in his armpit as the chaos ensues, and when the house is finally doused in kerosene, the woman herself produces a match. She lights it, burning herself amid her collection.
After the fire, Montag returns home. He's distraught by the woman's suicide and anxious about his hidden book, and his emotional state makes him more aware than ever of the distance between him and Mildred. He asks Mildred if she knows what happened to Clarisse, and Mildred tells him she's fairly certain Clarisse was hit by a car and killed four days ago.
The next morning, Montag wakes up feeling sick and asks Mildred to call Captain Beatty and let him know he won't be going in to the station. He asks Mildred, who has little interest in his story from the night prior, how she would feel if he quit his job. The prospect annoys her—if he wasn't prepared for the work, she says, he should have thought of that before becoming a fireman. He responds, "Was I given a choice? My grandfather and father were firemen. In my sleep, I ran after them."
Captain Beatty arrives to check on Montag, saying he knew he was going to call in sick. "Every fireman, sooner or later, hits this," he tells him. Launching into a long oration, Beatty tells Montag about the history of firemen and how books came to be illegal in the first place—the people didn't want them, he reveals. The government didn't choose this life, the citizens did.
Before leaving, he pointedly cautions Montag about the "itch" to find out what books might say. It's normal to be curious, he says, but if a fireman found himself in possession of a book, he'd probably want to return it right away before he got himself in trouble. As he leaves, he asks Montag if he'll be in later. Montag promises he will and says goodbye.
After Beatty leaves, Montag tells Mildred how unhappy and angry and heavy he feels, and confirms that the captain was right: he did steal a book from the old woman's house. He opens the air conditioning vent and shows Mildred that it's one of many books that he's taken. Mildred tries to destroy the books immediately, but Montag calms her. He wants to look at them first, he says, and he begins to read to her.
Expert Q&A
In Part 2 of Fahrenheit 451, why does Faber tell Montag that he doesn't need books?
1 Educator Answer
Faber tells Montag that "It's not books you need, it's some of the things that once were in books". According to Faber,
"Books were only one type of receptacle where we stored a lot of things we were afraid we might forget...the magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us".
Faber says that if an individual were to look hard enough, he would find "the same infinite detail and awareness" that were once communicated in books in the world all around him - in old media, in friends, in nature, and in himself.
Books are important not only because of the ideas they convey, but because they have quality, and explore the depths of life. They also are associated with leisure, because in reading a book, an individual must sit down and take time to think. Finally, books foster the longing for the right to carry out actions based on what has been learned, making them extremely threatening in a totalitarian society. Still, despite their importance, Faber emphasizes that the things that can be found in books could just as easily be projected by the "parlor people", or by radio and televisors. Unfortunately, because these things are so dangerous to powers wishing to keep the people in a state of subjugation, they are not.
In part 3 of Fahrenheit 451, what does the forest campfire represent?
2 Educator Answers
It represents a new hope, a new start. Just as the people living there have "returned" to the past, so the campfire is a "return" to times when technology did not complicate the process.
It is also showing fire being used properly: as something for our good, our benefit (not for destruction, but for life-giving warmth). The connection can then be made to the books in the minds of the people there--they are also being used properly, edifying, giving life.
In this novel, fire, for the most part, represents destruction. In the society of the story, the firemen don't put out fires, they start fires in order to destroy books. We see a woman who loved her books so much, she let fire destroy herself rather than live without her books. Montag's house is destroyed by fire and Capt. Beatty himself is destroyed by fire. When Montag emerges from the river and walks toward the woods, he sees the fire in the distance like a "winking eye", i.e., he sees it then it disappears and then he sees it again. Montag notes that this fire was different from the fires of his former society, this fire was was warming. This time, the fire didn't destroy; it created. It created warmth for people to gather around. Fire now means something good rather than something bad. This represents the new society that Montag and the other book people will try to create. They want a society that is the opposite of the former society.
What are the three main points in Captain Beatty's speech to Montag in part 1 of Fahrenheit 451?
In part one, when Montag is sick and Beatty visits him. He tells him why firemen burn books, and the significance of book burning.
1 Educator Answer
In Part One, Montag witnesses a woman commit suicide with her books during a routine call and refuses to go to work the next day. Sensing that Montag is experiencing a crisis, Captain Beatty stops over and has an enlightening conversation with him. Captain Beatty begins by telling Montag that the fireman institution was established around the time of the Civil War but did not fully develop until the advent of motion pictures in the twentieth century when things began to "have mass." Beatty goes on to tell Montag that as the population increased, technology began to make books obsolete because entertainment became instant. Classic works of literature were shortened and reading became an afterthought. Beatty continues to give Montag an insight into their society by saying,
"Out of the nursery into the college and back to the nursery; there's your intellectual pattern for the past five centuries or more" (Bradbury, 26).
As the population continued to increase, people became more easily offended when intellectuals and critics would negatively comment about them or their society. The majority of the population felt that intellectuals were disruptive and considered them a nuisance, which is why censorship became a solution. The government also knew that an ignorant, consumer population was passive, which is why they supported the fireman establishment and encouraged media consumption.
Captain Beatty's explanation gives context and provides significant background information into Bradbury's dystopian society. It also establishes the main conflict, which is Montag vs. Society. In order for Montag to pursue knowledge and become an intellectual, he must escape or challenge the dystopian government and its ignorant population.
In part 1, why didn't the old woman want to leave her house, and what is the meaning of her speech? How does it relate to Captain Beatty's speech?
"Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out."
2 Educator Answers
For the woman who chooses to burn with her books, her life has been condemned as all that she loves and believes in is about to be destroyed when the firemen arrive. Her citation likens her situation to that of the three martyrs of Oxford: the Anglican bishops Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury. These Protestant bishops were tried for heresy during the reign of Mary I (Bloody Mary), who aggressively tried to restore England to Catholicism.
Recalling the bishops who had enough conviction to die for their religious beliefs, the old woman feels that if she lives after her books are burned, she will have betrayed all those whose works she has embraced. Therefore, she chooses to become a martyr and die along with the philosophies and truths she embraces. She quotes the words of Bishop Hugh Latimer as he turns to Bishop Nicholas Ridley:
"Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out."
She may hope that her sacrifice will awaken people to the significance and importance of preserving the recordings of the thoughts and deeds of great men and women. As it turns out, Montag, who is part of the crew that has come to set fire to the books, is disturbed by the woman's refusal to leave her house. As books are being hurled through the air, one bounces off Montag, falling open.
Montag had only an instant to read a line, but it blazed in his mind for the next minute as if stamped there with fiery steel. "Time has fallen asleep in the afternoon sunshine." He dropped the book. Immediately, another fell into his arms.
This moment is the beginning of Montag's awakening as he keeps another book that flies by him.
Montag's hand closed like a mouth, crushed the book with wild devotion, with an insanity of mindlessness to his chest.
Moved emotionally by both the martyrdom of this woman and the line that he has read, Montag returns home. Now he begins to question his life and what meaning there is to it.
In part one of "Fahrenheit 451," by Ray Bradbury,the unnamed woman not only refuses to leave her books, she lights the match which burns her books, her house and herself. She won't leave because she would rather die free, with her books, than live in a world of oppression and without the freedom of thought the books symbolize.
According to the information Beatty gives his firemen on the way back to the firehouse,
"A man named Latimer said those words to Nicholas Ridley, as they were being burnt alive at Oxford, for heresy, on October 16, 1555."
Beatty is aware of much of the literature used to promote the concept of freedom of thought and freedom of speech. His belief is that it is necessary to burn books because these ideas make people think for themselves and that is dangerous to the control of the society. Freedom of thought makes people unique and different. In Beatty's mind this is dangerous.
It is ironic that the woman is willing to die for the right to read and think for herself and she uses the speech as her last testament to that freedom, while Beatty uses literary quotes to justify his job of burning the books and taking away this freedom of thought.
"We must all be alike. Not everyone is born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone is made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against. So! A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it."
Explain the relevance of the following terms from part 2 of Fahrenheit 451:
1 Educator Answer
At the beginning of Part Two, Montag takes a subway train to see Faber, in order to learn how to comprehend literature. On his ride to see Faber, he desperately tries to read a passage out of the Bible but is interrupted by an annoying Denham's Dentifrice advertisement. The faster Montag reads, the less information he can comprehend, which reminds him of a time at the beach with his cruel cousin. Montag's cousin bet him that he could not fill a sieve with sand. The faster Montag poured the sand into the sieve, the faster the sand came out the bottom, which is similar to how his memory fails to work when he attempts to speed read on the train.
When Montag arrives at Faber's home, he proposes that they destroy the fireman institution. Faber then suggests that they eradicate all firemen by planting books in their homes and spreading seeds of dissent throughout the entire institution. Faber then tells Montag that he is only kidding and that challenging the fireman institution would be suicide. He calls himself a cowardly old fool, but Montag persuades him to join the cause against the fireman institution and government. Faber then proceeds to explain the significance and importance of literature by telling him that books have quality, provide important leisure time, and give readers a right to carry out actions based on what they've read. Faber then gives Montag a two-communication device known as the green bullet and says that he plans on contacting a retired, unemployed printer in the Midwest.
In Part 2 of Fahrenheit 451, what has Christ essentially become, according to Faber?
2 Educator Answers
In Part Two, Montag travels to Faber's home in order to learn how to comprehend the information in the texts he has been reading. When Montag initially arrives at Faber's home, he shows the former professor a copy of the Bible and Faber is astonished to finally hold it in his hands. Faber proceeds to tell Montag that it has been a long time since he has held a Bible and says, "Christ is one of the 'family' now" (Bradbury, 38). Faber also goes on to tell Montag that Christ is a "regular peppermint stick" the way that society has perverted His image and used it to sell products. Faber's comments regarding Christ being one the "family" refers to the way that television has used His image for entertainment purposes as well as a marketing tool. He is also commenting on the commercialization of religion to sell products and perpetuate a superficial consumer culture. In Bradbury's dystopian society, Christ is anything but a spiritual leader or personal savior.
What Faber says about Christ is that Christ has become "part of the family." When he says "family" he means the families that are in the shows that are on the parlour walls -- like the ones that Millie Montag is so into. He goes on to say that Christ has been essentially turned into an advertising tool.
Basically, what has happened is that the society has taken all the meaning out of Christ and out of religion. It is only using him for the materialistic purposes that are so important to the society. Like everything else, he has been dumbed down and used for society's own purposes.
In part two of Fahrenheit 451, why does Montag think books might help and what is Faber's reaction?
2 Educator Answers
"You weren't there, you didn't see. . . There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing" (51).
The above passage is taken from Montag in part one talking with his wife about the woman who burned herself along with her house and books the night before. There are many events that place Montag on the path to discovering what books hold for him, but the woman choosing to be burned just like her books is an event that pushing Montag over the edge. In an effort to gain more understanding, Montag contacts the former English professor he met a year before--Faber.
Montag shares his frustrations and feelings with Faber who listens carefully. Montag tells Faber that he feels something is missing, but he isn't sure just what. Faber's response is the following:
"No, no, it's not books at all you're looking for! Take it where you can find it, in old phonograph records, old motion pictures, and in old friends; look for it in nature and look for it in yourself. Books were only one type of receptacle where we stored a lot of things we were afraid we might forget. There is nothing magical in them at all. The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us" (82-83).
Montag does not take Faber's advice. Faber claims he's a coward, so that's probably part of the reason he doesn't listen, but there is a lot of truth to be found in what Faber says. Even Captain Beatty said that people turned from reading books to movies and radio for entertainment. The majority of the populace wants to be happy without dealing with difficult issues found in books. As a result, the illiterate society developed and they won't be able to change it until the majority brings it back again.
What reasons does Faber give to justify Montag's faith in books in Fahrenheit 451?
I think what you are referring to here is when Montag first goes to Faber's house and talks to him about books.
Faber explains to Montag about why books are so dangerous to people. I would think you could say that that further justifies Montag's faith. Faber tells Montag that books help people understand things. They pull the universe together and make it easier to comprehend. When they do that, they show reality in all its good and bad aspects. People do not like that because they only want to see the good.
By telling Montag that books have this power, Faber justifies Montag's faith in books.
What interrupted the poker game in Part 2 of Fahrenheit 451?
1 Educator Answer
Quick answer:
The poker game in Part 2 of Fahrenheit 451 is interrupted by the fire alarm going off at the station house. Beatty, who had been taunting Montag, slowly reads the address of the new book burning, which turns out to be Montag's house. This revelation, combined with Beatty's insinuations about Montag's guilt, disrupts the game.
The poker game that is played between Montag, Beatty and the other firemen is interrupted by Beatty's words to Montag, that insinuate he knows a lot more about Montag's betrayal and guilt than he will admit at first. Of course, Montag was already feeling very guilty even before he entered the firehouse, as this quote displays:
If Beatty so much as breathed on them, Montag felt that his hands might wither, turn over on their sides, and never be shocked to life again; they would be buried the rest of his life in his coat sleeves, forgotten.
Beatty's argument against books, and the way that he uses a number of quotes to reinforce his argument is of course what interrupts the poker game and makes Montag throw in his hand. However, at the same time, the station bell ringing also interrupts the game, and gives Montag the release of not having to respond to Beatty's taunts.
In part two of Fahrenheit 451, how does Beatty confuse Montag about books?
1 Educator Answer
Quick answer:
In part two of Fahrenheit 451, Beatty confuses Montag by using quotes from books out of context. Beatty, well-read despite advocating for book burning, overwhelms Montag with literary references, making him doubt his beliefs. Beatty's manipulation leaves Montag feeling disoriented and unsure, as he struggles to process the barrage of information and contradictory arguments Beatty presents.
Beatty is very well read for someone who burns books and thinks books should be burnt. He confuses Montag the first time in part one when Montag pretends to be sick. Beatty uses quotes from books to confuse and tease Montag. He uses the quotes, taking them out of context to make his argument. That is why Montag has gone to Faber to ask for support. Montag tells Faber,
"He's read enough so he has all the answers, or seems to have. His voice is like butter. I'm afraid he'll talk me back the way I was." (pg 89)
So, when Montag returns to the firehouse that day, Beatty holds out his hand and Montag gives him a book. He then quotes Sir Philip Sydney and Alexander Pope when he said "A little learning is a dangerous thing." Beatty uses it to support his idea that,
"Read a few lines and off you go over the cliff. Bang, you're ready to blow up the world, chop off heads, knock down women and children, destroy authority. I know, I've been through it all." (pg 106)
Faber warns Montag not to listen because Beatty is "slippery" Beatty goes on quoting while he is telling a story of a dream he had about Montag and their battle of dualing quotes.
Montag hasn't read any of the books Beatty is quoting. He doesn't have time to think about the quotes Beatty is giving him. When Beatty finishes with him,
"Montag's head whirled sickeningly. He felt beaten unmercifully on brow, eyes, nose, lips, chin, on shoulders, on upflailing arms. He wanted to yell 'No! shut up, you're confusing things, stop it!' (pg 107)
Faber warns Montag that Beatty is "muddying the waters." Even Beatty admits to Montag,
".....I was doing a terrible thing in using the very books you clung to, to rebut you on every hand, on every point! 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." (pg 107)
The quotes I have given are for my copy of the book; however, they should be found in close proximity.
What does part 2's title mean in Fahrenheit 451?
2 Educator Answers
Quick answer:
The title of part 2 of Fahrenheit 451, “The Sieve and the Sand,” means that Montag has realized the futility of many of his actions. The phrase refers specifically to a memory about a childhood experience at the beach when he was frustrated by trying to accomplish an impossible task.
Montag is trying valiantly to read the Bible on a packed train. But it proves to be an impossible task, what with a mindless, repetitive advertising jingle for toothpaste blaring in his ear. To be sure, Montag gives it a good go, reading as fast as he can before he finally gives up the ghost. But nothing seems to work. Reading faster only means that nothing from the text sinks in, which defeats the whole object.
Attempting to read a book in a society such as this is like trying to hold sand in a sieve. When he was a young boy, Montag tried to do precisely this in a little competition with his cousin at the beach.
His cousin bet him the princely sum of ten cents that he couldn't fill a sieve with sand. The young Guy foolishly accepted the wager, only to find that he was faced with an impossible task. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how fast he poured the sand into the sieve, he just couldn't fill it up.
And today, he realizes that, no matter how quickly he tries to read the Bible, he will never be able to hold what it contains in his brain, such are the numerous distractions around him.
Part 2 of Fahrenheit 451 begins after Montag has revealed a hidden book and started reading to Mildred. The title of this part, “The Sieve and the Sand,” refers to the futility of trying to accomplish a specific goal by using the wrong equipment. The goal, the equipment, or both must change. The literal meaning of the phrase is connected to a memory that comes back to Montag. He recalls a childhood incident when he was at the beach. Determined to win a dime from a cousin, he applied himself to trying to fill a sieve with sand. Because he was an inexperienced child, he did not understand that the task was impossible.
As the section begins, Montag is starting to realize that he no longer wants to be a fireman. He now accepts that many things are fundamentally wrong with his society. Burning books, houses, and even people will not correct those problems; in fact, the firemen are contributing to the problem. Montag thought that the books he was secretly collecting might tell him what he wanted to know, but his individual efforts to find answers, such as by quickly and distractedly reading a Bible on the subway, are insufficient to answer his questions. The words run through his head like the sand he remembers. He does not yet have the right equipment to accomplish what he wants to do. A sieve is the wrong tool for holding sand.
Through his conversation with Faber, Montag figures out that the books themselves are not the solutions for society’s problems. He embraces a more radical approach to change. Rather than just save books, he will print more, and instead of just quitting the fire department, he will dedicate himself to destroying it.
In Fahrenheit 451, what is the significance of the mythological allusion in the opening of part 3?
1 Educator Answer
Quick answer:
The mythological allusion to Icarus in the opening of part 3 of Fahrenheit 451 signifies Montag's reckless pursuit of knowledge. Beatty compares Montag to Icarus, who flew too close to the sun and fell. This metaphor highlights Montag's disregard for warnings and the consequences of his actions, culminating in his arrest. Ironically, Beatty's taunt leads to his own demise when Montag turns the fire hose on him.
In Section 3 of Fahrenheit 451, "Burning Bright," the mythological allusion on the first page is in the unstated comparison of Montag to Icarus:
Old Montag wanted to fly near the sun and now that he's burnt his damn wings, he wonders why.
Icarus and his father Daedalus attempted an escape from Crete flying with wings fashioned with feathers and wax. Daedalus warned his son not to fly too low or too high as the sea's dampness or the sun's heat would impair the wings. But, in his pride, Icarus ignores his father's warning and flies high in the sky, too high and the sun melts the wax of his wings, causing Icarus to crash into the sea.
In his fervor to acquire the knowledge contained in books and to feel true human emotions and have some depth of thought, like Icarus in his high-flying ambition, Montag ignores the possible implications of his actions; now, he has become a suspect himself because his wife Mildred and reported him for having books. His house is burnt.
What is a paradox found in part 2 of Fahrenheit 451?
2 Educator Answers
In literature, a paradox is a statement that seems contradictory but contains a hidden truth. Towards the beginning of part 2, Montag stays home from work and attempts to convince Mildred to read some of his stolen books. Mildred refuses to read the books and comments:
Books aren't people. You read and I look around, but there isn't anybody! (Bradbury 34)
Mildred's comment is an example of a paradox because it contains a hidden truth. Mildred is speaking literally by saying that books are not people. However, Mildred is unaware of the "book people" that Montag joined in the wilderness. These traveling intellectuals memorize complete works of literature and refer to themselves as simply dust-jackets for books. Granger, Montag, and the other traveling intellectuals figuratively "become" the books that they read, which—in a round-about way—disproves Mildred's earlier comment that books aren't people.
Even if one were to consider her statement without the "book people" in mind, her statement would still be incorrect. Books can be considered as the products of an author's thoughts and creative process—the author is as much a part of the book as the text that is written inside. Similarly, books can influence people by urging the reader to think or behave differently. In this way, a reader can figuratively "embody" a book.
An example of a paradox is when Mildred’s friend Mrs. Bowles says that the poetry Montag reads is silly, when in fact it was so beautiful that it drove them to tears.
A paradox is a contradictory statement or situation. It is when something is illogical, invalid, or contradicts itself.
One of the main tenets of Montag’s society is that they have eliminated books because they do not need them. The universities closed due to lack of enrollment. Captain Beatty explained to Montag that books make people think, and they do not want to think. They have all they need with their television, and their lives are complete.
When Montag reads “Dover Beach” to the women, he pretty much blows that argument out of the water. The entire incident proves that their society has been sold a bill of goods. They do need poetry, and books, and emotions. They have just been suppressing them. This simple poem is too much for Mrs. Phrmps too bear. When Montag reads it, she bursts into tears.
I knew it would happen! I've always said, poetry and tears, poetry and suicide and crying and awful feelings, poetry and sickness; all that mush! Now I've had it proved to me. You're nasty, Mr. Montag, you're nasty!" (Part II, p. 97)
Her statement is paradoxical because she is basically disproving her own point. She says that poetry is silly in one sentence, and calls nasty in the next. Mrs. Phelps is crying because of the pure emotion of it.
Montag wanted to see if books have power. They clearly do. He exposed himself and put himself and them in danger by reading to the ladies. He also greatly confused them, because they are not used to poetry and books. They live in an illiterate society where culture is nothing but mind-numbing television.
There are different versions of the book, but this is near the end of Part II.
In Fahrenheit 451, why does Bradbury reference "The Tyger" in Part Three's title "Burning Bright"?
1 Educator Answer
In the poem "The Tyger," the narrator sees a tiger in the forest at night and wonders about who might have created such a fearsome and powerful animal. In particular, the narrator wonders if the same person also made less threatening creatures, like the lamb.
In Part Three of Fahrenheit 451, this allusion to "The Tyger" acts as a metaphor to explain Montag's development. By this stage of the novel, for example, society perceives Montag with the same negative attributes as Blake's tyger: he is a dangerous criminal who has killed his captain and he is a threat to the social order because he reads books. But, just like the tyger, there is more to Montag than meets the eye. When he flees the city and meets with Granger, for instance, Montag represents hope and optimism for the future. In this way, he burns brightly as a symbol of the destruction of censorship.
Finally, Bradbury also included this allusion to foreshadow the events of this part of the novel in Montag's city. The novel closes, for example, with the bombing of the city and the total destruction of its residents. This image of the city burning brightly, then, is hinted at through this title.
In Part 3 of Fahrenheit 451, what's remarkable and disturbing about the gas station war scene?
1 Educator Answer
Quick answer:
In Part 3 of Fahrenheit 451, the remarkable and disturbing aspect of the gas station war scene is the indifference of the people. Despite the declaration of war, the gas station workers and customers continue discussing mundane topics like gas and money. This lack of reaction highlights the dehumanized and self-absorbed nature of Montag's society, where critical thinking and social awareness are suppressed, making the scene profoundly unsettling.
What is remarkable and disturbing about the declaration of war is that nobody at the gas station—except Montag—is bothered by it. According to the text, the gas station workers and the customers just stand around talking about gas. They have no reaction whatsoever to the fact that the nation is now at war.
The men in the beetles were talking and the attendants were talking about the engines, the gas, the money owed.
Their lack of reaction to the declaration is, perhaps, not that surprising when we consider the type of society that censorship has created. Mildred, for example, is a slave to entertainment. She is more interested in the parlor walls than in creating meaningful relationships with others. In fact, she can't even remember where and when she met her husband.
Given this context, it becomes clear why the men do not care about the declaration of war. After all, they have been conditioned to focus only on self-gratification, not to think critically or to consider the social and moral implications of war.
Their lack of reaction to the declaration of war is, therefore, disturbing and shocking to the reader, but perfectly normal in Montag's world.
In Fahrenheit 451, part 2, can you provide a quote that displays Faber's bravery?
1 Educator Answer
Quick answer:
In Fahrenheit 451, part 2, one quote that shows Faber is brave is, "So, Montag, there's this unemployed printer. We might start a few books, and wait on the war to break the pattern and give us the push we need."
In part 2, Montag visits Faber. Faber repeatedly says that he himself is a coward, but his actions show otherwise. Here is one quote that shows his courage:
So, Montag, there's this unemployed printer. We might start a few books, and wait on the war to break the pattern and give us the push we need.
The above quote shows Faber is willing to take great risks for the sake of starting on the rebuilding of his society. First, he is willing to trust Montag. Montag is a fireman—the equivalent of a Nazi stormtrooper in his world—and could easily have been sent to entrap Faber. But Faber has the courage to trust his own instincts about the sincerity of another person.
Faber also reveals the courage to enter into an illegal conspiracy against the state: he suggests that an unnamed printer, Montag, and himself work together—a little earlier he had asked Montag to bring money to jumpstart this endeavor. Doing this is another big gamble.
Faber gives Montag the seashell to wear in his ear so that they can stay in communication, another risky move.
Faber's courage comes from his conviction that his society has gone badly astray. He believes that reading and thinking are key to its renewal. Having found someone else with energy, hope, and similar views, Faber is willing to risk his own safety in the interest of building a better future.
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