Character-ization
This character's decision to ask Montag whether he is happy forces him to question his own life for the first time.
Who is Clarrise McClellan?
This is Montag's occupation in the dystopian society.
What is a fireman?
Clarisse's habit of walking, observing nature, and talking to people contrasts with this dominant value of Montag's society.
What is conformity?
“The Mechanical Hound moved like a shadow through the darkness.”
What device is being used?
What is simile?
Clarisse spends time noticing the natural world, while Mildred spends much of her time doing this.
What is watching television / interacting with the parlor walls?
Mildred cannot remember where she and Montag first met. What does this detail suggest about their relationship?
What is - that their relationship is emotionally distant and lacking meaningful connection?
Clarisse continues to challenge Montag's worldview before mysteriously vanishing. What does Mildred casually mention happened to Clarisse. (Be specific)
What is hit by a car and killed?
The society's obsession with television walls, entertainment, and constant stimulation demonstrates this theme.
What is the danger of distraction?
The Mechanical Hound is described as if it can “sleep,” “hate,” and “want” things.
What is personification?
Bradbury uses the word olfactory, which relates to this sense.
What is the sense of smell?
Unlike Mildred, this character notices the natural world, asks questions, and genuinely wants to understand other people.
Who is Clarisse?
Directly after the burning of the old woman, this happens to Montag.
What is Montag falls ill du to the guilt/horror from the burning & questions his entire career?
The old woman's willingness to die rather than surrender her books suggests that books represent something more valuable than entertainment. What is more valuable to her?
What are knowledge, truth, ideas, or personal freedom?
“Mildred watches television for a thousand hours every day.”
What device is being used?
What is hyperbole?
This allusion from part 1 of the novel can emphasize rebirth/fire/destruction and is an emblem for the fire department.
What is a pheonix?
Montag's decision to secretly take books from the houses he burns demonstrates that he is becoming increasingly characterized by this trait.
What is curiosity?
After discovering Mildred unconscious, Montag calls for medical assistance. The technicians treat her using this strange machine.
What is the stomach-pumping machine / blood replacement machine?
The government doesn't simply destroy books; it has created a culture in which many citizens no longer want them. This develops the theme of ______
What is censorship and voluntary conformity?
“The fire was a hungry monster, gobbling up the house.”
Identify two literary devices used in this sentence.
Metaphor —> fire is directly compared to a monster.
Personification —> the fire is given the human/animal-like action of “gobbling.”
If something is odious, it is this. (Define)
What is extremely unpleasant, hateful, or offensive?
Montag's relationship with fire changes throughout Part 1.
At the beginning, fire represents ________. By the end of Part 1, fire increasingly represents ________.
Power, pleasure, and destruction → destruction, questioning, and moral conflict.
At the end of Part 1, Montag reveals to Mildred that he has secretly been hiding books throughout his career. Where does he hide them?
What is - behind the ventilator grill in the hallway ceiling of his home.
Beatty explains that society gradually moved away from books because people wanted faster entertainment and fewer complicated ideas. Bradbury's fictional explanation reflects concerns about censorship and conformity in the real world.
What literary technique allows the fictional society to represent real-world concerns?
What is allegory?
The society claims that eliminating books will create happiness, yet Montag becomes increasingly unhappy despite having access to constant entertainment.
What is situational irony?
The title of the first section, “The Hearth and the Salamander,” contains two symbols. The hearth traditionally represents ________, while the salamander is traditionally associated with ________.
What are home/warmth and fire?