Characters
This character helps Montag reconnect with his own thoughts through simple, reflective questions.
Who is Clarisse McClellan?
Montag starts to question his job after witnessing this woman burn with her books.
Who is the old woman?
This theme is central: books are destroyed to suppress independent thinking.
What is censorship?
Fire is a symbol of both destruction and this.
What is renewal or rebirth?
Bradbury frequently gives human qualities to machines, a device known as this.
What is personification?
Though he claims to hate books, this character frequently quotes them, revealing inner conflict.
Who is Captain Beatty?
Montag steals this book during a fire, which becomes a turning point in the story.
What is the Bible?
Bradbury critiques this obsession, showing how it isolates people and numbs emotion.
What is technology?
This machine represents the dehumanization of technology in the novel.
What is the Mechanical Hound?
The quote “It was a pleasure to burn” is an example of this literary technique that contrasts pleasure with destruction.
What is irony?
This character is emotionally numb and chooses comfort over reality, representing societal apathy.
Who is Mildred (Millie) Montag?
After fleeing the city, Montag escapes detection by covering his scent and doing this.
What is floating down the river?
Montag’s internal struggle shows the difficulty of this process when questioning society.
What is self-awareness (or awakening)?
Montag often compares books to birds, suggesting this quality.
What is freedom (or the ability to escape)?
Bradbury’s poetic, image-rich writing style often uses this device for vivid comparisons.
What is a metaphor (or simile)?
Montag’s transformation begins after his conversations with this character, who fears taking action.
Who is Faber?
This is the author of Fahrenheit 451
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Who is Ray Bradbury?
The government uses distraction and fear to keep people from doing this.
What is questioning authority?
The sea and the river symbolize this kind of transformation.
What is purification or rebirth?
The symbol of the sieve and the sand represents Montag’s struggle to do this with knowledge.
What is retaining information (or understanding/holding onto knowledge)?
These characters symbolize hope for the future and the preservation of knowledge through oral tradition.
Who are the "book people" or intellectual exiles?
The novel ends with Montag and others walking toward the destroyed city with this purpose.
What is to rebuild society using the knowledge they’ve memorized?
Bradbury suggests that society collapses not through force, but through this kind of decay.
What is intellectual laziness or passive conformity?
At the end, this mythological creature symbolizes the hope of rising from destruction.
What is the Phoenix?
Bradbury uses this kind of indirect storytelling to critique his own time period without naming it directly.
What is allegory (or dystopian satire)?