Characters & Relationships
This young girl opens Montag’s eyes to the world around him.
Who is Clarisse McClellan?
This theme involves restricting information by destroying books.
What is censorship?
This invention redefined leisure time and contributed to a decline in literacy.
What is television?
This event causes Montag to question the morality of his job for the first time.
What is the old woman’s death by fire (choosing to burn with her books)?
This device is used when books are compared to birds.
What is a metaphor (or simile)?
This woman is addicted to her “parlour walls” and represents consumer culture.
Who is Mildred (Montag's wife)?
Bradbury uses this creature to symbolize rebirth and cyclical destruction.
What is the phoenix?
This mechanical enforcer is programmed to hunt down dissenters.
What is the Mechanical Hound?
This lie about American history rewrites the purpose of firemen.
What is that Benjamin Franklin was the first fireman?
This ancient allegory is referenced when discussing perception and truth.
What is Plato’s Allegory of the Cave?
This fire captain quotes literature despite enforcing censorship.
Who is Captain Beatty?
This recurring object is used as a motif for destruction, renewal, and truth.
What is fire?
This form of entertainment offers shallow, instant pleasure in Montag’s world.
What are parlour walls (or interactive TV)?
This personal crisis leads Montag to read books and rebel against society.
What is Clarisse’s disappearance (or death)?
Bradbury uses this device to reference historical or literary events indirectly.
What is allusion?
This former English professor helps Montag understand the meaning of books.
Who is Faber?
Montag compares trying to retain knowledge to this hopeless task, referenced in the novel’s second part.
What is “trying to fill a sieve with sand”?
These types of debates became popular due to television but lacked depth.
What are televised political debates?
This shocking revelation by Mildred reveals how disconnected citizens are from reality.
What is not telling Montag about Clarisse’s death?
This sensory device is used when Clarisse’s dress is described as “whispering.”
What is imagery?
This character is said to have wanted to die, as implied by Montag after a deadly confrontation.
Who is Captain Beatty?
This phrase reflects Montag’s growing awareness of moral ambiguity in his society.
What is “I didn’t know anything anymore”?
The removal of porches and rocking chairs symbolized the erasure of this.
What is thoughtful conversation or reflective thinking?
After escaping the city, Montag meets these people who preserve knowledge.
Who are the book people (intellectual drifters)?
Bradbury uses this device to predict earbuds, flat screens, and fast-paced media.
What is foreshadowing (or prophetic symbolism)?