BURN IT
What is the temperature at which paper supposedly catches fire — and the title of the novel?
451 degrees Fahrenheit
Who asks Montag the question "Are you happy?"
Clarisse McClellan
What is the name of Montag's wife?
Mildred (also accept Millie)
What do the parlor walls in Mildred's living room represent?
Technology replacing human connection / mass entertainment as sedation
Who turns in the fire alarm on Montag's own house?
Mildred — his wife betrays him
In this society, what do firemen do instead of putting out fires?
They burn books
Who is described in the opening line — "It was a pleasure to burn"?
Guy Montag (the narrator describing his thoughts)
What is Captain Beatty's job?
He is the fire chief — Montag's boss at the fire station
What does the Mechanical Hound symbolize?
Technology used for surveillance, control, and punishment
What do the emergency technicians reveal about society when they pump Mildred's stomach?
They say they handle nine or ten overdose cases per night — suicide attempts are so common they've become routine
When the firemen raid the old woman's house, what does she use to set her own library ablaze?
A kitchen match — she lights it herself
Who says "A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it."?
Captain Beatty
Who is the retired English professor that Montag secretly visits for help?
Professor Faber
What does the phoenix represent at the end of the novel?
Rebirth — humanity's cycle of destroying itself and starting over
Instead of leaving her house when the firemen come, what does the old woman choose to do?
She stays and burns alive with her books
After Beatty forces Montag to burn his own house, what does Montag do to Beatty?
He turns the flamethrower on him and kills him
Who says "It's not books you need, it's some of the things that once were in books"?
Faber
What happens to Clarisse McClellan?
She disappears and is presumed dead — likely hit by a speeding car
In "The Sieve and the Sand," what does the sieve represent for Montag?
His mind — he's trying to retain knowledge but the society is designed to make him forget (like sand falling through a sieve)
How does the televised chase for Montag end?
The Mechanical Hound loses his trail, so the government kills a random innocent man on camera and claims it's Montag
Montag says "It was not burning. It was warming." What has changed about his relationship with fire by Part 3?
Fire has shifted from a tool of destruction to a symbol of warmth, comfort, and human connection (the campfire with the book people)
Who says "We are all bits and pieces of history and literature and international law. We are nothing more than dust jackets for books"?
Granger
Who is Granger, and what is he doing when Montag finds him?
He leads the "book people" — a group of intellectuals by the railroad tracks, each of whom has memorized an entire book to preserve it
What does the river symbolize when Montag crosses it while escaping the city?
Baptism and transformation — crossing from his old life as a fireman into a new life as a keeper of books
What is the very last thing that happens in the novel?
The city is destroyed by bombs, and Montag walks toward the ruins with the book people, reciting lines from Ecclesiastes — "a time to break down, and a time to build up"