Characters
This character is the main antagonist to Montag.
Who is Captain Beatty?
At the end, this is what the characters say they are going to build.
What is a mirror factory?
Clarisse is often described in terms of this important symbol/motif in which Montag sees himself reflected.
What are eyes?
"...every few hundred years he built a pyre and burnt himself up…." is an allusion to this.
What is the phoenix?
Beatty accuses Montag of using many words yet saying nothing. Beatty is doing this exact thing, providing an example of this literary device.
What is irony?
This character's grandfather remembers when children didn't kill each other.
Who is Clarisse's uncle?
This is the moment when Montag realizes that there is something in books worth dying for.
What is when the old woman dies with her books?
This is a reflective symbol that represents self-examination.
What are mirrors?
Fire alludes to this mythological character who suffered because of his relationship with fire.
Who is Prometheus?
When Montag is running to the river, he feels like he is watching himself in this type of game.
What is chess?
This character is the "leader"of the scholar hobos.
Who is Granger?
This is what Beatty says is the main problem with the information in books.
What is they are full of contradictions - none of them agree with each other?
In order to distance himself from his actions, Montag often imagines these are doing his work for him.
What are his hands?
"locked up ... in a tower of Babel..." is an allusion to this piece of literature.
What is the Bible?
This allegorical dialogue from Plato's Republic is referenced many times in the novel.
What is the Allegory of the Cave?
This character cried when Montag read a poem by Matthew Arnold.
Who is Mrs. Phelps?
At the end Montag realizes he met Mildred here.
Where is Chicago?
This symbol represents constant aural stimulation, distraction, lack of interpersonal communication, and the invasion of the government into people's private lives.
What are the seashell radios?
When Montag is reading poetry to the women, there is an allusion to this specific poem.
What is Dover Beach?
Indicating that humans need connection, need roots, the author alludes to Antaeus and this other mythological character.
Who is Hercules?
The mechanical hound is likely a reference to this mythological being.
Who is Cerberus?
This is why Winston Noble won the presidential election.
What is he was so nice looking and had a nice sounding name?
This represents the all-seeing eye of oppression that can see into one's "soul." It also represents the mechanization of humanity.
What is the stomach pump machine?
"To everything there is a season. Yes. A time to break down, and a time to build up. Yes. A time to keep silence, and a time to speak..." is a reference to this book in the Bible.
What is Ecclesiastes?
An example of this literary device is "silently baying."
What is an oxymoron?