Characters
This character is the leader of the exiles who reminds Montag that they are merely "dust jackets" for the books they contain.
Who is Granger?
This creature on the firemen's uniforms represents the ability to survive fire.
What is a Salamander?
According to the "Firemen of America" rulebook, this man was the first fireman.
Who is Benjamin Franklin?
Instead of putting out fires, the firemen in this society do this.
What is start fires/burn books?
Montag uses this to travel away from the city and throw the Mechanical Hound off his scent.
What is the River?
The 17-year-old neighbor who asks Montag, "Are you happy?"
Who is Clarisse McClellan?
This number represents the temperature at which book paper catches fire and burns.
What is 451?
Montag steals this specific book from the old woman’s house before she burns it.
What is the Bible?
This historical event is rewritten in the Fireman’s Handbook to claim the firemen were established in 1790 to burn English-influenced books.
What is the American Revolution (or the founding of the colonies)?
Montag wears these specific clothes to hide his human scent from the Hound.
What are Faber’s old clothes?
The fire chief who knows a great deal about literature but hates books.
Who is Captain Beatty?
This eight-legged tracking device is used by the firemen to hunt "criminals."
What is the Mechanical Hound?
Faber says books are important because they have this—the "texture" or "pores" of life.
What is Quality?
Beatty explains that the goal of their society is to keep everyone "level" or "equal," comparing a book to a "loaded ____ next door."
What is a "gun"?
This liquid is described as "wine" by Montag when he is in the wilderness, symbolizing a transition from destruction to nature.
What is the River water (or the smell of hay/nature)?
This character represents the "living dead" of society, having attempted suicide and replaced her internal thoughts with "The Family."
Who is Mildred Montag?
This childhood memory of Montag’s serves as an allegory for the human mind's inability to retain truth in a world of constant distraction.
What is the Sieve and the Sand?
This character dies with her books because she would rather die than live without them.
Who is the Old Woman (or Mrs. Blake)?
Faber identifies these three things missing from society: Quality of information, leisure to digest it, and this third requirement.
What is the right to carry out actions based on the first two?
Granger notes that the first thing they must build after the city is destroyed is a "factory" of these, to ensure they never forget their mistakes.
What is a Mirror Factory?
The retired English professor who helps Montag understand the importance of books.
Who is Professor Faber?
These represent the physical barrier between individuals and reality, creating a "fictional family" that replaces genuine human connection.
What are the Parlor Walls?
At the end of the novel, Montag "becomes" this specific book of the Bible.
What is the Book of Ecclesiastes?
The society's ultimate downfall is signaled not by the firemen, but by this recurring background noise that everyone ignores until it’s too late.
What are the jet bombers (warplanes)?
he city is destroyed by this event just as Montag reaches safety.
What is an atomic bomb/war?