Characters & Plot
This is the protagonist, a fireman who begins to question his society's ban on books.
Guy Montag
The mechanical device used by Beatty to locate books and people who might possess them.
Mechanical Hound
Define: Hound
a dog or dog-like machine in the novel; synonym for dog
Define: Phoenix
mythological bird that is reborn from its ashes; symbolizes rebirth
Montag’s neighbor who enjoys reading and later shares her thoughts about life and poetry with Montag.
Clarisse
Describe how and why Montag hides a book after the raid on the woman’s house.
Montag hides a book by slipping it under his pillow/inside his clothing or concealing it in his home after the raid; he keeps it secretly because curiosity and guilt compel him to preserve it.
Define: Shallow
Shallow = not deep (literal or figurative)
Define: Salamander
izard-like animal once thought to live in fire; symbolizes survival
Describe Mildred’s relationship to technology and how it affects her connection with Montag.
Mildred is deeply attached to technology (the parlor walls and seashell radios); she is emotionally distant from Montag and immersed in shallow entertainment, which weakens their marriage and highlights societal alienation.
Explain one recurring visual image in Part One and what it means/represents: flames or sieve.
Flames = destruction and false warmth; Sieve = Montag’s failing memory/search for meaning.
Define: Trench
a long, narrow hole in the ground
Use the word "shallow" to describe a character from the book in one sentence.
Answers will vary.
Montag’s boss at the firehouse who enforces the book-burning laws and criticizes Montag’s behavior.
Captain Beatty
Montag’s home are filled with this form of technology that affects his marriage and demonstrates society’s obsession.
TV walls (parlor walls)
Define: Psychiatrist
a doctor that specializes in treating mental illness
Give a one-sentence explanation of how kerosene functions in relation to fire.
Kerosene is often used to start or fuel fires.
By the end of Part One, Montag reacts to the woman’s death in the fire in a way that shows a major change; describe his action or the main consequence.
Montag secretly takes a book from the burned house OR he begins to feel guilt/curiosity leading to inner conflict; look for answers that describe his growing unrest and secrecy.
Explain how the phoenix and the salamander function as symbols in Part One, and compare what each one suggests about fire, destruction, renewal, and endurance.
Phoenix: a mythological bird that cyclically dies and is reborn from ashes; it suggests rebirth, hope, and the idea that society might eventually regenerate after destruction.
Salamander: traditionally associated with fire and used on the firemen’s uniforms; it suggests endurance, the normalization of fire, and the idea that fire is an inherent part of the firemen’s identity.
Define: Centrifuge
a machine that spins things away from the center
Define: Refract and give a one-sentence example involving water or glass.
Refract = to bend light when it passes between materials
Answers will vary