Characters
What is the name of Montag's wife?
Mildred
Explain Montag's job
Montag is a fireman, but instead of putting out fires, he starts fires to destroy books.
What is the significance of the title Fahrenheit 451?
It is the temperature at which paper ignites and burns.
What is Clarisse referring to when she says "Parlour wall"
A screen the size of a wall
According to mythology, what is the salamander’s relation to fire?
It lives in it.
Name a character who is well-read.
Captain Beatty: although he is himself extremely well-read, paradoxically he hates books and people who insist on reading them. Yet he can quote entire passages from the books he hates...
Professor Faber, a retired English professor.
Granger, the leader of the “Book People, the group of hobo intellectuals Montag finds in the country. He is committed to preserving literature through the current Dark Age.
In the incipit, how does Montag feel about his job?
He enjoys it and takes pride in his mission: “it was a pleasure to burn / it was a special pleasure to see things eaten”
How does Mildred claim Clarisse is killed?
She was run over by a car.
What are the earplug radios in the novel called?
Seashells. This is a device that makes people numb by distracting them from reality (and truth), just like the TV parlour.
The phoenix appears several times in the novel: it is the symbol of the firemen.
How many times can the phoenix be reborn from its ashes?
An unlimited number.
The phoenix applies to Montag (who undergoes a rebirth process) and the society: the destruction through war (=fire) may represent the only way to bring back their beloved books. Once the cities destroyed, the rebirth can begin.
In the novel, name characters who are represented as typical specimens of their society.
Mrs. Phelps: one of Mildred’s vapid friends. She is emotionally disconnected from her life, appearing unconcerned when her third husband is sent off to war. Yet she breaks down crying when Montag reads her a poem, revealing suppressed feelings and sensibilities.
Mrs. Bowles: one of Mildred’s friends. Like Mrs. Phelps, she does not seem to care deeply about her own miserable life, which includes one divorce, one husband killed in an accident, one husband who commits suicide, and two children who hate her.
According to Beatty, the main aim in destroying books is...
To make people happy
To stop people from questioning themselves and feel inferior.
To stop people from feeling offended.
To stop dissenting ideas from spreading
What happens to the old woman whose house is burnt by the firemen?
She refuses to leave and dies in the fire.
What animal metaphor does Montag use to describe the stomach pump and blood-replacement machine used on Mildred?
How is the hunting machine called?
A Snake
The mechanical hound
Both metaphors suggest the destruction of nature and its replacement by machines.
What is fire associated to at the beginning of the novel?
Pleasure (It was a pleasure to burn = first sentence of the novel),
Destruction (books, houses, entire areas of thoughts, etc)
Name characters who are helping Montag
Clarisse Mc Clellan: she introduces Montag to the world’s potential for beauty and meaning with her gentle innocence and curiosity. She is an outcast from society because of her odd habits.
Faber: a retired English professor whom Montag encountered a year before the book opens. Faber still possesses a few precious books. He readily admits that the current state of society is due to the cowardice of people like himself.
Granger: The leader of the “Book People” Montag finds in the country. He is committed to preserving literature through the current Dark Age.
Where does Mildred say she and Montag first met?
She can't remember. She has forgotten any meaningful event in her life. She has been made dumb, unfeeling, oblivious.
Tell about a turning point in Montag's life.
At the end of their first encounter, Clarisse asks Montag if he is happy.
A woman whose house in burnt down decides to die among her books.
Montag reads poetry to the neighbors and one of them breaks down and cries, overwhelmed by emotions. The scene is evidence of the power of the written word but it also leads to Montag's demise as his wife reports him.
Montag, decides to fully step out of society's rules and he kills his boss, Beatty.
Name 2 ways Mildred distracts herself?
By keeping Seashell ear thimbles in her ears.
By driving fast, risking her and Montag's life.
By watching her favorite show in the TV Parlour, a three-wall television that immerses her in a shallow, nonsensical show.
"...the centrifuge (of distraction) flings off all unnecessary, time-wasting thought!"
What is fire associated to at the very end of the novel?
Communion, sharing, friendship, bonding, solidarity.
Clarisse McClellan disappears early in the novel. However her role is significant.
How is this suggested by her name itself?
A French name from the Latin, clarus, meaning "bright, clear" or "famous".
Light is usually associated with knowledge.
Clarisse is the character who will lead Montag to a state of enlightenment / (self-)knowledge / awareness.
Science Fiction is anticipation.
Draw a parallel between Montag's society of distraction / oblivion and today's society. Are there any elements from the book that are still relevant in our current society?
Any elements including mobile devices, large TV screens, social media (TikTok is a perfect example of an addictive platform that distracts us from the real world without really nourishing the mind)...
Books are still censored nowadays...
Name one event that makes it impossible for Montag to return to his old life.
Montag burns Captain Beatty alive.
According to Faber, what is the problem with television?
It doesn’t give the viewer the opportunity to reflect on meaning, unlike books.
What are books often compared to in the novel?
Birds: "while the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch and lawn" (incipit)
Birds symbolize freedom.