-
Overview
Guy Montag is a firefighter who burns books, evidently this is not during the twenty-first century, this is a dystopian novel. The novel starts off with a description of the pleasure Montag takes in burning books. He has a helmet with 451 on it, a black uniform with a salamander on it and a phoenix disc on his chest. These all symbolize important aspects of the time period and novel. This seems to be a story of destruction and human chaos. Ray Bradybury is indicating the insanity of the future. -
Period: to
Fahrenehit 451
-
Guy Montag and Clarisse meet
Montag meets hisneighbor, Clarisse, a seventeen year old girl. She notices he is a fireman and is quickly amazed by his boldness and spiffy uniform. She tells him she is crazy and believes that the original job of a firefighter was to put out fires and not start them, She asks many questions about his job, as she is a very curious girl. She tells him about her family and how they do strange things such as walk around and talk to one another. She leaves him thinking when she asks if he is happy. -
Symbols in Part One
The Hearth (fireplace)-traditional symbol of home and comfortness
Salamander-the symbol for the firefighters and/or firetrucks
Both of these symbols have to do with fire, the major image of Montag’s life. The hearth contains the fire that heats a home, and the salamander has ancient beliefs that it lives in fire and is not harmed by flames. The firefighters are similar to the salamander because they enjoy burning books and are not affected by the fire. Montag said he loves the smell of kerosene. -
Mildred's attempt of suicicde
Montag returns home and realizes he is not happy after all.Montag finds his wife, Mildred, in bed listening to earplug radios, just as he has found her every night for the past two years. He accidentally kicks an empty bottle of sleeping pills and calls the hospital just as a sonic boom from a squadron of jet bombers shakes the house. Two hospital workers arrive with a machine that pumps Mildred’s stomach (the “snake”) and another that replaces all her poisoned blood with fresh blood. -
The day after Mildred's attempted suicide
The next day, Mildred does not remember her attempted suicide at all. All she cares about is her T.V. programs and it seems like she endlessly stares at the screen. Montag leaves for work and finds Clarisse outside walking in the rain, enjoying the nature and catching rain drops in her mouth. She questions him about his job and the fact that all he does is burn books, which is destroying the society. After she leaves, Montag leans back and catches a few raindrops in his mouth himself. -
Mechanical Hound
When Montag tried to touch the Mechanical Hound, it responded violently. Montag tells Captain Beatty what happened and implies that someone could have set the Hound to do that. Montag realizes that the Hound does not have a mind of its own, similar to Mildred. Montag and Clarisse continue to talk, but one day, he does not see Clarisse. Montag talks to Beatty about the man’s library they burned downed, and almost reveals that he looked inside a book and read the first line of a fairy tale. -
The old woman
Montag asks if firemen ever prevented fires, a fireman takes out the rule book and show him where it says the Firemen of America were established in 1790 by Benjamin Franklin to burn English-influenced books.They hear the alarm sound and need to burn down a house that had books hidden in an attic. A book falls into Montag’s hand, he decides to keep it. The old women who owns them does not want to abandon her books. As soon as Montag leaves she strikes a match and the house goes up in flames. -
Mildred's TV family
When Montag gets home, he hides the book he has stolen under his pillow. Mildred starts calling the TV and the shows her family. He asks her where they first met ten years ago, but neither of them can remember. When Mildred goes to take her sleeping pills, Montag listens carefully to make sure she takes the right amount. Montag feels replaced by technology. Montag asks if she has seen Clarisse and Mildred tells him the family moved away and that she thinks Clarisse was hit by a car and killed. -
Montag begins to change
Montag wakes up ill the next morning and the smell he thought was “perfume” begins to make him vomit, ironically. He tells Mildred about the old woman and her books, and asks if he could lay off on his job for a while. Mildred does not listen, as if technology has turned her heart to stone. He asks her why books bother her, but she resists the topic. The argument ends when they see Captain Beatty approaching. -
Captain Beatty's Monologue
Beatty has a monologue and it strongly argues three areas. His point is that technology made it possible to show information in a quickly understandable, visual form, reading books less popular. Also, he said that the spread of literacy, created pressure for books to be more like one another and easier to read. Finally, Beatty says that people found so many things in books objectionable that people finally abandoned debate and started burning books. -
Beatty's explanation of firefighters
Mildred finds the book behind Montag’s pillow, and Beatty pretends not to notice. Beatty explains that after all houses were fireproofed, the firemen’s job altered from its old purpose of preventing fires to burning the books that could allow one person to excel in all aspects over others . Beatty says that Clarisses’ family was odd, so the government kept an eye on them. Beatty reveals that he has had a file on the McClellans’ for years and says that Clarisse is better off dead. -
Montag Begins Reading
Beatty tells Montag that every fireman becomes curious about books and he has read them himself. Montag asks what would happen if a fireman accidentally took a book home with him, and Beatty says that he would be allowed to keep it for twenty-four or forty-eight hours. After Beatty leaves, Montag tells Mildred he does not want to be a firefighter and shows her a stash of books he has been hiding. She tries to burn them in panic, but Montag stops her. He wants to figure out why they are banned. -
Montag Needs a Teacher
All Montag and Mildred do in the afternoon is read. Montag wonder about how Clarisse is so unique. Mildred only cares about her technology and ignores Montag. Montag wants to find a teacher to help him understand the meaning of reading. He thinks back to an afternoon a year before when he met an old English professor named Faber in the park. Faber was scared to reveal his books and tried to run away. Montag calls Faber for information, but Faber hangs up thinking it is a trap. -
Montag's Journey to Faber's
Montag notices he may have taken the last Bible in existence. Montag wants to turn it in to Beatty but decides to make a hard copy first. Mildred tells him that some of her friends are coming over to watch TV with her. He takes the subway to Faber’s, and on the way tries to memorize Bible verses. Suddenly, he gets and screams at the radio to shut up, waving his book around. The scared passengers start to call a guard, but Montag gets off at the next stop. -
Montag's Encounter with Faber
Montag goes to Faber with a book, so Faber then starts to trust him.Faber compares society to flowers trying to live on flowers instead of on dirt: people are unwilling to accept the basic realities of life.Faber says that people need quality information, the leisure to digest it, and the freedom to act on what they learn. Faber agrees with Mildred that television seems more “real” than books, but he thinks it is too controlling. Books allow the reader to have an imagination. -
Montag and Faber's Plan
Montag wants fireman to start keeping books and rebel, but Faber does not think that this would solve anything. Faber says they just need to be patient, since the coming war will eventually mean the death of the TV families. Faber reminds Montag that people stopped reading books before they were even burned. Montag concludes that they could use that as a chance to bring books back. -
Faber's Invention
Montag wants Faber to print his book, but Faber refuses, so Montag rips out pages from the Bible one by one to convince him. Faber invents a mini radio to fit inside Montag’s ear, so he can hear every conversion with Beatty, and also prompt him on what to say. Montag decides to risk giving Beatty a substitute book, and Faber agrees to see his printer friend. -
Mildred's Friends and the Book of Poetry
Faber continues to communicate with Montag through the earpiece. When he gets home two of Mildred’s friends arrive and disappear into the TV parlor. Montag turns off the TV walls tries to get them to talk. They both ignore him and make him very angry. They continue with their “TV families” and fire up Montag with disgust. He brings out a book of poetry and shows it to them. Mildred lies, saying that a fireman is allowed to bring home one book a year to prove what nonsense books are. -
Montag Upsets Mildred and Her Friends
Montag stubbornly, continues reading books to the women. Both women are hysterically crying and upset for his actions. Montag stops reading, by the orders of Faber. Montag discovers that she has been burning the books one by one, and he rehides them in the backyard. Montag feels guilty for upsetting Mildred’s friends.Faber tells him that he would agree if there were no war and all was right with the world. -
The Alarm Goes Off
Montag goes to the fire station while Faber is lectures him on what a mistake he made. Montag gives the book to Beatty who quickly throws it away. Beatty tries to brain wash Montag and tells him about how books just mess with the mind. Montag is super scared to accidently make a mistake with Beatty, but Faber reassures him that he is fine. An alarm rings, and as they approach the house, Montag realizes they are at his house. -
Montag Rebels
Montag assumes Mildred has turned him in. Beatty orders him to burn the house. Montag burns everything, and Beatty places him under arrest. Beatty notices that Montag is listening to something and hits his head; the radio falls out, and Beatty says he will figure out who did it. Beatty quotes books, and he turns his flamethrower on Beatty and burns him. The Mechanical Hound injects his leg with anesthetic, and he struggles to run. He hears a police alert warning people to be on the lookout. -
Montag Runs Away
He hears on the radio that war has been declared. He goes to Faber’s house, tells him what has happened, and gives the professor some money. Faber tells him to follow the old railroad tracks out of town to look for camps of homeless people and tells Montag to meet him in St. Louis, where he is going to meet a retired printer. Faber turns on the TV news, and hears that a Mechanical Hound is in search of Montag. Montag takes things he needs and runs away. -
Montag Finds Shelter
Montag starts running as fast as he can and hears the police announce for everyone to look outside on the count of ten. He reaches the river just in time. He jumps in the river to keep his scent away. As he stepped out of the river, he is overwhelmed by nature. He finds the railroad track and follows it. As he walks he feels as if Clarisse once walked there to. The track leads him to a fire with five men sitting around it. Granger, the leader, invites him to join them. -
Montag Finds His Own "Species"
Granger says they have been watching the chase on a portable TV. Granger gives Montag a drink to hide his scent. The police find a man and the Hound kills him saying it is Montag. He introduces Montag to the other men, who used to be professors and intellectuals. Granger explains that they are part of a network of thousands of people who memorize stories. -
Granger Will Wait For Society
Granger says they are waiting for society to become humane enough to read books. He explains they will wait forever and pass on books for generations. He knows that someday there will be another Dark Age, but he feels that it is worth saving. They put off the fire and begin walking into the darkness. Granger believes that when people change a tiny part of the world thoughtfully and deliberately, they leave behind enough of their souls to enable other people miss them. -
The Phoenix
All of sudden bomb are dropped on the city and it is completely vaporized. Montag pictures Mildred just as she’s about to meet her death. He remembers that he met her in Chicago. Then, Montag thinks of the Book of Ecclesiastes and recites it to himself. After it dies down, the men get up and eat breakfast. Granger compares mankind to a phoenix rising again and again from its own ashes. The men go upriver toward the city to help the survivors rebuild from the ashes.
