Fahrenheit 451 Dialect Journal

Thesis Statement: As the protagonist, Montag undergoes many changes throughout the book due to several characters that function as catalysts in his life.

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Montag is someone who is shy and keeps his thoughts to himself, but thinks many things. He shows that he is distracted instead of being happy throughout the book. At the time, he was walking home from work and was looking at Clarisse. Clarisse is a girl who would roam the streets and was also Montag's neighbor. She walks over to Guy and they start to have a conversation while walking to their houses. They discussing if talking about to see if Montag is really happy or if he was lying. She keeps questioning him. Bradbury explains “He was not happy. He was not happy. He said the words to himself. He recognized this as true state affairs. He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run across the lawn with the mask and the way

Exposition: The settings of the story is in an unspecified city in the future. The people living in this futuristic society watch TV and listen to the radio and music all day. These people have no knowledge of feelings and do not possess feelings and because they have no feelings of their own they are told that they’re happy and they believe that they are happy just because they’re told that they are. Guy Montag is a fireman who for his job is required to burn books and houses with books in them, and he also the protagonist of the book. Guy Montag is married man who is married to a woman named Mildred. The antagonist of the book and captain of the firehouse that Guy Montag works at is a man named Beatty. The fireman's job is to go around

Clarisse helps Montag look around him and see everything, from the smallest snowflake to the biggest tree. Montag never really thinks about what is happening in his life, or why it seems he never shows much emotion towards anything. Clarisse teaches Montag to look around and to pay attention to what is really important in life, just not what his society tells him. Even though I believe Clarisse was the reason for Montag’s major metamorphosis, I believe that there were two additional individuals that had a role to play in Montag’s expedition to find answers to fill the void in his life.

The detail increases the power the snake exudes in the perspective of the man. “Children, dogs, and horses…who weren’t as strong” compared to the snake, created panic and fear, because of its “six powerful fangs” and “little

“..inserted a medicine into my skin that protected me from snakebite and enabled me to control snakes..” (pg 54). That quote explains how he supposedly can control snakes and protect him from a snakebite. Well, on the same page, there was another quote. “I accidentally stepped on the tail of a snake. I ran as fast as I could for a long time.” (pg 54). If the reader pays attention, then they will realize that the two quotes contradict themself. If he could supposedly control and protect himself from snakes, then why would he run away from it? Well, the theme of the novel is to inform readers about how children are affected by war, and having those two quotes contradicting themself, didn’t effect the theme at all. The author may seem dishonest at times, but the reader also has to ask themself if the “lie” affected the mood or theme at

The author uses imagery to characterize the snake and emphasize the importance of its life. When the narrator first approaches the snake, he observes how the snake “held his ground in calm watchfulness; he was not even rattling yet, much less was he coiled; he was waiting for me to show my intentions.” This description uses specific details of the snake’s actions to illustrate how the snake reacts nonviolently. In fact, the snake waits to see what the narrator does instead of attacking outright,

The third stanza describes the snake as “cool and gleaming as a braided whip” (9-10). Describing the snake as a braided whip demonstrates the intricate woven pattern of the snake’s scales and the poet’s appreciation for nature and its’ beauty. The snake is not a useless piece of rubber, but a beautiful and vibrant part of nature. “He is as beautiful and quiet as a bead brother” (10-11). The snake is quiet, makes no sound, and snuggles into

When he is walking home, Montag chances upon Clarisse, who is taking a moonlight walk. She begins speaking to him, and he listens, though most others would “walk off and leave [her] talking...[because] no one has time anymore for anyone else” ( Bradbury 23). Montag took time out of his day to humor a girl who he did not know, though he could have gone home. It would have been much more convenient for him to ignore her, and taken less effort as well. It is evident that Clarisse has met many people who ignored her, considering her surprise and slight bemusement that Montag listened. Clarisse describes Montag as ‘peculiar’, and claims that he does not seem very much like a fireman. This indicates that firemen, who are leaders and representatives of society, would not stop to talk to someone else, preferring to rush home instead. Montag’s society, generally, cares much more for constant comfort, pleasure, and gratification than the effort of interacting with others. However, once Montag does put in the effort to hold a conversation with Clarisse, he quickly develops an intimate bond with her. This, to him, seems overwhelming and revolutionary because he has never has such a close connection with anyone before, not his wife, not his colleagues. He only spoke to her for a few minutes, “yet how large that time seemed...how immense a figure she was on the stage before him.” (11). It is natural that Montag feels like Clarisse is the biggest person in his life, because he has never had a mutual, intimate, relationship with anyone else. He cares about her so much that he becomes extremely upset when she later disappears and is presumably dead. Montag only knew Clarisse for a short period of time, yet she is arguably the

Clarisse, Montag’s neighbor, is a person that introduces him to a world without technology. She is the catalyst that turns Montag from a mindless drone into a free-thinking and questioning intellectual. She does this when they first meet at the beginning of the novel and they have a conversation. "’I rarely watch the 'parlor walls' [...] So I've lots of time for crazy thoughts [...] Have you seen the -two-hundred-foot-long billboards in the country beyond town? [...]’” [(7). When Montag realizes that he has not been paying attention to these little things in life, he starts to become more interested in talking to Clarisse because she shows him another perspective on life other than a world filled with technology. She shows

Montag grew closer to Clarisse each time they talked, and he enjoyed that. So this shows that Montag, when he talks to Clarisse, gets to be himself and become independent and has to think for himself instead of everyone else thinking for him.

“They walked still further and the girl said, ‘Is it true that long ago firemen put fires out instead of starting them?’ ‘No. Houses have always been fireproof, take my word for it’” (p. 6) Clarisse asks Guy about past firemen, who put out fires instead of starting it; Guy denies this and insists that house were always fireproof. Seeing that Guy is an adult, but believes houses were always fireproof and firefighters never put out fire, it leads me to think that the story is set in either another universe or far into the future where society has changed a lot because in real-life majority of houses are not fireproof and a firefighter’s duty is to put out fires.

The first time Montag and Clarisse meet, Clarisse shows that she is very curious by questioning everything. Many of these questions insult Montag or make him angry. Some make him wonder and question things that he has always known. In the very first conversation Montag and Clarisse have, Clarisse asks “'Are you happy?'she said.” (Bradbury 10). At first, Montag thinks this is a stupid question. Then after he goes home and ponders this question, he realizes that he isn't happy at all. Clarisse also tells Montag of a time when

Connections between individuals are fading away. At one point, Montag asks Clarisse, “Why is it, I feel like I’ve known you so many years?” (Bradbury 32). It’s because the two of them had a tie to each other they had built over time,