Fahrenheit 451 Dialectical Journal

Beatty supports this by saying since he has read some himself, he can affirm that they are worthless and contradictory. Through this experience, Montag has a new understanding of his profession. Although he is still skeptical, he knows more than he did before, and most importantly, Beatty has started to get Montag’s mind thinking. An important quote from this conversation is, “We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal. . . . A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it.” This is when Beatty is ‘confiding’ in Montag, making him finally piece together what he has been doing all of these years as a fireman. He finally can begin to comprehend the society he is in, and what measures the government has taken to subdue the population. Later on in the book, Beatty and Montag face each other once more. After Montag is brought to his own house and told to burn it down, and facing no escape due to the hound, he burns it down. After burning down his own home, Beatty tells him he is under arrest, and begins to provoke him. As Beatty clearly intended, Montag kills him, turning him into a charred corpse. The fact that he died by fire, and knowingly chose to die by the flamethrower is interesting. Nevertheless, this is the point of no return for Montag, knowing that he did what he had to do, and that he was now an enemy of the state. At this point, Guy

1. Foreshadowing is a common literary device found throughout Fahrenheit 451. For instance, “He stood looking up at the ventilator grille in the hall and suddenly remembered that something lay hidden behind the grille, something that seemed to peer down at him now” (p. 8). The foreshadowing not only suggests that Guy is hiding something major and important that will later impact the story, but adds curiosity as to what it may be or what will happen. 2.

As the plot presented itself, fire did also. Fire was used as a solution to get rid of society’s ills. Ills in this society include nonconformity, overflow in wisdom and knowledge, and government doubt or mistrust. They all derived from one common factor: books. Beatty claimed that without books “…all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against. So! A book is a loaded gun in the house next door” (28). Books were the greatest evil, because it places ideas of controversy and critical thinking into the minds of readers. Explaining to Montag the quick fix to the trouble of books, Beatty said, “And so when houses were finally fireproofed completely, all over the world there was no longer need of firemen for the old purposes. They were given the new job, as custodians of our peace of mind…” (28). As these issues became more and more prominent with time, something to subdue or suppress them was needed. Fire was the answer. So, in their noble position as firemen, Montag and his coworkers destroyed any detected books with fire immediately. This way, residents cannot read them and implant radical ideas. The

I was surprised to see Guy Montag’s personality change throughout the story. In the beginning, he was an ordinary firefighter who had despised books. However, as the story escalated and he met Clarisse, his perspective upon books changed. With Clarisse’s talking and Mildred’s television family, he begins to believe that books are what are missing from his life. His view on books changes from hating them to desiring them. This change surprised me because Montag’s description from the beginning of the text about fire convinced me how deep his hatred for books is. This is significant in the story because it labels Montag as a dynamic character.

73). However, when Guy asks her if her 'family ' loves her with "all their heart and soul," (pg. 77) she is at a loss for words. Much like what happens when Clarisse asks Guy whether or not he is happy, this question forces Mildred to think strictly about what is real. It reminds her that deep down, she knows that her 'family ' consists of fictional characters who cannot harbor real emotions and thus, cannot requite her love for them. This is part of the awareness that she refuses to acknowledge, and she is stunned when Guy 's question catches her in her disguise. Unfortunately, she does not accept that she has a problem and proceeds to change the subject in response to his question. Towards the end of the book, when Mildred leaves the house as the firemen arrive to burn it, it can be inferred that technology does not have the effect on her that she desires, and that it cannot save her from her reality. One can recall that earlier in the story, an old woman chooses to stay in her house and burn along with her books, causing Guy to realize that books can help people to find in their lives a meaning that does not exist in his or Mildred 's. Mildred does not stay to burn with the parlor that she makes such a big deal out of throughout the course of the book. In this way, she inadvertently proves that the parlor and the other forms of technology she attaches herself to, do not provide her life with any

Clarisse is one of the characters who influenced Montag by showing her own world. Clarisse remind Montag the fireman’s real job. Clarisse said ‘”strange. I heard once that a long time ago houses used to burn by accident and they needed firemen to stop the flames”’ (pg 8). Clarisse is the one of character who read a book in conflict read society. She confused Montag on

A 30 year-old firefighter, Guy Montag, burns houses instead of saving them. “ He knew that when he returned to the firehouse, he might wink at himself, a minstrel man, burnt-cooked, in the mirror” (2). Montag is a rebellious character that thinks highly of himself. His neighbor is named Clarisse McClellan. She is a charming and intelligent girl. “ Bet I know something you don’t. There’s dew on the grass in the morning” (7). Clarisse absorbs nature and knows more than Montag. Mildred is Montag's wife. She is addicted to pills and she’s stuck in media. “ Two pale moonstones buried in a creek of clear water over which the life of the world ran… her face was like a snow-covered island upon which rain might fall, but it felt no rain… her not caring whether it came or went” (11). When she overdoses it seems that she is careless, thoughtless, and completely empty minded. Mildred isn't unhappy with her life because she attempts things that cause

22. What is the significance of “Mister Ridley” and what do we learn about Beatty in this exchange? (page 37-38)

At the Fire Station, Beatty is talking to Montag, trying to convince him that the firemen are great. Faber through an earpiece helps Montag stay strong. Then, a fire alarm goes off and the firemen go to the scene. It is Montag’s house “Why, we’ve stopped in front of my house” (pg 110). Beatty forces Montag to burn his house on his own, going room by room, getting every book. As he burns, he has is finally fireman based feelings about it “ Fire was best for everything” (pg 116). Once Montag is done, Beatty notices the earpiece Montag has and takes it. Afraid of the plan with Faber being destroyed, Montag burns and kills Beatty and then runs. Montag says before he burns Beatty “We never burned right . . .” (pg 119) which tells us that Montag thoroughly knows that the way the firemen burned was wrong and they never burned for the right

Pages 1-32 - Guy Montag is a fireman at the fire department. Unlike regular firefighters, Guy and his co-workers are the ones to start fires. Guy is contempt with his life, at least until he meets Clarisse McClellan who changes his outlook on his current state of living. Clarisse makes Guy think deeper into what is going on around him. He realizes that he in fact is not happy with his wife Mildred, his job, or the way society acts.

In the novel, firemen are known to burn books rather than stop fires and save lives. Stoneman and Black, two firemen from the novel, are addressed with the "rumor'' that before there was a time that firemen did not burn books. They respond by reading an excerpt from their rule book that states, "Established, 1790, to burn English-influenced books in the Colonies. First Fireman: Benjamin Franklin." (Bradbury 32).

He finds an ex-professor named Faber, whom he met in the park one day. Faber is reluctant, but finally agrees to aid Montag against the firemen. Faber provides Montag with a two-way radio earpiece. That evening Montag loses his temper and breaks out by reading some banned poetry aloud to his wife’s friends. Which wasn’t such a bright decision. That night at the firehouse, Beatty pokes at Montag by quoting contradictory passages from the same books. Which he’s trying to prove that all literature is confusing and problematic. Then he takes Guy to a fire alarm. Which is very astonishing because it’s at Guy’s

“The parlor was dead and Mildred kept peering in at it with a blank expression as Montag paced the floor and came back and squatted down and read a page as many as ten times, aloud.” Only reason she was paying him attention was because the parlor walls were dead. “I’m not angry,” Montag said, surprised- Mildred shrieked with laughter in the hall.”

Guy Montag is a round character because he changes from a fireman who burns books to stopping others from burning books. He goes to Faber’s house so he can help him understand what’s in books. They talk about helping others understand books because they don’t like the society they live in. “I don’t know. We have everything we need but aren’t happy. Something’s missing. I’ve looked around. The only thing I positively knew was gone was the books I’d burn in ten or twelve years. So I thought books might help” (78). This quote shows that Guy Montag wants to change and learn

Hale’s description of Mr. Wright also helped in the women’s choice when it came to hiding the evidence. She states “He was a hard man. Like raw to the bone.” (Glaspell 233-4). By Mrs. Hale’s stating that about Mr. Wright it indicated that he was a cold and that the “cold of her husband’s presence infiltrated the house” (Search 3).