Ray Douglas Bradbury Born 1920

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WOLFNOTE SUMMARY OF… RAY DOUGLASS BRADBURY’s FAHRENHEIT 451

The Author - Ray Douglas Bradbury born 1920

The author was born in Waukegan, Illinois on 22nd August 1920. He is one of America’s most distinguished writers whose long career spans from his early teens to the present day, where he lives in Los Angeles.

He is known for his short stories and poetry, and he has also written for TV and Radio.

Many of his books have been transferred to the motion picture medium, and Bradbury has tried his hand at screenplay writing, in particular ‘It Came from Outer Space’, and ‘Moby Dick’.

In his early years he was interested in magic, and would often attend traveling circuses whenever they appeared in Illinois. One of his early influences was one of these traveling magicians, Mr. Electrico.

He was encouraged by his family to be expressive, and he helped organize the family’s Halloween Parties.

His Aunt Neva was also a great influence on the young Bradbury, introducing him to heroes such as Flash Gordon, Tarzan, and even the works of Edgar Allan Poe.

When he was 14, the Bradbury family moved to Los Angeles, and he started to write using a toy typewriter he had received as a gift.

In 1937 he became a member of the Los Angeles Science Fiction League, and he helped produce their own magazine ‘Futuria Fantasia’. His first work to be published was a short story entitled ‘Pendulum’, which appeared in Super Science Stories, published in 1941.

Much of Bradbury’s early work was based on his childhood experiences such as ‘The Jar’ published in 1944, and ‘Homecoming’ published in 1946.

The exuberant Halloween Parties enjoyed by the Bradbury family inspired the writing of ‘Uncle Einar’ published in 1947. This work was coupled with other short stories under the title of ‘Dark Carnival’.

His first really inspirational work was ‘The Martian Chronicles’ published in 1950.

This book, ‘Fahrenheit 451’ was published in 1954.

Bradbury has continued to be a prolific writer right through to the latter part of the 20th century.

Much of his writing has gone on to be the basis of work for motion pictures, television and radio, e.g. ‘The Martian Chronicles’, this book - ‘Fahrenheit 451’, ‘The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms’, ‘It Came from Outer Space’, and ‘The Illustrated Man’.

His other main works include ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ published in 1962, ‘The April Witch’ published in 1987, ‘Graveyard for Lunatics’ published in 1990, and ‘Journey to Far Metaphor’ published in 1994.

Ray Bradbury is more than just a writer; he is one of America’s foremost dreamers with a vivid imagination. His services were requested by Disney world when providing the basic format for the interior of Spaceship Earth. He also helped design a 21st century city on the outskirts of Tokyo.

Another one of Bradbury’s novels ‘Dandelion Wine’ has obtained immortality as one of the moon’s craters has been named ‘Dandelion Crater’ in honor of Bradbury.

‘Fahrenheit 451’ was made into a film in 1966 directed by Francois Truffaut.

Bradbury has an extensive family, having four daughters and numerous grandchildren. He enjoys painting and collecting Mexican artifacts

Main Characters

Guy Montag

The protagonist of ‘Fahrenheit 451’, Montag is employed as a fireman whose task is to hunt down and burn books.

The firemen are used as instruments of suppression, and this extreme form of censorship is designed to eliminate conflict within the society of the 24th century.

At the start of the book, Montag carries out his duties with zeal, but as the story develops, we learn that he has become curious about the books he burns and has rescued some from the fire.

Inspired by Clarisse and Faber he decides to rebel against the doctrines of the society, and he leaves the city to join other outcasts.

At the end of the book, Grainger helps him to accept that the destruction of the city may lead to people and books flourishing again.

Mildred Montag (Millie)

Millie is totally immersed in a dream electronic world. Her home is full of electronic gadgets, and although she has three TV walls, she plagues Montag, her husband, for a fourth. She spends her daytime hours watching the screens, which enable her to commune with her television family. During her sleep-time, she has electronic bees or “seashell ear thimbles” in her ears, which block out thoughts and replace these with mindless entertainment.

Her shallow life brings her no happiness, and she also indulges in the use of narcotics. Her friends are also of a similar nature, being bland and unintelligent.

Montag, at the end of the book, contemplates Millie’s life and realizes that it achieved no purpose. She was unable to fulfill the roles of wife and mother.

Captain Beatty

The fire captain of the station where Montag works, Beatty is a shrewd and ruthless individual. He is thus the antagonist of the story.

One might say that Beatty lived by the fire, and fatefully dies by the fire.

One of his main duties is to monitor the firemen in his station with a view to spotting any nonconformists. Montag’s behavior arouses his suspicion and he gives the appropriate warning, which goes unheeded. Being tempted himself, he is aware of the pressure that his men are under at times. His knowledge of literature is extensive, so he too has read the books that his fire company destroy.

The reader suspects that Beatty is unhappy and no longer obtains satisfaction from the work he does. We suspect that he does not have the courage to terminate his own life, and his goading of Montag turns him into a murderer, and Beatty dies in a jet of liquid fire.

Clarisse McClellan

She is the Montags 17-year old new neighbor and is in stark contrast to Millie, being curious, vibrant, and full of concern for other people. She inspires Montag to question his life and the work that he does. She initiates Montag’s metamorphosis. She is the initial guiding factor and her work on Montag is continued by Faber and Grainger.

Professor Faber

He is an elderly, retired English Professor who also has a flair for electronics. He has invented a receiver/transmitter earpiece.

Scholars suggest that he is named after Peter Faber, a tutor of the 16th century and founder of two Jesuit Colleges.

Faber rebels against the society in which he lives, but only in a very ineffectual way. It is only when he meets Montag for the second time that he is able to emerge and is inspired to be an activist. With the electronic device, he forms a good alliance with Montag who becomes an extension of his own self.

He manages to escape the city before it is destroyed and presumably helps rebuild the new world.

Grainger

He is the leader of the outcasts that live in the countryside beyond the city. He represents the foil for Captain Beatty. He too is adept at using technology, and he has means for defeating the Mechanical Hound, and bringing to the fore the power of the human mind. He will help guide the survivors of the war towards the enlightened society

Part 1 - The Hearth and the Salamander

Fahrenheit 451, the temperature at which book-paper catches fire and burns.

“If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.” - Juan Ramón Jiménez.

Summary

“It was a pleasure to burn.”

This book is set in the 24th Century and the main character is Guy Montag who is a fireman aged thirty. His job is to round up books held illicitly, and ensure they are destroyed by fire. This is done in order to maintain social order. It is, in fact, official censorship.

Montag enjoyed his work. It was a pleasure to burn, for the burning of books is good.

Books are bad in that they contain conflicting information or tell stories that are totally fictional. They give people unnecessary stimulation that can give rise to conflict.

After finishing his shift Montag looks at himself in the mirror. He looks like a minstrel with his blackened face, which he has received from hard work burning books.

On his way home, he encounters one of his new neighbors, Clarisse McClennan, a lively and curious girl who is very much unlike her contemporaries. She is aged seventeen and is regarded as antisocial by her schoolmates. She strikes up a conversation with Montag who is intrigued by this girls individuality. She passes comment about Montag’s smell of kerosene. He regards it as a perfume, as it is a symbol of his work. She asks him whether he reads any of the books that he burns, and he responds, “That’s against the law!” She asks another pointed question, “Is it true that long ago firemen used to put out fires instead of starting them, and that they used to save peoples lives instead of destroying their work?” Montag isn’t sure. He responds that houses have always been fireproof (all buildings have a fire resistant covering on them).

She goes on to say that people drive their cars far too quickly and they don’t have time to see anything in detail. She says, “I’ve lots of time for crazy thoughts, I guess. Have you seen the 200-hundred-foot- long billboards out in the country beyond town? Did you know that once billboards were only 20 feet long? But cars started rushing by so quickly they had to stretch the advertising out so it would last.”

She adds that she comes from a peculiar family and that her uncle was arrested for being a pedestrian.

Montag entered his home, but he had a lasting impression of this almost charismatic girl with her unique way of thinking. It becomes a regular meeting between Montag and the young girl, her vitality is infectious, and Montag starts to come under her spell. She has aroused his curiosity and he starts to question his life, and everybody else’s.

Montag’s wife Mildred (Millie) spends her time watching her TV screens, taking part in the interactive plays for which she sends off for scripts, and sleeping and eating. One night when Montag comes home, she is already lying on her bed with little seashells (headphones) in her ears. These are thimble radios that provide “an electronic ocean of sound, of music and talk and music and talk …… coming in

Bookwolf.com, Copyright 2001-2002, All Rights Reserved Distribution without written consent of BookWolf.com is strictly prohibited. BookWolf Wolfnotes, available at http://Bookwolf.com. on the shore of her unsleeping mind.” On this occasion this unsleeping mind has lost track of the sleeping tablets, and she has taken the whole bottle, deliberately, or by accident - it is not clear.

Montag requests help and two technicians call and they pump her stomach and provide her with fresh blood, and in the morning Millie is totally unaware of what has happened. The operators that call make it clear that this is a regular occurrence. Montag thinks it is a pity that the technicians couldn’t have provided his wife with a fresh brain and memory as well as blood.

He decides to confront Millie concerning the pills, but she cannot believe that she has taken so many. He suddenly realizes that he is not happy, and neither is his wife. She is addicted to her tranquilizers and sleeping pills.

Clarisse continues to share new experiences with Montag, like drinking rain, and using dandelions to indicate if someone is in love by rubbing these on their chin. Because of her antisocial behavior, Clarisse has to attend a psychiatrist regularly. She doesn’t think she is antisocial because she likes communicating with people and asking questions, but at school you are supposed to sit and listen to the answers, and to her this is antisocial, for there is no dialogue, as the information is given out one way and must be accepted.

Montag realizes that his marriage is in tatters. He cant even remember when and where he met his wife, and neither can she. They have no children of their own, and Millie is absorbed with her family that appears on her three-wall TV She has television relatives. The problem is that nothing really significant happens in these programs. In her more lucid moments, Millie will take her car and drive around at high speed.

Montag comes to the realization that both their lives are meaningless and without purpose.

He arrives for another shift of work at the Fire Depot, and has a further unsettling incident with the Mechanical Hound. It “slept but did not sleep, lived but did not live, in its gently humming, gently vibrating, softly illuminated kennel, back in a dark corner of the firehouse.” The men would capture rats or sometimes a chicken or a cat and release these for the Mechanical Hound to hunt and kill on its 8 spidered legs, and using a 4” hollow steel needle, which came from out of its nose to inject the animal.

Montag decides to complain to his Captain that the Mechanical Hound has been growling at him. The Captain responds by saying that it cannot dislike him, “its only copper wire, storage batteries and electricity.”

Montag continues with his complaint and the Captain agrees that the hound will be checked by technicians. Montag wonders if the hound has the ability to think, through the long hours of inactivity. The Captain responds, “It doesn’t think anything we don’t want it to think …… all we put into it is hunting and finding and killing.”

The men are called out to the ancient part of the city in response to a tip-off. Apparently an old woman has an attic full of books. When the crew arrive, they are surprised to see the old woman still present. Normally the people have been removed by the police, and all the firemen have to do is burn the books. They have no conscience about doing this because they are just ‘things’ that they are burning. The men ignore the old lady, and they rush up to the attic and start hurling the books down the open trap, and cover them in kerosene. Montag seems to be the only one concerned about the old lady. She says to him, “Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.” Unknown to Montag, the woman is indicating that she wishes to die a martyr, rather than live without her books.

The whole house is saturated in kerosene and the men are evacuating before the blaze starts. Montag is the only one to try and persuade the old lady to leave, but she surprises them all, for she has a match in her hand, and she ignites the fire herself.

While no-one was watching, Montag hid a book in his coat. He feels sick at the work he has to do, and returns home in a depressed state, and there is no Clarisse to lighten his mood. In fact he has not seen her for a few days now. He asks his wife whether she has seen the neighbors and then she recalls that she received a message that Clarisse was run down by a car, and the rest of the family had moved.

Montag ‘phones in sick to his work as he doesn’t feel up to burning more books. His Captain, called Beatty, calls to see him in order to give him a pep talk. He is concerned about Montag following their conversation the day before. Sensing that Montag is questioning the reasons behind the burning of books, he reminds him that books are “merely stories - fictions, lies - about non existent people. Books

Bookwolf.com, Copyright 2001-2002, All Rights Reserved Distribution without written consent of BookWolf.com is strictly prohibited. BookWolf Wolfnotes, available at http://Bookwolf.com. are figments of the imagination.” Their aim is to rid the world of controversy - to end disputes - to make people the same, and for them to be happy all the time. Fire is the force of good, cleansing society.

During this pep talk, Montag is extremely uncomfortable, for underneath his pillow is the book that he stole from the fire. His wife is busy fussing around during this conversation, and she discovers the book, but doesn’t reveal it to Captain Beatty. The astute Captain says that sooner or later in a fireman’s career, he is tempted to steal a book and see what in fact he is destroying. When this happens, the fireman is usually given a book for 24 hours, and then it is burnt.

When Beatty leaves, Montag confesses to Millie that he has a small library of around 20 books hidden in the air-conditioning system. He brings them out for her to see, but unknown to both of them, the Mechanical Hound is already on the prowl for it seems to know Montag’s mind better than he does himself.

With the books strewn all over the floor “the front door voice called slowly, ‘Mrs. Montag, someone here’”. The Montag’s are panic-stricken. Is it Beatty returned? They decide not to answer.

Interpretation

Part 1 is called - The Hearth and the Salamander. The hearth represents the home, and the cozy aspect of fire, its function to heat and cook. The salamander is a creature, which according to ancient folklore, was able to survive fire. The question the reader has to ask is whether Montag will be able to escape destruction as he is playing with fire by hoarding books.

It is important that the reader realizes that this book was written just after the Second World War, and this clearly had some influence on Bradbury in depicting this 24th Century world as being miserable and oppressive.

We are faced immediately with the paradox that firemen in this world start fires and don’t put them out. Firemen are also people of considerable power, and members of the general public are in fear of these officials as much as the police, who are not referred to extensively in this part of the book.

The protagonist, Montag, is first influenced by his new young 17-year old neighbor, Clarisse. She is a bright, curious girl who arouses Montag’s own latent curiosity, and gives him the ability to think again about his own life and the work that he does. She introduces him to quite simple experiences, childlike, but this fresh approach brings light into Montag’s life of dismal routine.

Apparently, Clarisse and her family are already known to the authorities. She has to attend a psychiatrist and other members of her family have been arrested for minor offences. It is safe to assume that Clarisse’s inability to conform is dangerous, and as Captain Beatty says, “She was a time bomb. …… The poor girl’s better off dead …… luckily, queer ones like her don’t happen often.”

Here we have a society that extinguishes an innocent teenager who just happens to be curious, and asks the wrong questions. If she had not been so naïve, she might have survived.

The reason for books being burnt is so that everyone can be happy. They live in a world with no conflict, with no debate, where everyone is equal. To the firemen, the books are just ‘things’, rubbish to be burnt, and they have no conscience about this. They have been conditioned to do this work. Montag comes from a long line of firemen, and still carries out his work efficiently until he confronts the old lady who dies in the flames with her books. Montag starts to realize that the books represent people’s thoughts and views. A person may have spent their whole life writing books, and he and his men can destroy them in minutes.

Bradbury gives us the initial picture of Montag looking at himself in the mirror and seeing his blackened face like a mask, or a minstrel. He comments that it is the face of a “smiling fireman”, but towards the end of this part of the book, not only is the black soot a mask, but the smile is as well.

The Montags’ lives are so monotonous, they cannot even recall where or when they met. They have no family of their own. Millie’s life revolves around her television family, in particular the interactive plays. By collecting box tops, she can apply for scripts so that she can take part in the plays. She just sits in front of her three wall screens and when the characters in the play look at her, she says her lines. The reader may think that this is a sad way in which to escape from the reality of your existence. Millie’s mind, through lack of stimulation, has become an inactive organ, and she cannot control the taking of

Bookwolf.com, Copyright 2001-2002, All Rights Reserved Distribution without written consent of BookWolf.com is strictly prohibited. BookWolf Wolfnotes, available at http://Bookwolf.com. her tranquilizers and sleeping pills. She is found comatose by her husband who calls in the stomach pump and blood technicians who recall her back to life, and charge $50 for the service.

The next day, she cannot recount the episode and her husband realizes the sad state of their relationship.

Captain Beatty, the Fire Chief, is similar to O’Brien in Orwell’s ‘1984’. He has to keep his men under control, and keep an eye out for any deviants.

It seems that the Mechanical Hound senses Montag’s emerging independence and questioning attitude, which has been inspired by Clarisse. She gives the reader an insight into the lives of teenagers in this society. She describes school as a bland place where nobody asks any questions. She says that the film teachers just bombard you with the answers, “It’s a lot of funnels and a lot of water poured down a spout and out the bottom, and them telling us its wine when its not.” In other words, education is just lots of information imposed on the students who are told that it is good, but in fact it is meaningless, and they have no opportunity to question. After school, they can go to the fun park to bully people, or break windows at the smasher place, or wreck cars at the car wrecker place with a big steel ball.

There appears to be little or no policing and it is quite common for there to be fatalities among the young. Clarisse has lost six of her friends through shootings in the last year alone. There are also many car crashes, and the police are only concerned that the drivers are properly insured.

So far as the Mechanical Hound is concerned, it seems to be a method for keeping pests under control, and this includes dissident firemen. In the book we hear that the Seattle Fire Chief committed suicide by providing the Mechanical Hound with his own chemical format, and then letting it loose.

Bradbury illustrates his descriptive writing throughout the book, but perhaps one of the most striking scenes is that of the burning of the old lady’s books, “Books bombarded his shoulders, his arms, his upturned face. A book alighted, almost obediently, like a white pigeon, in his hands, wings fluttering. In the dim wavering light, a page hung open and it was like a snowy feather, the words delicately painted thereon.” Montag had time to read one of the lines and it said, “Time has fallen asleep in the afternoon sunshine” from Glasgow lace maker, Alexander Smith’s Collection of Essays, “Dreamthorp”.

This work is punctuated with Bradbury’s beautiful prose and illuminating dialogue, which bring to life the society that he has created in his mind. This society is based on the theory that happiness can be obtained through an absence of knowledge and individual thought. Bradbury indicates that this is achieved by indoctrinating the citizens of this world at an early age, much like Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’. Other similar themes are the dependence on drugs as a means to escape the realities of society, and communal activities.

Those that cannot conform are suitably punished or disposed of, as in Clarisse’s case

Part 2 - The Sieve and the Sand

Summary

Millie and Montag spend the rest of that day reading through the books, and for the first time in years there is a strange type of friendship between the couple. They engage in meaningful dialogue even though this is heated at times. Montag reveals to Millie how much Clarisse had influenced him. She was the first person that Montag had ever met who was more interested in other people rather than herself.

Montag realizes that the authors of the books he has have been dead a long time, but through their words you are able to know the person, and in a way this is what Clarisse was driving at.

Millie was unable to see this. She argued that, “Books aren’t people. You read and I look around, but there isn’t anybody!” It is clear that Millie preferred the TV or parlor screens as they were called, for she was able to relate to her television family.

Another war was imminent, for they could hear a large number of bombers flying overhead. Montag comments that, “We’ve started and won two atomic wars since 1960.” Just as the country has a feeling of unrest due to the onset of another possible war, so does Montag’s own unrest gain momentum. Although he doesn’t fully understand the content of the books, he appreciates that they have value, but he is unable to convince Millie.

Millie closes her mind to the truths contained in the books.

Montag wishes to understand more about the books and realizes he needs a teacher. Immediately his mind recalls a chance meeting with an elderly man in the park last year. He was a retired English Professor named Faber. Montag suspected the old man of hiding a book on his person and the man offered him his address on a slip of paper in case Montag wanted to turn him in, which Montag never pursued. He was struck by something the old man said, “I don’t talk things, sir, I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and know I’m alive.”

Finding the address of Faber, Montag decides to visit him and he takes a copy of the Bible with him. Slowly Montag is turning into a rebel and on the underground train he makes no attempt to hide the Bible. He places it on his knees, open.

He suddenly recalls a time in his childhood when he played on the beach, and a cruel cousin said to him, “Fill this sieve and you’ll get a dime!” However much he tried, he could not perform this function. As with this Bible, however much he read the words they just seemed to pass through his mind and not leave any real impression. He started to read the Sermon on the Mount, but was interrupted by the intercom system tapping out an advertisement for Denham’s Dandy Dental Detergent. Angered at this intrusion Montag finds himself standing up and shouting for the advertisement to cease. He arrives at Faber’s house and the old man lets him in.

Everything in the house is pale and white, matched by the old man’s white flesh and hair. Immediately Faber’s eyes focussed on the book under Montag’s arm. Faber is immediately impressed by Montag’s bravery, or is it foolishness?

Montag is experiencing some exhilaration because of his acts of nonconformity. He is now trying to assert his own individual identity. He realizes that he can never return to his former life. Faber looks at the Bible and comments that Christ is now part of the television family, and he wonders if God could now recognize his own son in the form projected.

Faber advises Montag that the saving of books is important, but that is only part of the whole picture. People must be free to read books and act on the information they obtain from them, and of course books are useless if nobody reads them. Montag advises Faber that he thought at one time that he was happy, but now he realizes that this is not the case. He also tells him that his wife is not really happy either.

Faber says this is because there is something lacking in everybody’s lives, and this is in three forms. Firstly, it is due to the absence of books, which have their own quality or texture. They are individual and have their own features, and they provide “infinite profusion”. It is man’s natural state to mirror this infinite profusion and the current society strives to make everyone the same without variety.

The second feature is having quality leisure time. People should immerse themselves in rediscovering nature and reading books, papers and magazines, and not devoting their time to mindless pursuits such as watching parlor television screens and racing around in cars.

The third feature is to have freedom and the ability to think for yourself, and this can only be obtained if the first two features come about.

This is difficult for Montag to fathom. He is initially concerned that what books are left are preserved, and the only way to do this is to discredit the firemen. He proposes that they could print extra books and plant them in firemen’s houses so that they can be discredited.

Faber responds by saying, “the salamander devours his tail”.

Faber has been turned into a cowardly person through the long years of oppression, and he finds himself unable to support Montag’s plans.

Montag still wants Faber to give him a better understanding of the written word and he slowly starts tearing pages out of the Bible. This horrifies Faber, who eventually agrees to help Montag. He knows of someone who might be prepared to do printing for them. For their plan to work, however, Montag has to resume his job, and he is fearful that Captain Beatty will find him out and trick him. Faber reveals that he is also an inventor, and shows Montag an electronic device, which is quite small and fits into the ear, similar to a seashell radio. However, this transmits as well as receives messages, and Faber will tell Montag what to say through this device when he is confronted by Captain Beatty. Montag is curious how Faber has managed to pay for all this, and he reveals that he plays the Stock Market, one of the few intellectual and dangerous pastimes left to human beings. Montag leaves for his home.

When he arrives, Millie has two of her friends round for supper, Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Bowles, who advise that their husbands have been called up for the war yet again. They do not seem concerned. There is more chance of men being killed by jumping off buildings than in a war.

Montag is frustrated by the women’s small-talk concerning the television soap operas and interactive plays, and to their surprise he switches off the screens in order to obtain their attention. Much to their surprise he starts reading poetry from a book. Mrs. Phelps is quite moved by Montag’s rendition, and at the end of the poem she starts to cry. In complete contrast, Mrs. Bowles decries all books as being counterproductive and says that poetry is a sickness. Millie tries to explain away the book by saying that it is one of the perks of being a fireman - that they are allowed to look at the books before they are destroyed. Her friends leave upset, and Millie escapes to the bathroom to take some sleeping tablets.

All the while Montag was being so rash, Faber was shouting at him in his ear to stop being foolish, and that their plans will be uncovered. Montag sets off for work and again Faber assures him that he will be there to give him support, “He would be Montag plus Faber, fire plus water, and then, one day, after everything had mixed and simmered and worked away in silence, there would be neither fire nor water, but wine.”

Montag arrived at the station and noticed that the Mechanical Hound was missing - the kennel was empty. Captain Beatty was waiting for Montag and seemed pleased to see him. He said, “I hope you’ll be staying with us, now that your fever is done and your sickness over.” The intuitive Beatty started to exhibit his knowledge of literature quoting from various books. He made pertinent quotes, e.g., “a little learning is a dangerous thing”, and “knowledge is power!” Meanwhile, Faber was whispering in his ear warnings such as, “Don’t listen. He’s trying to confuse you. He’s slippery.” Montag was able to keep cool, although inwardly his head was in a whirl.

Suddenly, Beatty seized his wrist and said, “God, what a pulse! …… sounds like the day after the war.”

Faber responded in his ear, “All right, he’s had his say. You must take it in.” Just as Montag was about to involuntarily talk audibly back to Faber, the station bell rang. They had a call out.

This was a different call. For the first time ever, Beatty was driving, and they arrived at Montag’s house

Part 2 -Interpretation

Just as there is growing tension in Part 1 of the book, so there is a similar trend in Part 2.

The title of this part stems from a memory Montag has from his childhood when he was playing on a sand dune, and we assume that he had a much closer affinity to nature then, than now. The fact that he recalls this instance suggests that he is emerging from years of mundane routine and becoming a nonconformist, and this transition is exhilarating.

However, the reader worries that their hero may become rash and expose his rebellious thoughts to the powers that be.

The reader can relate to the people of this society because he/she is in the same position, in that Bradbury does not provide us with a detailed picture of this world. We only receive glimpses of it. So, like them, we are in the dark to some degree.

Montag vainly tries to bring his wife Millie on board, but she wishes to remain in a world of ignorance. Trying to bring her to her senses, he asks her if she loves her television family, but she is unable to answer. All that Montag is doing is to drive his wife further away into a total land of make-believe, as provided by the parlor screens. All she can see is ruin for them if Montag persists in these acts of nonconformity. She says, ‘“Who is more important, me or that Bible?” She was beginning to shriek now, sitting there like a wax doll melting in its own heat.’

Again Bradbury makes reference to the destructive powers of fire and heat.

Millie comes over as a really sad person. She is on a descending spiral of meaninglessness.

Bradbury uses symbolism again using the color white in his description of the old English Professor. You will remember he used a similar technique when describing Clarisse. The color white represents the qualities of good and purity, and of course fire is a symbol of evil and destruction.

Faber later refers to himself as being water, and says that he will extinguish the fire that is within Montag and hopefully, in other firemen. Through time, the bringing together of these two widely varying elements will produce a lasting blend which he describes as wine.

Faber has been preparing for this revolution. He has invented an electronic device that Montag will wear in his ear, which is a receiver and transmitter. Faber will use this device to support Montag when he comes in contact with Captain Beatty. In fact, Faber will be using Montag’s body as an extension of his own thoughts. Montag has become the catalyst through which change can be brought about. Faber describes the relationship between himself and Montag as that of a “queen bee to a drone”.

Bradbury brings it home to the reader how much Faber values books through the scene where Montag starts ripping pages out of the Bible in order to secure Faber’s support.

The reader hopes that Montag’s conversation with Faber will make him more cautious, but when he returns home, he again blatantly reveals to Millie’s friends that he has a book. To add to this crime he reads from it to the ladies who have a mixed response. One is moved by the poetry being reduced to tears, and the other uses this to highlight the unsettling effect that books have on people.

Despite Faber’s attempts through the spying device to restrict Montag, he is out of control and Faber must fear for the success of their plans.

We again have more examples of Bradbury’s descriptive writing, none more so than in the opening paragraph of this part of the book. It is well worth reading again!

Bradbury’s main theme for this book is the importance of the written word and how it is a basic ingredient of humanity. Although some pertinent quotations appear in Part 1 of the book, Part 2 is riddled with relevant quotes, many of which come from Captain Beatty’s mouth, a man who clearly is well-read.

The reader takes the view, therefore, that the Captain hasn’t made the sacrifices that the general population have.

The reader may have expected a duel of quotations between Captain Beatty and Faber via Montag, but this does not transpire. Instead, the climax of this part of the book is the realization that the firemen have been called out to Montag’s home, presumably to burn his books.

The reader may wonder why Bradbury picks on the Bible as Montag’s choice of book to take to the old man. Maybe it is to heighten the sacrilege of Montag’s page-ripping episode, which may not have had the same impact as pulling pages out of a novel or storybook.

Bradbury also uses the Bible to introduce to the reader, the idea that people, whatever their state, need a God, and this society still has Christ as part of their religion, but he has been incorporated into one of the television families.

Faber’s main contribution to this part of the book is to clarify what is missing in this modern society. It is clear that Faber is Bradbury’s mouthpiece, and what he tries to do is to encapsulate what the soul of humanity is. He suggests that this modern society lacks a quality of life, and part of the reason for that is the absence of books. Books stimulate the mind, and just like people, they are infinitely varied. The problem with this society is that it uses its leisure time pointlessly. People are absorbed by the life portrayed on the television screens. They live a censored life. They have no access to books or other written works, and they are “entertained” by mindless drivel.

Bradbury goes on to say that it is not sufficient to remove censorship. People must be encouraged to enjoy their environment to the full - to be able to ask questions - to be allowed to read books - and most importantly, to be able to act upon the information they receive from this open way of life.

Throughout this part of the book, there is the underlying threat of war, but the reader is not clear what effect this will have on the storyline. Will it help or hinder Faber and Montag’s revolution?

Part 3 - Burning Bright

Summary

“Tyger, tyger burning bright,

What immortal hand or eye, could frame thy fearful symmetry?”

Millie had sounded the alarm. She had collected together all the books that Montag had hidden so that they could be burned together with their house.

As the firemen prepared to incinerate the house, Millie left in a taxi with a suitcase.

Stoneman and Black wielded axes, breaking the windows in order to provide ventilation.

All Montag’s neighbors empty from their homes to view the spectacle. He is shocked that Millie had put in the alarm.

Faber is trying to bring Montag to his senses. He asks, “Can you get away, run?”

Montag cannot escape because of the Hound, which is in the area. Beatty wants him to set fire to his own house. He mocks him. Beatty gives him the flame-thrower and he sets about firing his own home. He obtains some satisfaction in destroying the telescreens. “He came to the parlor where the great idiot monsters lay asleep with their white thoughts and their snowy dreams. And he shot a bolt at each of the three blank walls and the vacuum hissed out at him.” Everything was now burning in Montag’s home.

Slightly subdued, Montag returns to Beatty who calls him a fool, saying that he had warned him about hiding books. He tells him not to blame his wife, for her friends had also alerted him to the situation after he had read from a book of poetry to them.

Faber is still shouting at Montag to make an escape, and Beatty hits Montag and the earpiece flies out onto the ground. Beatty can hear Faber talking and tells Montag that he will trace, and drop in on his friend and arrest him. Beatty continues to insult Montag, calling him “a secondhand litterateur”.

Montag turns the flame-thrower on Beatty who turns into “a shrieking blaze, a jumping, sprawling, gibbering mannikin, no longer human or known, all writhing flame on the lawn as Montag shot one continuous pulse of liquid fire on him.”

The Mechanical Hound appears on the scene and leaps at Montag, who cuts it down with flame, but not before it manages to slightly inject Montag’s leg.

In fear, the other two firemen do not move.

Before Montag escapes the scene he looks at the immense engine, the Salamander, and thinks, “that would have to go too”. Montag makes his escape with one leg almost useless. The only place he can run to is Faber. He can’t help wondering why Beatty just stood there and made no attempt to escape death. In order for Montag to reach Faber, he has to cross the Boulevard, which is dangerous at the best of times, but with his bad leg it will be almost suicidal. However, he has no choice for the Police helicopters, and no doubt another Hound, will be in quick pursuit. He manages to cross the Boulevard by pure luck, and before he arrives at Faber’s, he plants a book that he had taken from the scene, at Fireman Black’s house.

He ‘phones in the alarm from a booth, and waits for the Salamanders to arrive at Black’s house, before going on to Faber’s. He recounts his adventures to Faber who then tells him that war has been declared. The both plan to escape from the city. The best way is for Montag to try for the river, and once he has crossed this, to head south following the railroad tracks. Faber will catch the early morning bus to St. Louis where his old printer friend lives.

Montag asks Faber for some of his old clothes and tells him to clean everything that he has touched in the house with alcohol, to kill any scent for the Mechanical Hound. He will also have to turn on his outside lawn sprinklers to kill any scent that is there.

Montag will try and lure the Hound to the river.

Montag reaches the river undetected. He douses himself in a bottle of whisky that Faber gave him, and puts on his clothes. He allows the river to bear him downstream. However, the Police are

Bookwolf.com, Copyright 2001-2002, All Rights Reserved Distribution without written consent of BookWolf.com is strictly prohibited. BookWolf Wolfnotes, available at http://Bookwolf.com. televising this chase so they cannot be seen to fail, and while they lose Montag’s scent, they pick on another innocent man, a nonconformist who likes walking at night, and he becomes Montag.

Montag emerges from the river on the other side. He has undergone a transformation and he feels that he has been resurrected. He is apprehensive about entering the wilderness, but he is also exhilarated by his newfound freedom. He now enters the countryside and is experiencing new smells, and he soon forgets the smell of kerosene that has been with him so long. He comes across the unused, rusted rail tracks, and follows them south.

In the distance he sees a fire, but this is not a fire of destruction, this is a fire around which men are obtaining warmth. He is welcomed by the outcasts, and their leader appears to be a man called Grainger. Grainger doesn’t think the authorities will search for him here, but just in case, he gives him a potion which will change the chemical content of his sweat so that no Mechanical Hound will be able to track him. Grainger explains that there is a large number of outcasts, and that they too burn books, but only after they have been memorized.

Everybody has a photographic memory, but for most people, this aptitude has been suppressed. The outcasts know how to use this power and if need be, they can recall information from anyone. He asks Montag if he has read anything in detail, and Montag confirms, the Book of Ecclesiastes. Grainger is pleased with this and explains that a man named Harris knows these verses, but if anything happens to him, Montag will become that book.

Grainger goes on to explain that they were expecting Montag, as they have a small tele screen and have been watching the chase. They explain to Montag that he is already dead, for the Police have found a scapegoat who has taken his place. The outcasts are therefore all books. Grainger is Plato’s ‘Republic’; Simmons is ‘Marcus Aurelius’. In their company, they also have - Jonathan Swift, Charles Darwin, Einstein and so on. Collectively, Grainger calls them “The Book Burners”.

They decide that they will need to travel further south, away from the city because the cities will become targets in this new war.

To Montag, his former life is like a dream. His head feels much clearer now, but he can’t help wondering about Millie. If the city is attacked she will be killed, and he wonders what her last moments of life will be like. He pictures her looking at her television screen, just before it goes blank and she dies. He suddenly remembers where he met her a long time age. It was in Chicago.

They stop and cook some food on a fire, and Grainger likens the fire to a life-giving force, and uses the word “phoenix”. The phoenix was a bird that would build a pyre and burn itself, and through this process was reborn. You will note that the firemen wear the emblem of a phoenix on their uniforms.

Montag has also undergone a rebirth after passing through fire.

It is clear that the city is receiving a pounding. The party are thrown to the ground by the force of the bombs. The group are compelled to return to the city to see if they can be of help. When they arrive, they see that it has been totally destroyed. It looks like “a heap of baking powder, it’s gone”. The group are silent as they make their way to the city. Montag wonders if they are making sure that they remember that what is inside them is safe.

“And on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bears twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” This is Montag’s thought that he’ll use when he reaches the city.

Part 3 - Interpretation

The last part of the book is entitled “Burning Bright”, part of the first line of William Blake’s famous poem. This can symbolize many things in this part of the book. Certainly, Montag’s home burns brightly in the flames of incineration, and then so does Beatty. Later on the city burns bright, as it is destroyed by the enemy bombs. All these symbols represent evil and destruction, and Blake suggests this in his poem - that the tiger is an evil creature whose full extent or symmetry is difficult to comprehend. There is, however, a deeper and more permanent meaning to this, and Bradbury is suggesting that the future for Montag and the other suppressed thousands looks bright.

Up until now, the reader has had a distinct picture of Captain Beatty, but the circumstances concerning his death raise an element of doubt about his totally evil façade. The reader gets the impression that Beatty is fighting with his conscience, as he does not really want to arrest Montag. Although he taunts Montag, this is done through the means of quotes from literature, for example, “Old Montag wanted to fly near the sun and now that he’s burnt his damn wings, he wonders why.” This is a reference to the flight of Icarus. If Beatty was totally loyal to the system, he would not have given Montag warnings about his behavior.

The first question is why he decides to come on this callout. Surely this is not to torment Montag, for there will have been other occasions when firemen have gone astray. Perhaps deep down he is tired of his existence as well, and is unhappy, and can no longer justify his actions in destroying books. He, himself, said that a little learning is a dangerous thing. His intention may be to use Montag as a tool for his own destruction. Perhaps he seeks suicide and will goad Montag into being his unwitting tool. However, it isn’t the most pleasant way to die, and he may think that Montag is incapable of doing this deed. What he does not know is Faber’s part in this episode, and when he discovers this and threatens to track Faber down, this is what sparks Montag into pulling the trigger.

What do you think?

It has also been a crucial time for Millie. She is faced with the dilemma of siding with her husband or her television family, and she chooses the latter. After informing the authorities and waiting for their arrival, she speedily leaves the scene in a taxi, presumably for a hotel where she can resume watching the screen. The description of Millie as she leaves the scene is symbolic. Her face is powdered white, her lips colorless, and her body stiff, symbolizing the corpse which she will soon become.

However, the character that undergoes the greatest transformation is of course, Montag. During this part he is reborn and discovers the joys of freedom and the stimulation of like-minded individuals. He also loses his rashness, and through quick and clear thinking, is able to escape the scene and the city whilst safeguarding his friend, Faber.

Like the phoenix, Montag passes through fire in order to obtain resurrection. He has become the total rebel, and even has the presence of mind to at least condemn one fellow fireman, Black, before he leaves the city.

Bradbury gives us further insight into this soulless society. Montag’s escape is being televised and this has two purposes. Firstly this is to entertain, and secondly, it is a warning to the people of what can happen if you step out of line. The conclusion of this program is never in doubt. If they don’t actually catch Montag himself, they will get someone else as a stand-in.

Like ‘Big Brother’ the authorities are aware of what their citizens get up to, and the chase is led to where an innocent nonconformist will be walking. He now becomes Montag and will be sacrificed in his stead.

There is a parallel theme between what Montag has gone through from fire to freedom, and that which the society will go through, from war to enlightenment - at least that is the hope.

Bradbury turns the story into a real thriller while Montag is being pursued. Our hero is placed in a very difficult situation from which there seems no hope of escape. The reader anticipates what is going to happen - the destruction of Montag’s home, the books he has saved, and the capture of Faber arising perhaps out of Montag’s torture by the authorities. However, it is in fact Captain Beatty that gives Montag a glimmer of hope by forcing him to burn his own home. Using the flame-thrower, this tool of destruction, he murders Beatty, but he still has the task of escaping the city.

Bradbury writes in various obstacles making this task difficult for our hero.

Firstly, it is the Mechanical Hound. Then it is the crazy drivers on the Boulevard. If Montag had not tripped at a vital time, he would have been run over. Fate is on his side. The suspense is further heightened by the introduction of another specially trained Mechanical Hound to replace the one destroyed by Montag.

Our hero then has the problem of escaping whilst ensuring that Faber is safe. Much to the frustration of the reader. Montag stops off to implicate one of his fellow firemen, whilst the reader just wants him to escape the city.

Finally, Montag makes it to the river and escapes to the countryside and relative safety.

The character of Grainger, serves as a foil for Captain Beatty.

He is part of a community that preserves the contents of books before they are destroyed by fire. They possess no books apart from those that are being consigned to memory. The members of the group are the books, and in this way signify their rebellion against the system.

As you might expect, most of these outcasts are well-educated, being former professors, doctors etc. They have their own technology to combat the likes of Beatty and the Mechanical Hound. Grainger has the means to change the chemical makeup of sweat, and they are able to reintroduce long-forgotten techniques such as total memory recall.

The reader should not forget the part played in this story by Clarisse. She was the one that inspired Montag into reexamining his life and that of his wife. In fact Clarisse acts as a foil for Mildred. Just as Clarisse inspired Montag, so he now inspires Faber to be more than a pseudo-rebel - to be an activist. He leaves the city for St. Louis in order to help the cause.

The Mechanical Hound is the real science fiction ingredient of this story, part alive, part machine, half dog, half spider, a concoction of copper wire, storage batteries, and blue electricity. It is an ever- present menace throughout the book. It carries a lethal sting in the form of a four-inch hollow steel needle, containing morphine or procaine. Once it has your scent, it will track you down and eliminate you. It is a development from other such evil creatures, which are found throughout mythology.

Questions for study with ideas for answers

Q: Bradbury makes a connection between Guy Montag and the phoenix bird.

Expand on this.

Ideas:

The phoenix is a mythological bird of the Middle East, and the story is that after five hundred years, it constructs a nest or pyre of spices upon which it perches and sings until the nest is ignited by sunlight. The fire consumes the bird, and from the ashes a worm crawls and develops into the next phoenix.

‘Fahrenheit 451’ tells of Montag’s sojourn through this transformation. The nest can be symbolized as the pile of books that Montag has burned over the ten years he has been a fireman, but he is unable to rise like the phoenix because he hasn’t the means to improve himself intellectually. He needs help in fully understanding the books he has saved, and it is Faber who is able to bring about his rebirth.

We recall that when Montag leaves the river, he feels that he has been resurrected. The finished product of an enlightened individual is finally created through Grainger’s influence.

Q: Bradbury uses animal symbolism throughout the book.

Please provide examples.

Ideas:

There is the image of books turning into birds with the reference to “pigeon-winged books”.

Much of the firemen’s equipment is symbolized through animals. The fire hose is described as “this great python”. The firemen wear “black beetle-coloured helmets”. The truck is called “a salamander”. The myth behind the salamander is that it is able to survive fire.

When the technician’s call to pump Millie’s stomach they use a device called “a black cobra”, and the operators are described as having the “eyes of puff adders”.

The headphones are described as “electronic bees”.

Reference is made to Blake’s poem about a tiger, the tiger being a symbol of an evil world.

Q: Bradbury never lets the reader forget the importance of literature, and he has woven into the plot numerous quotations, or references to literary figures.

Please give some examples with their relevance to the story.

Ideas:

The very first quotation in the book is from the Spanish poet, Jiménez, “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.” This provides the main theme of the book, and that is to challenge authority.

“We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.” Apparently Bishop Latimer said this to Bishop Ridley as they were burned at the stake for being Protestants in Queen Mary’s Catholic England. Beatty recites this as perhaps a challenge to Montag for him to make a move to light his own candle, and make a similar historic gesture. Perhaps Beatty realizes that despite all his efforts, he is unable to extinguish the candle that represents literature. As will be seen later, Grainger has developed a system that enables the light of books to be passed down from man-to-man. The books are retained in people’s memories.

“We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed …… so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over.” This comes from James Boswell’s ‘Life of Dr. Johnson’ published in 1791, and this quote helps Montag realize the relevance of his relationship with Clarisse. She has brought some happiness into his life unselfishly.

“Consider the lilies of the field. They toil not, neither do they sow or reap …… yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” This is from St. Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 6, and Montag recalls this in his surreal journey to Faber’s house in Part 2 of the book. He is going to seek Faber’s help in satisfying his spiritual hunger, and his desire to improve his understanding of the written word in his possession.

“Who are a little wise, the best fools be.” This is taken from John Donne’s poem, ‘The Triple Fool’, and the well-read Beatty uses this to unsettle Montag. Beatty hurls several more quotations at Montag in this scene coming from Isaiah Chapter 53, and also from Shakespeare’s ‘Measure for Measure’ Act V “Truth is truth, to the end of reckoning.”

Reference is made to Greek mythology in Part 3 of the book when Montag is discovered by Beatty. Beatty suggests that Montag is like Icarus, the son of Daedalus, an inventor. He constructs wings for his son made of feathers and wax, and when he flies too near to the sun, these melt and he falls into the sea and drowns.

During Beatty’s goading of Montag in Part 3, he quotes from Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’ Act IV, “There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats, for I am arm’d so strong in honesty that they pass by me as an idle wind which I respect not.”

Grainger describes his group of outcasts as those “crying in the wilderness”. This refers to Isaiah’s prediction concerning John the Baptist.

The last quotation in the book is as shown above at the end of the Summary. This is a prophecy from Chapter 22 of the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. Bradbury suggests that this prophecy is yet to come to fruition, for people have still to enjoy equality and freedom throughout the world.

Q: To give effect, Bradbury uses paradox as a tool.

Give some examples.

Ideas:

In this society, firemen do not put out fires and rescue people. They start fires. They burn the books and people’s houses as a form of censorship, and as a deterrent, and to encourage people to conform.

Normally fire is considered to be a force of evil. We refer to hell as being a place of fiery furnaces and unbearable heat. In this society, fire is considered to be a symbol of goodness. It cleanses society of nonconformist thoughts that stem from literature. Fire is used to eradicate the evil of books. It is a crude form of censorship and there is no room for compromise. All books and other forms of literature must be destroyed.

In our society, dogs are regarded as man’s best friend. They assist him in his work and also make good companions. The Mechanical Hound is a distortion of this concept. It has no friends. It is a hideous crossbreed of technology and creature. Its function is to track down and destroy those that don’t fit in with society, and also books.