Anna Burnett
Fahrenheit 451 Guided Reading Questions
Part 1: The Hearth and the Salamander
1. As the story opens, what are the forces acting upon the protagonist, Montag, and what other forces help Montag in the recognition of his dilemma?
The forces acting upon Montag are the fireman crew, Beatty, and Mildred. Clarisse helped Montag with his dilemma.
2. What is Montag’s dilemma both 1) as he sees it, and 2) as the reader sees it?
Montag’s dilemma as he sees it is he is extremely unhappy and discouraged with his wife and job. The dilemma in the way the readers sees it is he is unhappy with his job and his life.
3. What is the significance of Montag seeing his reflection in Clarisse’s eyes?
He sees himself from somebody else’s eyes and point of view.
4. Clarisse causes Montag to recall a childhood memory in which a wish was embedded. What is the implication of the memory and the wish? When Montag remembered the candle, he remembered what life was like before he was “unhappy”.
5. What two observations does Clarisse make about Montag’s conversational mannerisms? Why is this important?(The answer to this may become more obvious when you finish the novel.)
The first one is he laughs at everything she said, and he never thought about what or how he was going to answer.
6. Define the word “peculiar” 1) for yourself, and 2) using a second resource. What things do the
McClellans do according to 1) your personal definition, and 2) the
Thesis Statement: As the protagonist, Montag undergoes many changes throughout the book due to several characters that function as catalysts in his life.
Montag is brainwashed up until the point where he meets Clarisse and then his new curiosity blossoms. Clarisse sparks a new flame in Montag and it makes him question everything he has been doing throughout his life as a fireman.
Montag changes in many ways throughout the novel, making him a very dynamic character. At the beginning of the novel Montag loves what he does and thinks he is happy. When he meets Clarisse she ignites the spark in Montag. “’Are you happy?’ she said. ‘Am I what?’ he cried” (10). He then begins to dwell on whether or not he is happy and then he acts upon that decision to find out why. With the prompting of Clarisse by the middle of the story Montag was beginning to learn how to think for himself. However, he makes some very good decisions and some bad. Instead of burning his problems away like he used to do, he now works through them and learns from his mistakes. He begins coming up with plans to correct society and sabotage the profession of
Internally Montag struggles with a variety of problems. He has a hard time accepting the fact that he is unhappy and dissatisfied with his life. Montag feels a lack of companionship and battles conforming to society. He seeks
Montag's intuition led him to widen his perspective on society, and this put a Target on his back when he followed through with his decisions. In this part of the book, Montag begins to understand how vital knowledge really is and can't help himself when he sees an opportunity to educate
Montag and John were both very determined to change their societies for the better. To start off John was determined to finish his journey and re-built the land he discovered “But they were men who built the city, not gods or demons. They were men. I remember the dead man’s face. They were men who were here before us. We must build again”,( ). John knew he had to be optimistic and open minded if he wanted to succeed in his journey which he did. Montag was determined in many different ways but first he had to
This makes Montag realize that his job is really bad and is really destructive. This is a totally different mindset than before, because now he is considering quitting his job and before he enjoyed his job and burning things. This means evolution, he is changing as a person with his own thoughts and realization of his society’s way of
Montag is a conformist in the totalitarian society in which he lives. He, in the beginning of the story, loves his job. However, he is manipulated repeatedly by his nemesis, Captain Beatty. Captain Beatty is a manipulator who is expert in being able to aggravate Montag into a verbal duel that is basically one-sided. Montag and Captain Beatty seem to have a relationship where the boss is always trying to pin an untruth onto one of his employees. Montag becomes discontented at work. He becomes complacent by going through the motions by not really concentrating on the job at hand.
First of all, Montag faces government censorship over society’s citizens, which changes him to become a courageous character, and he learns that because the government has taught people to take what they have for
At the onset of the novel Montag is a rule following conformist. He obeys the rules and regulations provided by his
My (TS): Throughout the book Montag’s feelings about society change when he knows something is missing, causing him to rebel against it.
Before this understanding, Montag is ‘happy’ and feels that nothing is wrong with his life. He loves his job. He is just like everyone else. Blank and empty inside, Montag wears a mask of happiness on the outside. In the very beginning, he loves to burn books. Afterall, he is a fireman, whose job is to burn the horrible books. For him “it was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things blackened and changed” (1). Montag was just another person brainwashed by television and the lies of government. Montag would have never suspected that Clarisse is the person who takes off his blindfold. After she asks Montag if he is happy, he starts to notice the world. At first, he assures himself that he is happy. When he’s home, he realizes “he was not happy. He said the words to himself. He recognized this as the true state of affairs. He wore his happiness like a mask…” (9). The mask of happiness that the leaders and government force the people to wear has been torn from Montag’s face and he is shocked as he sees the truth for the first time. Clarisse has started the first step in a transformation that will lead Montag on a path towards true
The character of Montag expresses the theme of the ability to think for oneself and the importance of self-reflection. The main character Montag transforms throughout the story. At first, Montag is content with his job as a fireman. Montag is comfortable with his life. Shortly into the story, the character of Clarisse McClean is introduced. Montag tells Clarisse, “You think too many things” (Bradbury 6). Reading further Bradbury’s dialog between Clarisse and Montag demonstrations Montag lacks critical thinking. Clarisse enlightens Montag and the character of Montag awakens. Montag begins to understand the world around him and comes to realize he is unhappy. In a way, Montag rebels against his society. Montag begins to think for himself. Montag reflected upon his happiness and the theme of self-reflection is conveyed for the first time within the novel. “He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back” (Bradbury 9). It wasn’t until Clarisse asked Montag “are you happy” did Montag stop to consider if he was happy. Bradbury expresses the importance of self-reflection by displaying Montag as content and then developing Montag’s character to awaken and identify he is unhappy. In addition, Bradbury illustrates the ability to think for oneself creates happiness. Bradbury creates an overzealous Montag towards the end of
Another incident that stayed in Montag 's mind is the old women who set her self and her books on fire. However, Montag tried stopping her by telling her that the books were not worth her life. Before she burned herself, Montag took one of her books and kept it. At that time Montag did not think about what did the old lady burned herself with the books, he did not think about it might be the value and morals that books hold to teach is. The old lady knew the importance of these books and what do they have, so she preferred to burn herself with them, and not watch the firemen burn them, who do not even know the importance of books. But they do know that books are unreal and there is so importance of them, plus they are against the law!
Montag is just like any other citizen in town. He refuses to think for himself, relies on distractions to generate happiness, and is a follower. Throughout the course of the novel, though, Montag faces a