Fahrenheit 451

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Fahrenheit 451

Match the character to the correct description:

1. Beatty: C. In charge of the local firemen.
2. Bradbury: D. Author.
3. Clarisse: F. Liked to think and talk, and was killed.
4. Faber: E. Helped Montag.
5. Mildred: B. Informer, attempted suicide.
6. Montag: A. Snatched books and hid them and got in trouble.

Choose one of the characters and describe him or her. Comment on his/her personality,
behavior, relationship and how they change as a result of their experiences.


The protagonist is the fireman Guy Montag. At the beginning, he is shown as enjoying
burning books, not thinking about what impact his profession has on society. Despite this, he
still hides a few books at his house. When he meets Clarisse and talks to her, his views on
the world begin changing and he starts wondering about why they’re burning books. He is
portrayed as being a sympathetic and caring man who is easy to talk to, considering how
well he got along with Clarisse and Faber when he first met them.


Despite his well intentions, it sometimes happens that Montag goes too far, for example
when he has begun working with Faber and comes home to Mildred and his friends watching
television, he snaps and goes on a long angry rant when they show indifference towards
important things like the upcoming war and politics. (For example, Mildred’s friends mostly
focus on talking about the physical appearance of the presidential candidates instead of
their political agendas) While doing this, he even begins reading from a book (a very serious
offense in their society) and makes one of the women cry.
Later, when the firemen receive an alarm at Montag’s house, Montag goes too far yet again
when Beatty informs him that he will be arrested for hiding the books at his house. Rather
than complying and saving everyone a lot of trouble, Montag uses his flamethrower and
burns Beatty alive before running away. This leads to a chase throughout the city which ends
with an innocent man being killed by the Mechanical Hound to give a show for the cameras.
In the beginning of the story, Montag is on friendly terms with most people, although his
relationship with Mildred might be a little strained, considering she attempted suicide by
overdosing on painkillers. Throughout the book, his relationship with Mildred gets even
worse and his once friendly relationship with Beatty turns into the two of them being
enemies.

During the course of the book, Montag evolves quite a bit. At first, he is a loyal fireman who
enjoys burning books and doesn’t mind censorship, as it’s not something he thinks much of.
When he is told by Clarisse how life used to be and thinking freely, he starts doubting if
burning books is a good thing, and when the old woman burns herself alive, he decides that
it is definitely a bad thing. His loyalty towards the firemen is broken as he begins working
with Faber to overthrow them, and when the end comes, he shows himself willing to kill
Beatty as he runs away and joins the group of people who preserve the information from
books. In other words, he has made a complete turn from being one of those enforcing
censorship to one of those fighting it.

Choose another character from the list above and compare him/her to the first chosen
character
.

Captain Beatty is Montag’s boss and the main antagonist in the book, and in a way, he’s
Montag’s opposite. Where Montag went from burning books for censorship to protecting
them, Beatty read a lot while he was younger, but decided that they gave people negative
thoughts and made them sad. He started burning them instead to make people happier.
Even though Beatty is portrayed as being friendly with Montag at the beginning, it is hinted
that his motives might be more sinister than they appear, as it’s strongly hinted he had a
part in Clarisse’s death. As Montag changes, so does Beatty. While they’re friendly at the
beginning, Beatty becomes increasingly more hostile towards Montag throughout the book,
and finally, Beatty is killed by Montag as he attempts to arrest him.

What are the main conflicts in the story? Are all the conflicts resolved at the end of the
story? Explain how or why not.

The main conflict in the book is between those who want to burn books and those who want
to preserve them, or to put in in another way: Between those who want censorship for the
sake of happiness and those who want freedom of speech at all cost. This conflict is not
resolved in the book, although at the end, Montag leaves with the group of people who have
dedicated themselves to remembering the books, deciding that when civilization is rebuilt
following the war, the books might be rewritten and everyone will have freedom of speech.


This conflict is however not only going on within the book, but has been going on in the
world for hundreds of years, and is still going on in some parts where the government
censors all information “for the sake of the people.”
There are a few more conflicts in the book on a more personal scale, for example between
Montag who wants independent thinking and books and Mildred who is fine with just
watching television and being told how to think. This conflict is resolved in a somewhat
tragic way as Mildred calls the firemen and tips them off about Montag hiding books and
runs off without saying a word to him.

Montag and Beatty have a similar conflict about censorship and free thinking which ends in a
more violent way with Montag murdering Beatty, like I said above.

What do you think were the worst things about Montag's society?

I think that the worst thing about the society depicted in Fahrenheit 451 is how independent
thinking, one of the most important things in the world, is restricted. People can’t think on
their own and their view of the world is restricted to what is said on the television and radio,
which is controlled by the government. (In the book, the government manages to keep the
fact that there’s a nuclear war on the way a secret from the population.) Anyone who
possesses a book is treated as a criminal and might at any point be arrested and have their
house burned just for this. I really have no way to describe it other than it being very, very
wrong.

What is the point of Fahrenheit 451? When we read books, we usually come away from
our reading experience a little richer, having given more thought to a particular aspect of
life. What do you think Ray Bradbury intended us to gain from reading his novel?

The point of Fahrenheit 451 is that censorship is a bad thing. After having read the book, I
started thinking about how much censorship happens, even in our modern society. It might
not happen much in Sweden, but for example, in the United Kingdom, the government has
made plans to censor the Internet by blocking off pornographic websites. (You can turn this
block off by contacting the company that provides you with internet, but that basically gives
them a list of people who watch pornographic material, which in the wrong hands can be
really bad)
In the U.S. censorship is happening on a larger scale. In some parts, books have been banned
from schools (even to the point where you could get in trouble just for having a copy)
because the schools think that those books might be harmful to children. One such book
was, ironically enough, Fahrenheit 451.
I think that what Ray Bradbury intended to do with his novel was to enlighten us on the
dangers of censorship and the importance of independent thinking since it depicts a society
where expressing your opinions or thinking for yourself is seen as a crime and everything
people know is given to them by the government, who control all forms of media.

Why is it important to read? Why are books important to society?

Reading is important because it is a great way to absorb information at your own pace
instead of getting it forced down your throat from television or the radio. Written messages
can also exist in both physical form and digital form. When it comes to television and radio,
the information is stored digitally and needs some form of electrical device to access it. With
writing, it is also more permanent, as it is static and never changes, giving you the
opportunity to digest it at your own pace.

As stated in the novel, it is not the physical books themselves but then information inside
them that is important. However, books are much harder to censor than the internet, TV or
radio, because the government has influence over all three of those. When it comes to
books, anyone can write one and have it printed, making it an easy way to spread
information. Books are also persistent, meaning that we can read information and stories
from hundreds of years ago. Television and radio is not as permanent, and because storage
of digital information relies on electricity, it will be forever lost if something happens and
electricity is lost, whereas books will persist, because all they need to have their information
spread is the ability to read.

Now, write a short letter to Jeruen Dery in which