Period Nine: Fahrenheit 451- SG part 1 The Hearth and the Salamander

From SG #1, Question #3

According to pages 3-4, what does Montag think of his job?

Montag is very proud of holding the position of a fireman, and loves what he does on a daily-
basis.

From prompt list # 2: Provide a stellar response to a specific study guide question

Response:

In the novel Fahrenheit 451 we see Guy Montag, a fireman, who seems to love his job more than
anything else. He has held this title for as long as he can remember, and has never not-liked
doing it day in, day out.
“Kerosene,” he said, because the silence had lengthened, “is nothing but perfume to
me.”(Bradbury 4)
Montag has been around the smell of kerosene so long that he is used to it and almost even likes
it. What would be a horrible stench to a “normal” person is a wonderful smell to Montag. This
could be seen as almost an instance of Stockholm Syndrome, but with a job instead of a person.
Since Montag has been a fireman so long he doesn’t know any other reality than the one where
he is one. Due to this he feels as though it is part of him and enjoys it, even though he doesn’t
particularly know why.

Period Nine: Fahrenheit 451- SG part 1 The Hearth and the Salamander
From SG #1, Question #18

Why does society consider Clarisse “anti-social?” (p. 29)

Society considers Clarisse “anti-social” because she does not follow what society has determined
as the right way to think.

From prompt list #20: Contribute a contemplative comment as regards the notion of fear and its
power
Response:

The way Clarisse is seen by society as anti-social, even-though she is extremely friendly is
supposed to be seen as blasphemous, but in actuality this is a trait that has long been part of the
human race.
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is
fear of the unknown.” -H. P. Lovecraft
She is a free thinker in a world without free thought, and due to this what she says is deemed as
weird and not excepted by the “normal” people in society. They are afraid of what she is because
they do not know of what she is. They cast her out because they afraid. As a race, humans would
not have existed without the fear of the unknown, but this is an instance of the point to an almost
laughable degree. While this absurd example may be far-fetched it exemplifies the power of the
fear of the unknown.

Period Nine: Fahrenheit 451- SG part 1 The Hearth and the Salamander
From SG #1, Question #5

During his conversation, Montag says that “You never wash it off completely” referring to the
kerosene. What could this mean symbolically?
This could symbolically mean that you never truly change the fact that you were a fireman, and
the guilt and reputation will stay with you forever.

From prompt list #12: Contribute an incisive comment per dynamic character(s) in the novel and
his/her journey

Response:

Throughout the progression of Fahrenheit 451 we see Montag go through several stages of how
he feels about his job. In the beginning, we see him a have an overwhelming blind for his job.
Towards the end we see him have such a passionate hate for his job with his eyes now “opened.”
However, even with this new found distaste he never is truly free of his past.
“I think that humans have a huge capacity to carry pain and sadness. There are things that
haunt us our entire lives; we are unable to let them go. The good times seem almost effervescent
and dreamlike in comparison with the times that didn't go so well.” (Henry Rollins)

Montag’s past has traumatized him, and never will be completely happy with how he is now.
While at the end of the novel it doesn’t look times are a whole lot better than they were before,
but it can inferred that they eventually. But even in those better times, while Montag feels truly
happy, there will always be the ghost of his past to remind him of the bad times.