Fahrenheit 451

by Ray Bradbury
Amandeep Khattra, Anika Gani, Lucy Lieu, Melinda Dang,
Rashmi Ravichandran, Tim Moed, Tina Nguyen
 About the Book
• A dystopian novel first published in 1953.
• Montag is said to be an allusion of Bradbury himself.
• Characters:
Guy Montag (fireman)
Mildred Montag (Montag’s wife)
Faber (Former English Professor)
Captain Beatty (Fire Chief)
Clarisse McClellan (17-Year-Old)
Granger (Leader of wandering exiles)
Mechanical Hound (Seeks to kill free thinkers by their
scent)
 Genre
• A dystopia is a vision of society opposite
of utopia.
• Dystopia is a subgenre of science fiction
• Since dystopias typically depict the future,
the technology is more advanced and
used to oppress society.
• Governments in dystopias often have
totalitarian dictatorships or bureaucracies.
 Plot Overview
• Guy Montag is a firefighter who lives in a lonely, isolated
society where books have been outlawed by a
government fearing an independent-thinking public. It is
the duty of firefighters to burn any books on sight or said
collections that have been reported by informants.
People in this society including Montag's wife are
drugged into compliancy and get their information from
wall-length television screens. Montag meets Clarisse
and he begins to read confiscated books. It is through
this relationship that he begins to question the
government's motives behind book-burning. Montag is
soon found out, and he must decide whether to return to
his job or run away knowing the consequences that he
could face if captured.
 Class Book It
• 1. Get into groups.
• 2. Create a small skit with the lines.
• Present!
 Book it Explanation
This scene is ultimately the climax of the
story because once Montag kills Beatty,
he escapes from the mechanical hound to
find Granger and the book people where
he joins them in their mission to rebuild
civilization.
 Themes
Possible Themes:
• Fight the System
• You can never stop imagination
• You cannot make progress with ignorance
• Once ignorance is overcome, knowledge is possessed
• You can’t censor the voice of people
• Knowledge is blind
• Change is not always for the better
• The pen is mightier than the sword
• The world is deprived with the knowledge possessed
 Character Analysis
Guy Montag
• Montag is the protagonist of the book, ironically named after a paper
manufacturing company. He is a fireman, and in the beginning of the
book loves his job more than anything. The beautiful feeling he
describes of the night runs is the essence of his life; however after
confronting Clarisse he is very confused and starts doubting this job,
which at one point would have seemed impossible. The horrible
confusion of books and their complexity forces Montag acting in a
way he would never act. Almost as if his hands were working by
themselves and out of his control. Within his conscious he is battling
to find the true meaning of his life and understand the complexity of
books. In his attempts to try and grasp what is going on, he goes
through sensitive moments of conversation with Clarisse, and
almost deranged moments when committing the murder of Captain
Beatty.
 Character Analysis
Captain Beatty
• Beatty is a complex character, full of contradictions.
Captain Beatty is Montag's boss at the firehouse and his
nemesis. In the past, it is obvious that he has read a
variety of books, for he often quotes from them. Beatty
calls books treacherous weapons, yet he uses his own
book learning to manipulate Montag mercilessly.
Captain Beatty is a round character and has much to
offer. Beatty is continually a threat to Montag. When
Montag finally turns one book into him, Beatty is not
tricked. He is sure that Montag has many more. As a
result, he plans the destruction of Montag. Captain
Beatty is a very rounded character with a lot of
background.
 Character Analysis
Professor Faber
In the fight to control Montag, Faber is the second battling after
Captain Beatty. However unlike the Captain, Faber does not have
as strong or genuine control over Montag. He is a cowardly man,
who uses Montag to do the things that he cannot. He manipulates
Montag through his two-way radio controlling Montag’s body as if he
were a machine. Faber is an operator of sorts of Montag’s body,
when Montag’s mind isn’t strong enough to understand anything and
gets swayed, Faber can make him do all sorts of stuff. His role in the
book is very complex to understand, sometimes he wants Montag to
think on his own, and however there are times when he takes
Montag’s body completely over. Ironically after all the abuse Montag
takes from his two controllers, neither one of them are able to
convincingly stake their beliefs inside him.
 Character Analysis
Mildred Montag
• Mildred Montag, Montags wife is a very interesting
character. She has no hope in her life and seems very
depressed. If she has any problems or anything else
going on in her life she does not discuss with her
husband or any other person. Also, she is obsessed with
watching television and that she tries to avoid problems.
She had buried all of her feeling deep inside of her and
has attempted many suicide attempts but does not
realize that. Because she has attempted so many
suicides that clearly explains she has pain in side.
 Character Analysis
Clarisse McClellan
• Clarisee McClellan is a very beautiful
seventeen girl who loves to ask questions,
play with flowers, and hiking. She is not
the only odd person in her family, her
family is equally odd. She was the one
who introduced Montag to the real world,
how beautiful and significant it can be.
 Character Analysis
Granger
• Granger is the leader of a group of
intellectuals that are referred to as “The
Book People.” Granger and The Book
People are committed to preserving books
by dividing tasks of memorizing books and
recruiting new members for the group.
 Character Analysis
The Mechanical Hound
• In the book the mechanical hound is sent
after individuals who don’t follow laws and
tend to think freely.
 Symbolism
• Burning
• The Mechanical Hound
• Blood
• The Heart and the Salamander
• Phoenix
 Burning
• Books burn at 451 degrees Fahrenheit.
• The fire burned symbolizes both destruction and comfort.
• Burning acts like the consequences of technology.
Examples:
Montag: “It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to
see things blackened and changed” (Bradbury 3).
Beatty: “Burn the book. Serenity, Montag. Peace, Montag…
Burn all, burn everything. Fire is bright and fire is clean”
(Bradbury 59).
 The Mechanical Hound
• A hound that can be set to smell the scent
of “free thinkers” and destroy them.
• Represents government and misuse of
technology for control.
Examples:
Granger: “He held out a small bottle of
colorless fluid. ‘Drink this, too. It’ll change
the chemical index of your perspiration’”
(Bradbury 147).
 Blood
• Blood represents humans and their soul.
Examples from the book:
• Scene with Mildred in the Hospital: “The
Machine pumped all the blood from the
body and replaced it with fresh blood and
serum.” (Pg 15)
‘Got to cleam ‘em out both ways,’ said the
operator.”
 The Heart and the Salamander
• The salamander is known as mythological
reptile that lived in fire.
• The salamander could endure flames
without burning.
• Symbolizes Guy Montag and how he
endured fired without getting burned
himself.

Source: Bulfinch, Thomas. "Bulfinch Myth9logy Chapter 36." Greek Mythology. 1855. Greek
Mythology.Com. 19 May 2008
<http://www.greekmythology.com/Books/Bulfinch/B_Chapter_36/b_chapter_36.html>.
 The Phoenix
About Phoenix (Granger): “He must have
been first cousin to Man. But every time
he burnt himself up he sprang out of the
ashes, he got himself born all over again.
And it looks like we’re doing the same
thing” (Bradbury 163).
 Vocabulary
Part I: The Hearth and the Salamander
• Feigning: Pretending (Pg 54)
• Proboscis: A long snout or nose (Pg 29)
• Ravenous: Greedy, extremely hungry (Pg
45)
• Cartographer: Mapmaker (Pg 61)
• Pratfall: A comical fall on the behind (Pg
59)
Part II: The Sieve and the Sand
• Aesthetic: relating to beauty, artistic (Pg 117)
• Falter: Unstable (Pg 129)
• Smoldering: Burning with little smoke and no
flame ( Pg 119)
Part III: Burning Bright
• Dentifrice: Toothpaste (Pg 81)
• Profusion: A plentiful amount (Pg 85)
• Exhalation: Emission of vapor (Pg 74)
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