Fahrenheit , Ray Bradbury

FAHRENHEIT 451

Ray Bradbury

Setting

• Dystopian novel

• The story takes place in an unnamed city in America in the future.

• In its imaginary world, “firemen” start fires rather than putting them out.

They are seen as flamethrowers, destroyers of books rather than an insurance against fire.

• Books are considered evil and forbidden by the law because they make people question and think

• Censorship has taken over the general population.

• People are living in darkness, in a world with no reminders of history or appreciation of the past, with huge television screens dominating their homes and radios constantly blaring in their ears.

Characters

 Guy Montag

 Clarisse McClellan

 Captain Beatty

 Mildred Montag

 Professor Faber

 Granger

Summary

PART ONE – THE HEARTH AND THE SALAMANDER

The novel opens with Guy Montag, a “fireman” in a futuristic society where he and his coworkers start fires rather than put them out. Books are banned and burned upon discovery, and Montag has no qualms about his responsibility.

On his way home from the fire station, he meets an inquisitive and unusual 17 year old named Clarisse McClellan, who happens to be his neighbour. She’s very chatty, and opens his eyes to the world of nature. She asks him about his job and his perception of the world. She fascinates him with her outrageous questions, unorthodox lifestyle, perceptive observations, and “incredible power of identification.” She asks him if he is happy and then disappears into her house. Clarisse leaves a strong impression on Montag, and he continues to reflect on their brief encounter and her very different way of viewing the world.

After their first meeting, Montag returns home to find his wife, Mildred, overdosed on sleeping pills. He calls for help, but he gets plumbers instead of medics. This sort of thing happens all the time, they say, and proceed to pump to her stomach. The next morning, Mildred doesn’t remember anything and is happy as a clam. When Montag tries to discuss the issue, Millie reacts with dismissive disbelief, eager to return her attention to the diversions of the seashell radios constantly inserted in her ears and the people on the three-wall television, whom she calls her "family".

On his way to work, Montag runs into Clarisse again, and again she questions him incessantly about his feelings for his wife and his work. Upon arriving at the fire station, Montag passes the Mechanical Hound, a massive robotic police dog (once set to an individual's chemical balance, is able to locate and annihilate its prey).

Montag is frightened when the hound growls at him. He addresses his concern to his boss, Chief Beatty (who dismisses the issue).

During the next week, Montag sees Clarisse everyday and finds himself looking forward to his conversations with the eccentric, curious girl. He is disappointed when Clarisse no longer appears on his walks to and from work.

The radio and television make an announcement of a possible impending war, which Montag becomes increasingly introspective (“self-analyzing”) about his job and the people whose books and homes he destroys.

One evening, an alarm comes in, calling the firemen to an old house where the owner, an older woman, refuses to abandon her home. The woman insists on dying among her books and lights the match taking her life along with her home and all her books.

Montag manages to steal one of the woman's books and takes it home with him that evening (shaken by the woman's death and nervous about his illegal acquisition.)

As he and Millie lie in their respective twin beds, Montag finds himself unable to recall how and where they met. He asks Millie if she remembers, but she doesn't,

...