Fahrenheit 451: Unmasking Happiness in a Dystopian Society

1. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

2. Firemen • “It was a pleasure to burn” (p. 3) • Guy Montag is a thirty-year-old fireman in the twenty-fourth century (keep in mind that this book was written during the early 1950s). Day 01 (p. 03-24)

3. Homes are now fireproofed so there is no longer the demand for a fireman to do his former work – putting out fires. Now the firemen start fires. They burn books in order to maintain social order; they are the official censors of the government. Books are evil; they must be destroyed.

4. Without books, and without the ideas that books contain, everyone conforms; as a consequence, everyone is happy. When books and ideas are available to people, conflict and unhappiness occur. • In theory, then, Montag should be happy. • But is he?

5. Happiness vs. Masks • “‘Are you happy?’ she said” (p. 10) • Montag smiles, but he isn’t happy. The smile, just like his “burnt-corked” face, is a mask (4). Montag recognizes this, as does the reader, when he meets Clarisse McClellan (see page 12). Day 01 (p. 03-24)

6. Clarisse is spontaneous and curious about nature and life, and she has no rigid daily schedule. Montag is a creature of habit. • She speaks to him about the beauties of life, the man in the moon, the early morning dew, and her liking to smell things and examine things. • Montag has never concerned himself with such trivial matters.

7. Clarisse lives with her mother, father, and uncle; Montag has no family other than his wife, and his home life is unhappy.

8. Millie Montag • “There was only the singing of the thimble-wasps in her tamped-shut ears” (p. 13) • Guy isn’t the only person who is unhappy. Although she would never admit it, Millie is not happy either. Day 01 (p. 03-24)

9. The reader discovers that Mildred places small, seashell-like radios into her ears, and the music whisks her away from the dreariness of her everyday reality. Millie also relies on the three wall-size TVs in their home in order to escape from her meaningless existence. • She has abandoned reality through the use of technology.

10. And she doesn’t stop there. Millie is also addicted to tranquilizers and sleeping pills. • On this night, in particular, Montag discovers that she has taken an overdose of pills and calls the emergency hospital. • The reader never discovers if this was an attempted suicide or just a result of sheer mindlessness.

11. Something to Hide • “He stood looking up at the ventilator grille…” (p. 10) • Apparently Montag has something to hide. This section mentions it twice: once on page 10, and briefly on page 19, when Montag is peering up in the air-conditioning vent. Day 01 (p. 03-24)

12. Taste the Rain • “[H]e tilted his head back in the rain, for just a few moments, and opened his mouth…” (p. 24) • Clarisse awakens in Montag a love and a desire to enjoy the simple and innocent things in life. After she leaves, Guy, for the first time in his life, tilts his head up and tastes the rain. Day 01 (p. 03-24)

13. It is significant that Montag drinks water. • Water is cleansing and purifying. • Bradbury uses water imagery in order to imply a rebirth or regeneration for Montag. • This won’t be the last time water imagery is used for this purpose in the novel

14. Firemen’s Symbols (p. 6) • The Salamander • a lizard-like animal representation of fire. In mythology, it endures flames without burning. Day 01 (p. 03-24)

15. and the Phoenix • a mythical bird that supposedly lives 500 years, burns itself to ashes on a pyre, and rises alive from the ashes to live again. It continues this cycle indefinitely.

16. Worthless Marriage • “When did we meet? And where?” (p. 42) • Montag comes to realize that his marriage to Millie is in shambles • He can’t even remember when, where, or how they met. Millie can’t remember either; she is more interested in her “family” – the images on her three-walled TV. Day 02 (p. 24-48)

17. She also drives their car recklessly and overdoses on sleeping pills • These are all indicators to Montag that their life is both meaningless and purposeless. • They don’t love one another; in fact, if they love anything at all, it would be burning (for Montag) and the TV “relatives” (for Millie).

18. Guilt • “The growl simmered in the beast and it looked at him” (p. 26) • Montag is afraid that the Hound dislikes him. He has a guilty conscience. • He thinks that somehow this Hound knows that he has confiscated some books during one of his raids. Day 02 (p. 24-48)

19. Captain Beatty • “None of those books agree with each other… Snap out of it! The people in those books never lived” (p. 38) • Beatty is a well-read man, but he still goes along with society’s path. Reading books isn’t the problem – the problem is when they affect one’s actions. • Beatty is intelligent and has read a lot, but he sees no value in books – so he burns them. Day 02 (p. 24-48)

20. Beatty even goes along with perversions of history, as it appears in the history of Firemen in America, which states that the first fire station was founded in 1790 by Benjamin Franklin in order to “burn English-influenced books in the Colonies.” • Interestingly, Ben Franklin did start the first fire department (in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1736), but they put fires out, of course! Ben died in 1790. • It’s very important to know history, so others cannot change it to suit their purposes.

21. The Old Woman Martyr • “You can’t ever have my books” (p. 38) • This old woman refuses to leave her home after she is caught with books. She would rather die than live without her books. Her words are very interesting. Day 02 (p. 24-48)

22. She quotes Hugh Latimer, an early martyr for the Protestant faith: “Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.” • This quote is very significant. Latimer and Ridley were burned at the stake as heretics because they dared challenge the established authority (the Catholic Church), and their deaths drew others to their cause.

23. Here, this woman dies for her cause, and Montag becomes intrigued and decides to investigate what books really are, what they contain, and what fulfillment they offer. • He wants to find out why they’re worth dying for. • This is a major turning point for Guy, as is Clarisse’s death.

24. More About the Old Woman and Her Match • Why did Bradbury choose to make this character a woman, and why did she strike a match? • Traditionally, “Knowledge” has been portrayed as a woman. Just think about the Greek goddess Athena (born from Zeus’ head) who represents wisdom. Day 02 (p. 24-48)

25. Also, wisdom is often portrayed as a light or torch. • Think about Prometheus, the god who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mankind.

26. The Hound • “He did not open the window” (p. 48) • At the end of this section, Montag has a premonition that the Hound is stalking him and that it is just outside his house. • Either it’s all in his head and no one suspects anything, or someone knows what he’s hiding and has tipped off the captain. Day 02 (p. 24-48)

27. Realization • “I’m not going to work tonight” (p. 49) • Montag feigns illness and goes to bed for a couple reasons… Day 03 (p. 48-68)

28. First, Millie, his wife, offers him no sympathetic understanding about his changing beliefs about books, and he is realizing that he can’t talk to her about anything substantial and that their relationship is worthless.

29. Second, Montag is coming to grips with the fact that he has not only played a part in burning and executing an old woman the night before, he has been burning and killing people’s lives and ideas (in the form of their books) for his entire career.

30. Books • “There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine” (p. 51) • Montag knows there must be something special about books, something so great that it made the old woman want to remain in the burning house with her books rather than leave them. Day 03 (p. 48-68)

31. He tries to convey this to Millie, but she is incapable of understanding what he means. All she knows is that books are illegal and that anyone who breaks the law must be punished.

32. The Pep Talk • “A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it” (p. 58) • Captain Beatty has been suspicious of Montag’s recent behavior and has been aware of the intellectual and moral changes going on in Montag. • He has already recognized Montag’s discontent, and so he makes a sick call to Montag’s home. Day 03 (p. 48-68)

33. He explains that every fireman sooner or later goes through a period of intellectual curiosity and steals a book. (He miraculously seems to know that Montag has, in fact, stolen a book.) • Beatty stresses that books contain nothing believable. “[B]ooks say nothing! Nothing you can teach or believe. They’re about nonexistent people, figments of imagination” (62).

34. The Problem with Books • “People want to be happy, isn’t that right?” (p. 59) • Everyone is angered by at least some kinds of literature; the simplest solution is to get rid of all the books. Books spread ideas, opinions, and controversy. Eliminating them eliminates controversy and conflict. • Politically Correct Day 03 (p. 48-68)

35. Beatty is promoting a perverse democratic ideal: ridding the world of all controversial books and ideas makes all men equal. • “You can’t build a house without nails and wood. If you don’t want a house built, hide the nails and wood. If you don’t want a man unhappy politically, don’t give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none” (60-1).

36. Part One • The Hearth and the Salamander (p. 2) • Fire has a dual image; it can be destructive and purifying. It can destroy, but it can also warm. • A hearth is a comforting fireplace. Day 03 (p. 48-68)

37. A salamander is a creature that can survive in fire. Possibly Montag himself is being described through the mention of the salamander. • His job has dictated that he live in an environment of fire and destruction, but Montag now realizes that the salamander is able to remove itself from fire and survive.

38. What Book? • “It is computed that eleven thousand persons have at several times suffered death rather than submit to break their eggs at the smaller end” (p. 68) • Jonathan Swift wrote these words in Book I of Gulliver’s Travels. This is where Gulliver is on the island of Lilliput, and the Little-Endians and Big-Endians are fighting about which side of an egg should be broken. Day 03 (p. 48-68)

39. This is about a society that will go to extreme lengths (fighting and killing one another) to enforce conformity. • Sound familiar?

40. Noise at the Door • “It’s only a dog, that’s what!” (p. 72) • While Montag and Millie are reading books, there is a noise at the door. Millie says it is only a dog. • Which leads us to guess that it’s the Mechanical Hound and that it has been sent by Beatty to obtain evidence against Montag. Day 04 (p. 71-91)

41. Teachers • “Poor Montag, it’s mud to you” (p. 74) • Montag realizes that he needs a teacher to help him understand better what he reads in books. • Most of us do until we learn how to read well and can do it on our own. Day 04 (p. 71-91)

42. The Sieve and the Sand • “[I]f you read fast and read all, maybe some of the sand will stay in the sieve” (p. 78) • The title of this section refers to a childhood memory where Montag tried to fill up a sieve (a utensil of wire mesh or closely perforated metal, used for straining) with sand. Day 04 (p. 71-91)

43. It is, of course, impossible to fill up a sieve with sand because the sand keeps slipping through the holes. • This same thing is happening as he’s reading this book (the Bible); the words are all slipping through his thoughts and not sticking. • And those loud, interrupting commercials for Denham’s Dentifrice (toothpaste) sure aren’t helping his memory…

44. The Three Missing Things • “It’s not books you need, it’s some of the things that once were in books” (p. 82) • The three things missing in this future dystopia (an imaginary place in which the condition of life is extremely bad, as from deprivation, oppression, or terror) are • quality of information • leisure to digest information • and the right to carry out actions. Day 04 (p. 71-91)

45. Books “show the pores in the face of life” (83). They expose problems and spread ideas. • In the novel, the people’s quality of information is awful. Not only are the stories and news articles the people receive completely watered down and stripped of anything controversial or thought provoking, they are laced with lies and deceit.

46. For example, just think about what the general public thinks about the history of firemen. They think that houses have always been fireproof and that firemen have always started fires as opposed to put them out.

47. Leisure is not TV time; TV is a distraction most of the time – television “tells you what to think and blasts it in” (84). Leisure is time to reflect upon what you read or what new ideas or thoughts you come to.

48. Lastly, books (and the ideas in them) are of no value unless people have the right to carry out actions based on things learned from books. • Unfortunately, it doesn’t look too promising for Montag and Faber that they’ll have much freedom the way things are going.

49. Montag’s Plan • “I’ve a list of firemen’s residences everywhere” (p. 86) • Montag thinks he and Faber could frame the firemen by planting books in their houses or fire departments and then calling in an alarm on them. • Faber doesn’t think this would be very effective in bringing books back into people’s lives because most people don’t even want books anymore. Day 04 (p. 71-91)

50. Faber’s Plan • “I’m the Queen Bee, safe in the hive. You will be the drone, the traveling ear” (p. 90) • Faber has made some two-way communicating devices so that Montag and he can be in constant contact. This way the two of them can work together to confront Beatty. Day 04 (p. 71-91)