Sriram Vasireddy

Ms. Villasenor

Honors English 1 Honors Period 5

29 May 2019

Fahrenheit 451 Socratic Seminar

1) There are several forces working upon Montag. One such force is his inquisitive

nature to read books. As soon as he got home “He stood looking up at the ventilator grill

in the hall and suddenly remembered that something lay hidden behind the grill…”(8).

He is stealing books from the houses he has burned. He is curious about the insides of

those texts. This changes the decisions he is making by making him want to read, to

disobey the law, and do what he wants. Another force is Millie and her indifferent

attitude. After Millie overdoses she thinks she “wouldn’t do a thing like that”(17).

Montag is having a hard time helping her and does not understand her. Montag tries to be

nice and understanding but Millie denies everything he says. Montag does not have a

partner to talk to and get through messes in Millie. This affects his decisions because he

cannot get rid of these feelings. Society is a giant force in his choices, not just at the

beginning, but the book as a whole. In Montag’s world, books are not allowed and have

to be burned(Intro Annotation). If books were not outlawed, Montag would have read and

quenched his thirst for reading. Through society’s expectations of Montag and his job,

Montag has to maintain that image of being a fireman is a good profession. Society

presses him to do what he is supposed to. It stamps his free will and creativity out. There
 is societal pressure to be a perfect mold of what a human should be like, not thinking, not

stepping out of line, or being your own person.

2) From the reader’s perspective, Montag wants to rebel against society and the

expectations placed. We see his society as dysfunctional and in need of replacement. We

know he wants to read and the key to his unhappiness lies in his inability to read books.

The reader realizes that he is one of the few that Beatty was talking about, a rebel. The

reader sees the society and can relate it to past censorship attempts in real life history.

Through reading, Montag will gain a new understanding and happiness with books. We

know societal pressure has gotten to him and is forcing him to pretend to be happy. We

know Montag sees his society as one that is working, he is just unhappy with how it is

working. Montag needs and desires change in his society but he does not know what

solution he needs. Alone with Millie, “[He’s] so mad, and I[he] don’t[doesn’t] know

why”(62). He cannot talk to anyone about it. Millie is too into the ‘parlor’, Clarisse is

dead, and Beatty is someone who likes censorship. Also, as a fireman, he is expected to

be a model citizen and has an expectational pressure set on him. He has to burn the books

he wants to read. He cannot explain his problem to anyone he knows and is always

thinking about it. He cannot get the feeling out of his system until he meets Faber.

3) Clarisse helps Montag realize he has a problem through her happy-go-lucky attitude

and rebellious nature. After the first day the two meet, Montag realizes “He was not

happy… He wore his happiness like a mask…”(9). Montag first realizes his issue the first

time they met. She asks a harmless question and through deeper thinking, Montag

realizes the answer he would usually give is not the right answer. He figures out the
reason for his distress through Clarisse’s question. He realizes he wants to be like her and

her family, talking and happy. After Clarisse’s interaction, he starts to question his

“perfect” society vs. the life he really wants to have. His feelings to read the books is

amplified and made into something bigger. Montag’s later actions are almost all

dependent on Clarisse’s effect on him. Another character that helped Montag discern his

trouble is Faber because of his connection to books. Faber convinces Montag that his

reading is not a bad thing. Up until that point, Montag believed that he was doing

something morally wrong and should not be doing it. After Faber talked to him, he

realized that society is the one that is wrong, reading books should not be outlawed.

Faber physically helps Montag by erasing his scent, telling him where to go, and helping

him throughout his “Dover Beach” scenario. He also helps Montag understand the reason

he has chosen this path of reading. He teaches Montag the meaning of the books he reads.

Mildred also helps Montag perceive his worry by showing him that he is not alone in

feeling unsatisfied. Mildred attempts suicide and prompts Montag to think he is not an

odd person, there are others like him, that are unsatisfied and want something more.

Millie indirectly helps him by always being distracted and wanting the parlor. Montag

knows he definitely does not want to be like that. He is thinking about how he does not

want to be a slave to those TVs. Another unexpected help is Beatty because his speech on

the history of firemen prompted Montag to go away from his expected role. Beatty

reaffirms that his happiness is everything and by that time, Montag knows he is not

happy. Beatty tells Montag and Montag agrees and tries to make his happiness come to

him.
4) In both societies, people get addicted to the fact that they have everything at their

fingertips. When Millie ran out of her house, the first thing she was worried about was

her “Poor family, poor family…”(108). She is addicted to her parlor and will not think of

anything but that. The dystopia of ​Fahrenheit 451 ​is more prone to addiction and

obsession. This does not mean that our society has people that are not already like that.

When information is taken away, one would be sad, but not to the extent of being like

Mildred. In both societies, humanity relies and depends on this technology that is giving

them information. Without this resource that has now become essential, many people

cannot function and humanity would crumble. With this access, however, there are some

benefits. We can learn anything using the internet and can use this resource to connect

with those not close to us. Virtually any question is answered within seconds.

Communication is very easy compared to earlier. Essentially everything has gotten easier

due to information being so close. For example, navigation and contact information.

Instead of a map, GPS is easier and saving things using that information is extremely

easy compared to a couple of decades ago.

5) The theme of ​Fahrenheit 451 ​is how the human will cannot be contained. While those

that censor might want to, it is impossible to fully censor, as somehow, there will be a

​ he theme is seen in Montag’s wanting to find a meaning in his life. Once Montag
way. ​ T

gets the speech from Beatty, he stops working in the perfect mold that society expects,

and also later leaves it to find what he needs and himself. Montag has everything he

could want “And yet I kept sitting there saying to myself, I’m not happy…”(62). His will
 to read and stop conforming helps him to realize the resolution of the book, him running

away.

6) Montag, at the start, fits his mold that society has placed on him. When Clarisse asks

him a question, “He laughed. ‘That’s against the law!”(5). He pretends because it is

against the law. This is a fake Montag. Many in the real world also do the same and

pretend to think like everybody else, suppressing themselves. My life is similar to

Montag’s in the way that, sometimes, I change to fit people’s expectation. My personality

changes when I am around different people. For example, if I meet somebody important

and formal, I would be more polite and fit the expectation set forth, but if I am with my

friends, I would be myself and have fun. Occasionally, my family becomes obsessed with

their technology and I feel like Montag trying to get to Millie, not successful. They

become alienated from me. My family, however, are not always like that, unlike Millie. I

do not always have to fill a mold every time I go outside like Montag. This mold is also

not detrimental towards my mental health, unlike Montag. It does not go against my

interests or my “wants”. Periodically, my group members will not do their part of a

project, which causes me to do the entire thing. Since they have apathy for the project, it

causes me to do extra unplanned work. Occasionally, I get alienation from friends when I

learn about a side that they had that I did not know about. I have lots of alienation from

adults through conflicting schedules, thoughts, and ideas. Adults have many things that I

do not and I have to fit into my parent's schedule. I have arguments based on conflicting

things we want.
7) Montag goes against all traces of conformity. He wants to be his own person and tries

to stop his apathy, through caring about Millie’s overdose, and Clarisse’s death. After

Millie overdoses, he calls the “‘Emergency hospital.’ A terrible whisper”(11). He is

alienated from the other firemen from the start and does not like what they are doing. He

does not try to fix the alienation. He finds people he is not alienated with in Clarisse and

Faber. We both find people we find ourselves in and make friendships with them. Montag

and I try to eradicate our apathy through caring about things and people that do not

concern us. Montag does not conform but I do. I try to go with the flow and change

myself if needed. Montag stays as himself no matter what. These three are a staple in any

society, no matter what, there will always be expectations and indifference. There are

chances of decreasing these three emotions, but no chance of complete eradication.

8) In a community, there will always be a role of the rule-maker such as the government

who wants discipline and will make sure there is order, an enforcer, someone to enforce

those rules. Idle, apathetic people will be in a community, and also excellent intellectuals

such as Montag and Faber who erase scents from their body(129)will be there.

9) The basis for the book is a concern about “a dehumanizing effect of the rapid growth

technology, its misuse, and its victory over the human spirit”(Ray Bradbury). Bradbury

had a fear that technology would make many of us into slaves for it. Technology might

take over human civilization and make no need for humans such as in ​Fahrenheit 451.​

10) They stay at home all day and do not do anything except for firemen, they burn houses

and books. Millie stays at home and cries about Montag maybe taking a break(48). The

professed reason is for comfort and to not have to think. The actual reason is to stop any
rebellion and make them stop thinking. Both societies have an interest in entertainment,

such as the parlor walls at televisions. We treat those that are different with suspicion and

ensure that they do not break laws like the society in ​Fahrenheit 451 ​treats Clarisse.