Fahrenheit 451 Part I Guide Rossi

Pgs. 1-7

Character Development
 Montag - How does Bradbury use indirect characterization to develop Montag?
o How does Montag feel about his job at the beginning of the novel?
o During his conversation, Montag says that “You never wash it off completely,” referring to
the kerosene. What could this mean symbolically?
o Immediately after meeting Clarisse, how does Montag feel?
o What motivates Montag?
o What is the significance of his name?
o What do we learn about his personal life?

 Clarisse - How does Bradbury use indirect characterization to develop Clarisse?

o What is so different about Clarisse? What question does she ask Montag?
o What motivates her?
o What is the significance of her name?
o What do we learn about her personal life?

Internal/External Conflict
What is an internal conflict that Montag experiences when he meets Clarisse?

Setting
 Time
o What details in the text develop the time in which the novel is set?
 Place
o What details in the text develop the place in which the novel is set?
 Society
o What can you tell about the society Montag lives in?
o Why are all the houses fireproof in this society?
o Why are the billboards so long?
o What do the reasons why people are arrested in the book reveal about the society?
o Why would society make "being a pedestrian" a crime?

Theme
 The novel begins: “It was a pleasure to burn.” Why does Bradbury start the novel in this way? Why
might it be more pleasurable to burn books rather than read them? How does that develop the theme?

Imagery & Mood

 In the opening scene, why are the books compared to birds?
 Why is the hose compared to a python?
 What is the mood in the opening scene? How does Bradbury use diction to create it?
 What is the mood in the scene in which Clarisse first appears? How does Bradbury use diction to
create it?
 What is Clarisse compared to?

Pgs. 8-28

Character Development
Fahrenheit 451 Part I Guide Rossi

 Consider the differences between Montag’s life and Clarisse’s life.

 Why does the author introduce the character of Clarisse before Mildred?
 Compare and contrast Clarisse and Mildred. Consider their attitudes, how they approach life, what
they expect from themselves and other people and how they react to their world.
 Think about the comment Montag makes to Beatty about the Hound. What does that interaction
reveal to you about both men?

Symbols
 What is the mechanical hound and what is its purpose? Why is it described as “it slept but did not
sleep, lived but did not live?” Why does it growl at Montag?

Imagery & Mood

 Suicide scene
 Introduction to Mildred

Setting/ Theme
 One suicide and one near-suicide occur in this book. One woman, who shuns books but loves TV and
driving fast in her car, anesthetizes herself,; "We get these cases nine or ten a night," says the medical
technician. Another woman, who cherishes her books, sets herself on fire with them; "These fanatics
always try suicide," says the fire captain.
o Why does suicide happen so frequently in Montag's society?
o Why would two people who seem to be so different from each other try to take their own
lives?
 Montag’s television includes headphones called seashells. The “wall to wall circuit” allows Mildred
to enter the “play” and, therefore, the television programming. Does technology improve the quality
of life for Montag and his wife, Mildred? Why or why not?
 Why does the society consider Clarisse “anti-social”?
o Think about how Clarisse describes schools. What do you learn from her description?
o Think about how Clarisse describes other children her age. What do you learn from her
description?
 Think about the scene with the Mechanical Hound, and the game the firemen play at the station. What
do you make of that?

Text Structure
Ask students to consider why the narrator introduces us to Montag at this time of his life, when he
encounters Clarisse and confronts Mildred’s overdose.

Pgs. 29-65

Narrator & POV

The narrator tells the story with a specific perspective informed by his or her beliefs and experiences.
Narrators can be major or minor characters, or exist outside the story altogether. The narrator weaves
her or his point of view, including ignorance and bias, into telling the tale. A first-person narrator
participates in the events of the novel, using “I.” A distanced narrator, often not a character, is removed
from the action of the story and uses the third person (he, she, and they). The distanced narrator may be
omniscient, able to read the minds of all the characters, or limited, describing only certain characters’
thoughts and feelings. Ultimately, the type of narrator determines the point of view from which the story
is told. Bradbury employs a third-person limited narrator in Fahrenheit 451. We know only Montag’s
Fahrenheit 451 Part I Guide Rossi

movements and thoughts. The narration follows Montag like a camera, and the reader is never allowed
into the lives of other characters, except for what they say to him.
 Why would Bradbury choose that narrator? What is the effect of his choice?

Character Development
 Montag
o What does Montag take from the woman’s house? Why?
o Why would Bradbury tell you that Montag forgot his helmet? What is his purpose in
including this detail?
o What is significant about the fact that Montag “what looking not only at her but for himself
and what he must do, in her face” (Bradbury 63)?
 Mildred
o What is her relationship with Montag like? What does that reveal about her?
o What does Mildred’s reaction to the death of the old woman tell you about her?
 Beatty
o What is the purpose of Beatty’s visit?
o How does Bradbury use contrast in the scene in which Beatty first appears? What effect is he
trying to create? Think about the descriptions that he uses.

Theme
 Pay close attention to the descriptions of the firehouse (and the firemen): what do you make of that?
 When the woman’s house is raided, why does she light the match?
 Reread Captain Beatty’s monologue. Discuss his view that school cultivates anti-intellectual
sentiment. Do students think it accurately depicts their school? Do books violate the idea that
“everyone is made equal?”
 Look at Beatty’s arguments in detail—how does he present sports? What claims does he make about
minorities? How does he explain the withering of reading/books? Who is responsible for it, according
to him? What ideas about equality does he express? How does he defend the role of firemen? What
does he claim about happiness?
 What do you think Bradbury [not Beatty] is telling you about human nature, through Beatty’s speech?
 Beatty takes great pains to give reasons for burning books. What points could you make to counter his
arguments?
 What do you think this means “Out of the nursery into the college and back to the nursery” (Bradbury
52).
 Gender roles—What can you tell about gender roles based on Mildred’s behavior during Beatty’s
rant?

Allusions
 Allusions—what does the old woman say? What does it mean? For what purpose would Bradbury
have her say it?
 Why does Bradbury choose the specific quote that Montag reads from the book? How might it be
significant?

Symbolism
 Mildred’s hunger. Bradbury has used hunger before to create different effects. Look at the mentions
of heat and cold, as well.
 What do you make of Montag’s wish to open the window? Why doesn’t he do it?
Fahrenheit 451 Part I Guide Rossi

 Why is the old woman’s presence in the house significant? What do you think is the symbolism
behind it? How is the imagery different during this burning than it was during previous ones? What
do those differences mean/represent? Why?
 Why does Montag feel “fat”?
 Similes/Symbols—on pg. 62, there is a very symbolic simile. What is it and what does it mean?

Plot Structure & Tension/Suspense

 The fire in the old woman's house is a crisis for Montag. A case can be made for considering this the
climax in the plot. What changes are made at this point?
 Why do you think Clarisse disappears without an explanation?
 Why does Bradbury include the scene where Beatty pulls out his matchbox? What effect does it
create? Why?
 Why did Mildred ask about the book “almost with delight,” even though she knew what it was?
 What do you make of the last sentence of Part I? Why?
 Why does Bradbury begin his novel in media res?

Irony
Where do you see irony?

Syntax & Parallelism

 Syntax—where do you see a significant shift in syntax? What is the purpose?
 Parallelism/repetition—look closely at the paragraph at the end of pg. 40 (it goes on to pg. 41). What
effect does Bradbury create? For what purpose?