Fahrenheit 451 Study Guide

1. What is Guy Montag's job? ... He is a fireman.

2. Describe Montag's job... He finds books in people's homes and burns them. 
3. What were the parlor walls? ... They were a kind of surround television with which the audience could
interact. 
4. Clarisse was considered anti-social because she was part of the old-society where talking and thinking
were appreciated. 
5. Who was Captain Beatty? He was Montag's boss at work. 
6. How did the fireman know which houses had books? ... Neighbors, family members, and friends became
informants and telephoned the authorities. 
7. What happened to Clarisse? She was hit by a car and killed. 
8. Who was Faber? ... He was a retired English professor who Montag turns to for help. 
9. Faber fel that three elements were missing from life: Quality and texture of information, Leisure time to
think and observe and wonder and digest what's been read/observed/discovered, and the right to carry
out actions based on the other two items. 
10. What was the destination of the alarm on the night Montag returned to work at the firehouse? ... His own
home!
11. Who was the informant on Montag's house? Mildred. 
12. Why did Montag kill Captain Beatty? Beatty found out that Montag was wearing a radio transmitter and
he threatened to find the person on the other end of the communication device. 
13. During the manhunt for Montag by the hound, why did the camera identify an innocent man as Montag?
The firemen needed to look successful, so they chose a random solitary man to capture as Montag. 
14. How were these men, the hobos, preserving literature? Each man had memorized a piece of literature to
be written down at a latter time.
15. What did Montag think smelled like perfume? Kerosene.
16. What happened to Mildred after she swallowed too many sleeping pills? Montag had her stomach
pumped, and she had no idea what happened. 
17. What lie did Beatty tell Montag about the origins of their professions? In 1790, Benjamin Franklin
became the first fireman. 
18. How did Montag get rid of his scent when he was on the run from the police and the Mechanical
Hound? He borrowed Faber's dirty, smelly clothes. 
19. What was different about the fire Montag saw after leaving the river? It gave warmth rather than simply
destroying matter. 
20. What book had Montag been able to memorize? Old Testament's Book of Ecclesiastes. 
21. On theme from this novel could be the danger of censorship.
22. How does Clarisse's brief presence in the beginning of the novel affect Montag throughout the rest of the
story? She makes him realize that he is not happy with his life the way that it is.
23. How did the police chase after Montag end? The police found a separate scapegoat to chase and kill for
the tv audience's satisfaction.
24. Montag finally remembered where he met his wife year's ago. They met in Chicago. 
25. What is the significance of the Phoenix that Granger describes? It was a bird that burnt himself up and
rose from the ashes, kind of like this futuristic society and the hobos. 
26. What did Montag and the intellectuals believe their mission to be once the war ended? They wanted to
learn from previous mistakes and always to remember. 
27. Montag identified something he saw in his travels as a path to safety... the railroad tracks. 
28. Why did Montag take whiskey, a suitcase, and some of Faber's dirty clothes with him? He needed some
strong-smelling things to throw the dogs off his scent. 
29. Where did Montag first go after he killed Captain Beatty? Black's house to plant a book there. 
30. If Montag is the protagonist, several things could be considered the antagonist: Captain Beatty, the
Hound, Government/Society.
31. Why was Montag in pain as he ran toward the river? His knee was hit by a speeding car. 
32. Granger said, "Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a
book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted..."
33. Montag said, "There must be something in books, something we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in
a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing."
34. Clarisse said, "Have you ever smelled old leaves? Don't they smell like cinnamon? Here. Smell."
35. Faber said, "I don't talk thinks, sir. I talk the meaning of things."
36. When Montag found the railroad tracks, he followed them away from the city. 
37. Mildred cared more about the "family" in the parlor walls than she did about Montag.
38. Mildred's friends were terrified and angry when Montag showed them a book.
39. The Mechanical Hound followed Montag's scent down to the river, where the scent was lost. 
40. Granger was inspired by his grandfather, who was a sculptor. 
41. Montag realized later that Beatty wanted to die. 
42. Montag "returned" a random book to Beatty so that he could keep what was possibly the last copy of
The Bible. 
43. Montag ran to the river with an injured leg/knee. 
44. The Mechanical Hound found a random citizen instead of Montag to kill on tv for everyone to see. 
45. The railroad tracks led Montag to the camp of former professors and literary enthusiasts who were
working to preserve books in their memories. 
46. Montag was forced to burn down his own house and kill Beatty. 
47. Beaty confiscated Montag's earpiece and listed to Faber on the other end just before he died. 
48. Montag planted books in fireman Black's house. 
49. After Montag killed Captain Beatty, he ran to the alley to save his books.