“Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.”
Ray Bradbury
FAHRENHEIT 451
PART I (24 – 40)
Describe the Mechanical Hound. How does it encompass oppositions? What do the men
do with the Mechanical Hound when they are bored in the firehouse? Why is Montag
afraid of it?
If you had to take an educated guess, what do you think Montag has hidden behind the
ventilator grille in the hall at home?
Clarisse notes a change in Montag. She notices he seems more . . . ? (29)
Why doesn’t Clarisse go to school? How does she describe her schooling? What does
she reveal about the actions of children in this society? (29 – 30)
Slow Down: Clarisse explains to Montag that people don’t seem to talk about anything.
“No, not anything. They name a lot of cars or clothes or swimming pools mostly and say
how swell! But they all say the same things and nobody says anything different from
anyone else. And most of the time in the caves they have the joke boxes on and the
same jokes most of the time, or the musical wall lit and all the colored patterns running
up and down, but it’s only color and all abstract. And at the museums, have you ever
been? All abstract. That’s all there is now. My uncle says it was different once. A long
time back sometimes pictures said things or even showed people” (31).
What does this quotation reveal to us about this society? Could this be our future?
Agree, or disagree.
On page 33, Montag begins to notice the world around him. What does he realize about
his fellow firemen?
Stop for a moment and conduct a little Internet research. Bradbury has the characters
encounter two quotations, one on page 36 (“Play the man, . . .”) and one on page 37
(“Time has fallen asleep . . .”). Explain the origins of these quotations and the possible
reason(s) why Bradbury has used them as allusions in this novel.
Identify and describe Montag’s changing view on books. Look at the very bottom of 36
to the top of 37. Then, look to the bottom of 37 as the books and magazines fall around
Montag.
What does Montag smuggle out of the house?
What does the owner of the house decide to do?
Hopefully Beatty’s information about the “Master Ridley” matches what you found in
your research. What is revealed about Beatty’s knowledge? Is this information
surprising to you? Why or why not?