Fahrenheit 451 Final Exam Study Guide
Know the following characters/people:
Guy Montag
Clarisse McClellan
Mildred Montag
Captain Beatty
Mechanical Hound
Professor Faber
Ray Bradbury
Understand the following symbols:
Title of Fahrenheit 451
The “family” in Montag’s parlor
Phoenix
Fire
Salamander
Sand in a Sieve
Understand the following terms that relate to theme/genre:
Censorship
Happiness
Government
Independence
Freedom
Individual Choice
Alienation
Dependence on Technology
Dystopia
PLOT:
Be prepared to answer multiple-choice questions on the following questions:
Part I
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Identify Guy Montag and describe his job.
Describe Clarisse McClellan
What smelled like perfume to Montag?
Clarisse asked Montage if he was happy. Was he?
Who is Mildred and what happened to her?
Why did Emergency Hospital send technicians instead of doctors to treat Mildred?
What are parlor-walls?
Describe the mechanical hound.
What did Montage believe had been done to the hound?
Why was Clarisse considered anti-social?
Who gave Clarisse most of her information about the way life used to be?
Who was Captain Beatty?
Who did the firemen know which houses had books?
What lie did Captain Beatty tell Montag?
What did Montag do in the old lady’s attic?
Why were the alarms to burn always at night?
Why did the old woman light a match and commit suicide?
What happened to Clarisse? Was it an accident?
What was Montag afraid Captain Beatty would discover when he came to visit?
20. Why did Captain Beatty believe books should be destroyed?
21. What did Montag show Mildred after the captain had left the house?
Part II.
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Who was Faber?
Why did Montag go to see Faber?
What three elements did Faber feel were missing from life?
What plan did Montag and Faber devise?
What was Montag willing to do to convince Faber to help carry out the plan?
What had Faber designed that allowed him to be in constant contact with Montag?
Why did Faber decide to go to St. Louis?
Why did Montag burn the book of poetry in the wall incinerator at his house?
Where did Montag hide his books after the ladies left?
What was the destination of the alarm on the night Montag returned to work at the firehouse?
Part III.
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Who was the informant on Montag’s home?
Why did Montag kill Captain Beatty?
Why didn’t Montag run away before he killed Captain Beatty?
Where did Montag go after he killed Beatty?
When Montag left Faber’s house, which direction did he go?
Why did Montag take whiskey, a suitcase, and some of Faber’s dirty clothes with him?
What did the railroad tracks mean to Montag?
What was different about the fire Montag saw after leaving the river?
During the manhunt for Montag by the hound, why did the camera identify an innocent man as
Montag?
What was different about the hobos Montag met? Why did each man identify himself as a famous
author or piece of literature?
What had Montag been able to memorize?
What happened to the city during the war?
What did Montag and the intellectuals believe their mission to be once the war ended?
Quotes
Be able to identify who said the following, OR why the quote is significant.
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“Are you happy?”
“Established, 1790, to burn English influenced books in the colonies. First fireman: Benjamin
Franklin.”
“My ‘family’ is people. They tell me things. I laugh, they laugh! And the colors!”
“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!"
“And when the war’s over, some day some year, the books can be written again.”
Literary Terms:
Know the following and be able to identify examples of them from the novel.
Simile
Metaphor
Personification
Imagery
Allusion