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Fahrenheit 451 Study Guide
Part 3: Burning Bright
Vocabulary:
Incomprehensible (114)— doesn’t make sense
Seize (120)— grab hold of
Penance (121)— self punishment
Illumination (124)—light
Instinctively (124) acting on impulse or intuition; your gut
Indecisive (125) unable to make up your mind
Dilate (133)- expand, get bigger
Phantom (133) -ghost
Grotesque (134)—monstrous, ugly
Oblivion (134)—nothingness
Murmuring (140)—whispering
Cadence (146)—rhythmic flow of words
Converging (148)—joining together or uniting
Simultaneously (149)—at the same time
Avenged (149)—to get or make even
Incite (152)— provoke, stir up
Superior (153)—better, or high quality
Squanders (158)—wastes, or throws away
Obligations (162)—responsibilities, duties
Ritual (163)—custom, rite or ceremony
Study Questions:
1) Who does Beatty call the “little idiot”? Why does he call her this?
He calls Clarisse this because Beatty doesn’t think she faced reality –she saw things differently
than others. He also says that Clarisse made people (Montag) feel guilty and as a result, Montag
changed his mind about books and life in general. She made Montag desire his FREEDOM.
2) What command does Beatty give to Montag on page 116? Why do you think he does this?
He tells him to burn his own house by using the flame thrower, which is a lot more personal. He
wants Montag to learn a lesson by destroying his own place.
3) What emotion does Montag seem to feel as his house burns? What does this tell us about his
character development?
He seems to be enjoying the experience of burning…he feels as though he is destroying his past
life, which made him feel unhappy. Now, he feels good. He wanted to burn everything that felt
strange and empty to him.
4) Who put in the alarm on Montag?
Mildred calls in the alarm even though her friends called in the first alarm.
5) What causes Montag to finally turn against Beatty?
He says that he is going to drop in on Faber (to probably destroy him, too).
6) On page 119, what surprising thing does Montag’s “hands” do?
Montag killed Captain Beatty with the flame thrower.
7) Before Montag kills the Hound, what does it have enough time to do?
The hound injects his leg with procaine, which is a severe numbing chemical that eventually
causes death.
8) Why does Montag go back to his home?
To make sure he doesn’t have any more books at home
9) On page 122, Montag comes to an important conclusion. What does he conclude, and why does
he make this conclusion?
Beatty wanted to die because he didn’t even try to stop Montag.
10) Describe the emotions that Montag feels after he realizes all of the terrible things he has just
done.
He feels sick with himself and guilty as well.
11) Montag puts in his seashell radio. What does he learn?
The cops are after him.
12) Why does Montag decide to go and see Faber?
He goes to see if Faber is all right and he had nowhere else to go.
13) On page 125, what news does Montag hear about what is happening in the world?
War has been declared.
14) Why is it so risky for Montag to cross the street?
The police put out a description of Montag. People drive really fast and hit people.
15) What happens when Montag tries to cross the street? What prevents this from happening?
A group of teens in a car tried to hit him, but he fell and that saved his life.
16) Why does Montag go to Mrs. Black’s house?
He planted a book in the Black’s house (one of the firemen) and called in an alarm on them. He
is paying him back for all the houses he has destroyed (Montag’s form of justice).
17) Montag visits Faber. How is Faber feeling in the midst of this crisis?
He feels alive for the first time in years…this means that he is feeling energetic, adventurous,
and brave.
18) Where does Faber tell Montag to go? Why does he tell him to go there?
He tells him to go down to the railroad tracks and follow the river because he will eventually run
into a hobo camp out in the country. (he will find a bunch of people that went to Harvard, so
they are probably really smart and “reading people”) Montag will be safe with these people b/c
the government is not after these people.
19) What does Montag tell Faber to do after he leaves?
Get rid of his scent in the house
20) What does the seashell radio tell the citizens to do?
They were supposed to open their doors at the same time and find Montag, the only man out
running.
21) How does Montag escape the Hound?
He puts on Faber’s old clothes, throws clothes in river, douses himself w/whiskey, and jumps in
river.
22) What decision does Montag make while he is floating down the river?
He decides that he shouldn’t burn anymore because the sun burns. If the firemen and the sun
both burn, then nothing is left. So, Montag must stop.
23) Montag remembers a time from his childhood. It can be summed up in the following quote: “A
cool glass of fresh milk, and a few apples and pears laid at the foot of the steps. This was all he
wanted now” (143). Why does he think of this at this time in his life?
He wants all the time in the world to take the time to think. This thought makes him feel safe
and secure because this is like a comfort food for him.
24) When Montag gets out of the river, what does he stand there and do as he adjusts to his new
surroundings?
He smells all of the things from nature around him, for instance, pickles, mustard seeds, other
herbs, etc. He just takes it all in. He also notices a deer.
25) What makes Montag think of Clarisse on page 145?
The scenery around him reminds him of Clarisse. He realizes that the same land around him is
where Clarisse probably had walked before.
26) How does Montag explain the difference he sees in the fire on page 146?
This fire was warming instead of burning. The fire provides comfort, unlike the fires that Montag
experienced before (which were destructive).
27) What surprising thing does Montag watch on TV?
Montag was sitting in the woods, but he was watching his own chase on TV. Since the cops couldn’t
find the real Montag, they used another innocent man to make it look like they captured and killed
Montag.
28) Who does Montag meet in the woods?
He meets Granger and other hobos that can no longer be in town.
29) What do each of these men represent? What does Montag represent?
They each represent an author of a book. Hobo=book; they have each memorized all or part of a
book. Montag=Book of Ecclesiastes (from the Bible)
30) On page 153, Granger makes a hopeful statement about man. Write what he says here:
Man “never gets so discouraged or disgusted that he gives up doing it all over again because he
knows very well that it is important and worthwhile” (Bradbury 153). Man will never give up b/c
he knows knowledge is important.
31) When Montag thinks of Mildred back in the city, how does he feel about her?
He realizes that she never did anything, and if she dies, he won’t even cry. He doesn’t miss her.
32) How does Granger sum up a man’s life?
Man should leave something behind on earth: a garden, a child, a book, painting, a house, a wall
built, a pair of shoes.
33) Montag pictures Mildred being hit by the bomb. What does he remember right after this? Why
is that important?
He remembers where they met, which was in Chicago. It’s important that he remembers this
because it shows that maybe once Montag and Mildred really did love each other. It might also
show that Montag does have that photographic memory and when he needs it he remembers
where they met.
34) The phoenix is an important symbol in section 3. Explain what the phoenix represents.
35) What does Granger mean when he says that they are going to build a mirror factory so that they
can take a long look into them?
36) By the end of the novel, what position does Montag find himself in?