The ABCs
of Fahrenheit 451
By Jay, Rory, Bishop, and John
is for Apathy
Apathy is a lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of
general importance or appeal. Most people in Fahrenheit 451 are
extremely apathetic. Montag cried when he discovered how apathetic
he was. He realized he would not care if his own wife died. This was
brought on by how selfish people had become and how often bad
things happened. When the maintenance people came with the
stomach pump and the blood transfusion machines, they weren’t even
doctors and they showed no emotions while they brought back a
person from the brink of death.
is for books
Book are totally banned in the time of Fahrenheit 451. People
just stopped reading them at first, but then they started burning
them and books slowly became illegal. The government just
pleased the people because it didn’t make books illegal until
people stopped reading. Once non-readers found out others were
reading them, they demanded to be made equal because they
thought that if someone read, it gave them an unfair advantage
over them.
is for Captain Beatty
Captain Beatty was the fire chief. He knew a lot about books and
despised them. Beatty knew Montag had books and tried to get
him to turn them in. He slowly tried to trick Montag into admitting
he had more books, but before Montag could slip up, he got calls
to go to his house. Beatty ordered Montag to burn his own house
and the books inside. He then egged Montag on to shoot the
flamethrower at him and got killed when Montag did.
is for Dearth
Most people in this book had a dearth of thinking. This was
caused by not reading books and not having any time to think.
Front porches were eliminated so that people could not sit outside
and talk to people and think. Also, TVs were extended wall to wall
and the shows on them were absolute nonsense so that when
people were watching, they would not think about anything.
People also were constantly bombarded by advertisements on
their seashells and while on trains and in other public places.
People wore seashells that kept their ears filled with music or
is for Ember
An ember is a glowing cinder or red hot ash. This was
what was mostly left after the firemen showed up at
people’s houses. Embers captivate people that are
watching; that’s why fire was used to destroy books. The
fire and embers would keep the firemen entertained and
keep them from thinking too much about why they burn
the books or any other thoughts.
is for Faber
Faber is the man Montag saw in the park a year earlier before
his life as a fireman went downhill. He quoted poems constantly
as he talked to him knowing it would either make him a friend in
the future or an enemy. Montag remembered Faber when he
realized he could not understand the books and needed a
teacher. Faber was cautious at first but then let Montag in and
helped him with his life. Faber later told Montag where to go
and probably helped save his life.
is for Guy Montag
Guy Montag was the protagonist of the story. He first started off as
a mindless fireman who was apathetic to life. After he met a little
girl named Clarisse, everything changed. Montag started to think
about life and think about the reason why things are the way they
are today. By the end of the story he had burnt his own house
and was on the run from the police. Montag survived the war
because he had fled the city and met up with others who had
memorized the great books of history.
is for Hound
The firemen used special mechanical hounds that hunted down
criminals for them. The hounds would hunt down the prey and then
inject them full of drugs that would numb them and eventually just kill
them. Montag thought that someone had set the hound to his specific
proteins because of how often the hound growled at him or chased
him. Towards the end of the story the hound injects Montag’s leg full
of drugs and left him barely able to walk. The hound was on his trail
and was quickly following every move he had made since he ran
from his home.
is for Intellect
Intellect is the ability to learn and reason and it is the capacity
for knowledge and understanding. Most people had no signs of
intellect. They did not even notice that the shows on TV were
just constantly yelling and had no story line to them. Montag
showed he did not have intellect when he was reading the
books but could not understand or even remember what he had
just read. Also Mildred showed signs of not being intellectual
when she forgot that Clarisse had died and did not remember to
tell Montag until four days later.
is for Jesus
In the book, Jesus has become a spokesperson for companies.
He helps advertise products for people to buy. This shows that
religion was completely wiped out after books were. They didn’t
want people thinking about how life was started and other things
like that. Faber says how he wonders if God would even
recognize his son after all they did to him.
is for kerosene
Kerosene was used to burn the books and houses in the story.
The firemen would just take out a hose and spray all the books
and walls with kerosene and then light it and watch it burn. At the
end of the story, Montag is made use a flamethrower instead of
Kerosene and that led to his escape. Montag had become so
used to the smell of kerosene on his cloths that he didn’t even
notice the smell. That shows how often they burned books.
is for Leisure
People in the book had no leisure time. All the time they had to
themselves was filled with mindless entertainment. They had no
leisure time to think to themselves and that kept them mindless
and apathetic. The government tired to give people no leisure time
to think because anywhere they went they would have to hear the
sound of advertisements or the sound of just noise.
is for Mildred
Mildred was Montag’s wife. She was very stupid and not intellectual.
At the start of the story, she almost died because she overdosed on
the sleeping pills she was taking because anytime she took a pill she
would forget she took one a short time later and take another one.
She also did not remember how or when the first time her and
Montag met. When she first found out Montag was hiding books she
was afraid and thought about how it would endanger their lives. She
was slowly burning the books one by one. She ended up turning in
Montag after what he did when her friends were over.
is for Nonsense
The society in Fahrenheit 451 is
nonsense. They do not think or
decide anything around them.
is for the
Old Lady
who burns down her own house
with herself inside. This shows
the passion books have on
people’s lives.
is for Phoenix
The Phoenix is the bird that dies
in fire and is reborn in the ashes.
The firemen in Fahrenheit 451
have this on their uniforms.
is for Quality
Quality is one of the three things
a book has to have, according to
Faber, the English professor.
is for Ray
Bradbury,
the author of this novel. He shows
the censorship of books and the
dangers of technology throughout
this book.
is for
Salamander
The Salamander is the lizard that
is able to live in fire. The
Salamander is a symbol on the
firefighters uniform.
is for Two atomic
wars
There have been two atomic wars
in the society of Fahrenheit 451.
This shows the destructiveness of
man’s technology.
is for Undermining
Montag
and the group of people at the end of
U is for
the book undermine the authority of the fire
department by memorizing books and
eventually planning to rewrite them in the future.
is for Violence
The government in Fahrenheit 451
destroys houses and removes people
from the society that think. They use
Violence to make everyone the same and
make sure they don’t think.
is for White
Clown
White Clown is the television show that Mildred
watches, and all it involves is a clown that
juggles. It does not allow any time to think.
is for the eXtirpation
of books. The civilization in Fahrenheit 451
is not allowed to read books. Therefore, the
books in Fahrenheit 451 are being
eXtirpated.
is for Y
are the intelligent so feared
in this society?
is for Zippers
The society has become so lazy that it
replaced buttons with Zippers. This is
another point Bradbury makes to
show how technology is bad.
THE END
The End of the
Fahrenheit 451 ABCs