Fahrenheit 451
The Symbolism of the
Firemen
Main Characters in Fahrenheit 451
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Guy Montag
Clarisse McClelland
Mildred (Millie) Montag
Captain Beatty
Granger
The Legend of the Phoenix
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A supernatural, beautiful bird
Yellow, orange, gold, red feathers (fire)
Builds funeral pyre, throws self into flames
Reborn into ashes, rises to live again
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Symbol of immortality, life after death, resurrection
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The Salamander
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Greek, meaning “fire animal”
Small lizard, Born of fire & flame
Fire-proof skin, can endure flame without
damage
colors of red, orange & gold = fire, flames
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Symbol of faith & courage
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The Python
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Powerful snake
Biblical reference to Adam & Eve
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Symbolic of sin
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The Hearth
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Fireplace
Contained fire, controlled
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Symbolic of the home
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Symbolic Colors In Fahrenheit 451
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Red – fire, blood, war, danger, power &
passion
Orange – determination & enthusiasm,
aggression, thirst for action
Gold- wisdom, wealth
Yellow – energy
Black- devil, evil, power, death
Guy Montag
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“It was a pleasure to burn”
Futuristic fireman
- caretakers of society
- keepers of peace of mind
30 years old
Married to Millie
- thinks they have good marriage
- can’t remember how they met
Appears to love job, “forced smile”
Clarisse McClelland
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Montag meets her on his way home
“I’m seventeen & crazy”
She doesn’t fear Montag
Questions & talks with him
“Do you ever read any of the books you
burn?”
She is odd, enjoys walks, talking
“Are you happy?”
Mildred (Millie) Montag
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Montag’s wife
Representative of Society
- Escapes
- drugs, ear seashells, TV parlor walls
- Overdosing
- Selfish
- Violent (Clarisse points this out)
Montag & his Meetings with Clarisse
These encounters set up Montag’s future and
his battle against censorship & banned
books
They start his quest for knowledge
Impact of Clarisse
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Opposite of society and its norms
The catalyst – gets Montag thinking
Discovery of Violence of Teens
- teens smash windows, beat each other
- drive recklessly
- “Afraid of others her own”
- They kill each other”
- foreshadows her death “goodbye”
The Mechanical Hound
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A programmable, robotic dog, has 8 legs
Made of rubber & metal
Armed with needles to inject victims with
Morphine or procaine
Programmed by DNA, to find victims
Montag fears the dog, “It doesn’t like me”
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Devil dogs are guardians of Satan, Hades
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The History of the Firemen
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Beatty informs Montag of the Firemen
People long for a simpler life
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Classics cut, short, people lost interest in reading
English, grammar, spelling neglected
Languages dropped
Money & pleasure only important
Minority groups did not like books
People became too politically correct
The Sieve & the Sand
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Montag remembers a story about a SIEVE as
a child
Sieve – Sifter, sand falls through the cracks
Trying to fill a sieve with sand is impossible
How is this like Montag?
Montag’s Trip To Faber’s House
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Montag’s moment of self-discovery
Realizes the “old, burnt-in smile” is gone
Sieve & the Sand = helplessness
Tries to memorize a Bible passage on the
subway
Dentham’s Dentifrice
- toothpaste commercial distracts him
Faber’s House:
Three Missing Things
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Quality of information
-Books have quality, texture, pores
- Provide details of life
Leisure – time to think, digest
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Time to develop own conclusions
Right to carry out actions based on the first 2
View of Families & Marriage
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Relationships & Husbands
- husband off at war, not worried
- replaceable
- no love
Children & Childbirth
- have no kids at all, no desire
- births by cesarean
- don’t want to raise kids, drop them off at schools
- turn the TV on & leave them alone
- laundry, “ruinous”
Beatty & Montag
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Beatty wants Montag to torch his own house
Beatty confesses to sending the Mechanical
hound
Beatty doesn’t realize Montag ENJOYS
buring his house – SYMBOLIC of a life he
hated
Montag burned Beatty – who wanted to die
The Legend of Icarus
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Beatty compares Montag to Icarus (more
proof that he is well-read
A young man who wanted to fly
- made wax wings that worked
- flew too close to the sun/melted & his died
Human Books
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Granger takes Montag to their group
people memorize books to carry the info
Montag would become the backup, if
anything happens to that person Montag
takes over
They were all in hiding, hoping to come back
one day and get people reading & thinking
again
War
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A bomb strikes the city. Everything is
destroyedThey started walking down the
river to return to the city
Hope, of the future
Represent the phoenix/city reborn from the
ashes
Themes
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Disobeying Authority/Government Control
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Technology
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Knowledge vs Ignorance
Allusions
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(see handout)
The book contains many, many allusions to
other books from history.
Fitting for a book about books.