Name:_______________________________
Homework: Fahrenheit 451 Introduction and Pages 1-21:KEY
Summary (20 points)
Write a brief summary (5-7 sentences) of what happened in this section of the book (pages 1-21).
In this first section of the book, we meet Guy Montag, who is a “fireman.” However, his job is to start
fires, not to put them out. His life is changed by meeting a teenaged neighbor, Clarisse, whose insight,
thoughtful questions, and unusual behavior make him question his career and his idea of happiness.
Montag arrives home after work one day to find his wife, Mildred, unconscious from an overdose of
sleeping pills. He calls the emergency services line, but no doctors are available because of the volume
of similar calls. Two unfeeling, low-level technicians pump her stomach. Mildred wakes up the next
morning not remembering—or refusing to remember—what happened. Montag continues to think
about Clarisse and experience the world with a greater sense of questioning and wonder.
Introduction (15 points)
1. Who is Neil Gaiman, who wrote the introduction to the book?
Neil Gaiman is a famous author who also writes speculative fiction. His notable books include Stardust,
American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. Gaiman was also a personal friend of Bradbury’s,
despite their age difference.
2. What is the purpose of speculative fiction according to Gaiman?
Gaiman says that the purpose of speculative fiction is to ask questions, such as “What if?” “If only…” and
“If this goes on…” so that we cannot only imagine the future but better understand our present as well
(Fahrenheit 451, p. xi).
3. What does Gaiman mean when he says a story is actually about a lot of things? What are some of
the things that Fahrenheit 451 might be about, according to Gaiman?
Gaiman meant that stories can have plots and characters and things that happen, but that these stories
can also represent larger problems and issues. For example, in Fahrenheit 451, Gaiman says that the
story was at first for him about independence and thinking for yourself (p. xv). However, he also said
that the book could represent the society in which Bradbury lived—America in the 1950s—which had
just discovered television and was getting used to spending evenings gathered around the set in the
dark. The book also reflected how America was going through the Cold War with Russia as well as
McCarthyism, a time in which some people were questioned and even arrested for their political beliefs.
In addition, the book reflects a 1950’s fear of a new teen culture that was seen as aimless, destructive,
and enamored of strange new forms of thrill-seeking and entertainment (such as rock–and-roll).
Pages 1-21 (35 points)
4. On page 1, what is the “great python spitting its venomous kerosene” that Montag holds?
The “great python” is actually a metaphor for Montag’s fire hose, which is filled with kerosene and
which he uses to burn books and buildings.
5. Montag is a “fireman.” How is Montag’s job different from what you have always thought of as
what a fireman does? Does Montag like his job? Give evidence from the book for your answer.
Normally, firemen put out fires, but in the world of Fahrenheit 451, firemen burn things on purpose. At
first, Montag seems to like his job. On p. 1, he imagines himself roasting marshmallows on a stick at one
of the fires he starts and on p.2, whistles happily on his way home from work. However, after meeting
Clarisse, Montag changes. He begins to doubt the value of what he does, and on p.8, begins to talk to
himself in the mirror and question his happiness.
6. How did meeting Clarisse affect Montag?
After meeting Clarisse, Montag begins to question everything in his life and his world. He wonders if he
is truly happy and if firemen truly used to put out fires instead of start them. He starts to notice things
more carefully and with a sense of Clarisse’s child-like wonder, such as when he tries to taste a raindrop
on p. 21.
7. What did Montag find when he got home?
Montag found his wife, Mildred, unconscious from an overdose of sleeping pills. Whether she took them
by accident and merely forgot the number she had taken, or whether she had actually tried to kill
herself, is not made clear.
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8. Use an adjective to describe what kind of world is portrayed in Fahrenheit 451, and then provide
two events from the text that show why you selected that word.
I would describe the world of Fahrenheit 451 as “scary!” The book shows a world in which people are
not allowed to read books and are dependent on technology and media for their every thought and
entertainment. It describes a world in which people are discouraged from communicating with each
other or thinking for themselves.
9. What are three things you can be arrested for in the world shown in Fahrenheit 451?
In this world, you can be arrested for owning or reading a book, for being a pedestrian, and for driving
too slowly.
10. How was Clarisse’s house different from the other houses on the street?
In contrast to the other dark, quiet houses on the street in which people silently watched their TV walls,
Clarisse’s house was brightly lit and filled with the sounds of people laughing and talking.
Your Questions about the Book So Far (10 points)
Write two questions of your own about the text that you would like to discuss in class:
11.__________________________________________________________________________________
12.__________________________________________________________________________________
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451: Vocabulary (20 points)
Write 10 new words you saw in the text you read this week. For each word, write the page you saw it
on, the part of speech, the definition, and a synonym for the word.
New Word
dissent
Page Number
p. xv
Part of Speech
noun
Definition
Synonym
When people
disagree about
something
disagreement
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