Fahrenheit 451 by Chloe Spartos

Fahrenheit 451 Theme Song- We Didnt Start the Fire, by Billy Joel

chloespartos082 — 2017-03-27 15:10:52 UTC

I chose We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel because Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is all about history. Montag is constantly trying to understand how the world he lives in got to be the way it is and why it is this way. History is such a critical part of this book from when Montag and Clarisse are talking about the origin of the firemen to when Montag tries to remember when he first met his wife the history told throughout the book but it seems to be a fuzzy topic for most every character. Billy Joel accurately expresses forty years of history in just a couple minutes repeating the phrase "We didn't set the fire it was always burning since the world's been turning. We didn't start the fire. No, we didn't light it but we tried to fight it" perhaps Joel was referring to the constant chaos that came from most of the listed events however the same idea keeps being repeated through the song. The idea that people tried and are trying to change things to be better but are repressed by the human condition which in this case is the element of destruction the burning feel of chaos and the burning desire to be in control of the most basic things such as books.

Who is Faber?

chloespartos082 — 2017-03-27 15:16:48 UTC

Faber was previously a college professor before books were banned and ridiculed for what ideas they might contain. Faber helps Montag learn to think for himself in the second chapter of the book, explaining what the bible means and providing Montag comfort when Captain Beatty twists his words into labyrinths full of traps that are meant to provoke rage in Montag.

Who is Guy Montag?

chloespartos082 — 2017-03-27 15:17:47 UTC

Guy Montag is the main character of Fahrenheit 451. Readers uncover the story through Montag's thoughts and revelations and discover joy when he begins to think for himself

Resolution

chloespartos082 — 2017-03-27 15:18:17 UTC

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury leaves readers with a bitter taste in their mouths as the ending of the novel feels more like an unraveling sweater that leaves the reader with their naked thoughts and a sudden existential crisis. Bradbury's ending scene is Montag and the group of men walking back the destroyed city ready to look for survivors and teach those survivors the books that they have memorized. With the knowledge that his wife is more than likely dead, Montag walks back to the city in silence and then he remembers a part of the bible that he had read, a verse describing the fruit that a tree bears and how its leaves heal the nations. The resolution shows Montag's character through the novel, from being a sheep in a field of wolves, choking out any individuality, to becoming a Sheppard and a light for those who need him to be strong.

Climax

chloespartos082 — 2017-03-27 15:18:43 UTC

The climax of Fahrenheit 451 was difficult to pin point but after some considering the climax of the novel is when Montag is running from the mechanical hound, trying to escape any punishment the firemen have for him, running to escape who he used to be and running to the books that provide free thought. This was one of the most tense moments in the book because Montag all within an hour watched his wife leave him for good, murdered his old friend and boss Captain Beatty, and was almost killed by some kids in a car who tried to run him over. In this moment Montag seems hysterical but he pushes himself to go on and keep running from what is most certainly death.

Conflict #1

chloespartos082 — 2017-03-27 15:19:03 UTC

In the first chapter of the book Montag is a mystery confusing the readers and changing their expectations mostly with his thoughts. One of the most intense moments in the first chapter is when Montag is debating what to do with a woman who refuses to leave her house full of books and eventually burns herself alive in rebellion. Montag continues to dwell on the idea that something was in those books that made that woman crazy enough to die for them and soon enough he starts to read but the fire captain, Beatty, knows that Montag has a book and is waiting for him to burn it and prove his loyalty to his job, however with all those new ideas swimming around in his head, Montag becomes torn between what society tells him to do and what is right for him and the rest of the world.

Conflict #2

chloespartos082 — 2017-03-29 15:15:54 UTC

In chapter two of Fahrenheit 451 Montag starts to really read the books that he has hidden away in his house however he can't understand what the author means or what the author is referring to when he reads. A scene is written for the readers to understand why Montag goes to a Mr. Faber to learn how to read these books and understand. Mr. Faber had been a college professor before the school had shut down and books were being burned regularly. Montag discovered that Mr. Faber had been reading a book of poetry before he quickly stuffed the small book into his pocket.

chloespartos082 — 2017-03-30 00:59:40 UTC

Faber Quote #1

chloespartos082 — 2017-03-31 03:33:44 UTC

“You're a hopeless romantic," said Faber. "It would be funny if it were not serious. It's not books you need, it's some of the things that once were in books. The same things could be in the 'parlor families' today. The same infinite detail and awareness could be projected through the radios, and televisors, but are not. No,no it's not books at all you're looking for! Take it where you can find it, in old phonograph records, old motion pictures, and in old friends; look for it in nature and look for it in yourself. Books were only one type or receptacle where we stored a lot of things we were afraid we might forget. There is nothing magical in them at all. The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us. Of course you couldn't know this, of course you still can't understand what I mean when i say all this. You are intuitively right, that's what counts.”
pages 78-79
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Faber Quote #2

chloespartos082 — 2017-03-31 03:36:58 UTC

“But we do need a breather. We do need knowledge. And perhaps in a thousand years we might pick smaller cliffs to jump off. The books are to remind us what asses and fools we are. They’re Caesar’s praetorian guard, whispering as the parade roars down the avenue, ‘Remember, Caesar, thou art mortal.’ Most of us can’t rush around, talk to everyone, know all the cities of the world, we haven’t time, money or that many friends. The things you’re looking for, Montag, are in the world, but the only way the average chap will ever see ninety-nine per cent of them is in a book.”
Page 82
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Faber Quote #3

chloespartos082 — 2017-03-31 03:43:41 UTC

“So now do you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life. The comfortable people want only wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless.”
― Ray Bradbury

Montag Quote #1

chloespartos082 — 2017-03-31 03:45:24 UTC

“My feet," said Montag. "I can't move them. I feel so damn silly. My feet won't move!"

"Listen. Easy now," said the old man gently. "I know, I know. You're afraid of making mistakes. Don't be. Mistakes can be profited by. Man, when I was young I shoved my ignorance in people's faces. They beat me with sticks. By the time I was forty my blunt instrument had been honed to a fine cutting point for me. If you hide your ignorance, no one will hit you and you'll never learn.”
page 100
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Montag Quote #2

chloespartos082 — 2017-03-31 03:47:12 UTC

“Nobody listens anymore. I can't talk to the walls because they're yelling at me, I can't talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough it'll make sense. And I want you to teach me to understand what I read.” 
page 78
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Montag Quote #3

chloespartos082 — 2017-03-31 03:51:49 UTC

“That's the good part of dying; when you've nothing to lose, you run any risk you want.”
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

chloespartos082 — 2017-03-31 03:56:10 UTC

chloespartos082 — 2017-03-31 04:00:07 UTC

chloespartos082 — 2017-03-31 04:00:41 UTC