Fahrenheit 451 book report

3. Country of author: United States of America

Guy Montag- He is the main protagonist in the story. He is a typical ignorant citizen until he meets Clarisse. He realizes that burning books is not the answer. He is a man who is willing to learn, but has a hard time grasping information. “I’ve been an idiot all the way… I thought I had part of the Book of Ecclesiastes and maybe a little of Revelation” [150].

Mildred Montag- Mildred is Guy Montag’s wife. She is the perfect example of an ignorant citizen. She is clueless and only wants to be one of the crowd. Her entire life revolves around the television and her ‘family’. “His wife stretched on the bed, uncovered and cold, like a body displayed on the lid of a tomb” [20].

Clarisse McClellan- Clarisse is a 17-year-old girl with the wisdom of an old man. She has a miraculous gift of observation. She shies away from conformity and is killed because she questions things, instead of just accepting them. “Her face was a slender and milk-white, and in it was a kind of gentle hunger that touched over everything with tireless curiosity” [5].

7. Themes: A major theme in this book is the outrageous censorship of books by the government. The government in this society is basically burning books so that nobody’s feelings will get hurt. They can’t print material against smoking or drugs, because the users will get offended. They can’t print history books, because a certain race will be offended. The government basically controls the masses through the television. Anyone who attempts to break away from society is either strongly looked down upon, or is killed. “It’ll be even more fun when we can afford to have the fourth wall installed…” [20]. “Come on now, let’s be cheery, you turn the ‘family’ on now. Go ahead, let’s laugh… stop crying, we’ll have a party” [101]. Another theme is the destruction of a persons knowledge through the destruction of books. These people were not only destroying books, but they were destroying ideas. The ideas had to come from somebody who cared a lot about what they were saying. If they didn’t care, then they wouldn’t have taken the time to put it down on paper. Also, if they destroyed all of the ideas, they also destroyed all the mistakes. That just left more room for people to make the same mistake over and over again. “We do need knowledge…the books are to remind us what asses and fools we are” [ 86].

c) Irony: The ironic situation in this book is the fact that Montag is a fireman, but he absolutely hates it. He wants nothing to do with it, yet he tricks himself into liking it. “I suddenly realized I didn’t like them at all, and I didn’t like myself at all anymore. And I thought that it would be best if the firemen themselves were burnt” [67].

d) Point of view: This book is written in the third person. It is from the point of view of a fireman in a mid-life crisis. “He caught her, shrieking. ‘Stop Mildred’ he said” [66].

b) Detail: “…A mechanical hound, a breath of neon vapor, spidering along… the procaine needle flicked in, out, in, and out again” [137].

Some topics in this essay:
Clarisse McClellan, Imagery Bradbury, TV Parlor, Hound- Hound, Beatty- Beatty, Guy Montag’s, McClellan- Clarisse, Guy Montag-, Faber- English, English Professor, “her slender milk-white, slender milk-white gentle, gentle hunger touched, mechanical hound, can’t print, impact reader, montag meets, censorship books, ten thousand, life “montag, touched tireless curiosity”, hunger touched tireless, english professor, burning books, blood blood,