QUESTION 1-Fahrenheit 451

What is the major theme of this novel? Why is this theme important to a teenager living in 2007?

The theme of this book is the conflict between knowledge and ignorance. In Montag’s world it is forbidden to read any books because books are regarded as unhappiness for the people in the society. The people started throwing away books when presenting information in a quickly digestible, visual form became possible by televisions or radios. Therefore people naturally stopped reading books and it became a pressure for a book to be easier to read. People began to pursue only instant pleasure so there was no need for books for that reason; firemen became a job to burn books. Even though Montag was a fireman, he kept stealing books from other houses and hid it in his house. When Montag finally read the books, he figured out that burning books wasn’t right and he wanted to spread the books remaining to other people and wanted to make them understand what is true. But the society and the firemen try to stop Montag from running away with books. In this novel, Montag is seeking for knowledge, but the society is preventing Montag and others from it.
The theme of Fahrenheit 451 is important to the teenagers living today to encourage them to have passion for learning and reading. Many teenagers, but not all, only chase instant pleasure which can lead them to tragedies. In the book, because they only seek pleasure, there were no humanity and reality between people and also they were unconcerned by others near them. These cold indifferences could lead our society to an end.

QUESTION 2-Fahrenheit 451

Are there are any current situations in the world that relate to the novel? What are they, and how do they relate? Does the novel shed any light on how current situations could be resolved or "fixed"?

The similar situation to this novel, Fahrenheit 451, is the North Korea’s policy to their citizens. The president of North Korea isolates his country in order to keep his political power in North Korea. Because of him, the North Koreans are cut off from the communications with the other countries. The government keeps their citizens out from reading other countries’ books and to contact with them because they are afraid that the citizens might become aware of their country’s wrong policy and resist to the government.
The North Korea’s policy relates to the futuristic world in Fahrenheit 451 by banning books which they think is “harmful” to their society. The North Korean defectors would be similar to Guy Montag in a way that they tried to live in a better condition and think for themselves freely without someone restricting them. Also the North Korea’s government would be the firemen and policemen who are trying to stop people from reading books in the novel.
In the novel, it ends by having a war and the society being destroyed so I can’t say that this novel sheds any light on how current situations could be resolved or “fixed” but I think we can get a hint from the novel. Just like Montag, we should have courage and be brave enough to stand out for our own thoughts about what is right and what is wrong even though a large majority of people are against us. That way I think we can make our world better by thinking creatively without limits.

QUESTION 3-Fahrenheit 451

Who are the main characters in the novel? Do you like them? Why or why not? What is special about them? What do they reveal about the universal human experience?

The main characters are; Guy Montag, Mildred, Captain Beatty, Faber, and Clarisse.

Guy Montag- Montag was a fireman in the beginning of this story and he thought he was actually happy and enjoyed his life. But he suddenly finds out the emptiness he is in and he tries to fix it by trying to find the solution from the books he stole which was supposed to be burnt. Montag is really special in a way that he tried to get out of his ignorance while the other people in the country just sat in their couch watching their televisions, not even thinking of what is the true meaning of their life. Montag is my favorite character in this book because even though he did not have enough strength to change things in the society for himself, he tried to make things better even so many people were against him. I think he symbolizes justice in his and our world.
Mildred Montag- Montag’s wife Mildred, is obsessed with watching televisions so much. She committed suicide by taking sleeping pills but she denied it. Mildred does not think deeply and does not want to talk seriously. She has no affections for Montag and later she betrays him by putting on the alarm.
Captain Beatty- Captain Beatty explains about history of firemen and why the books were banned form the society. Beatty himself has a lot of knowledge about books but he hates books and enjoys burning it. Later he is killed by Montag.
Professor Faber- Faber is a retired professor and he met Montag in a park at night. He really values books but doesn’t have courage to stand up for his thoughts. When Montag first asked Faber to help him, he refuses Montag but later he decides to help him by telling him what to do. Although he decided to help Montag, he was still not brave enough to fight with the firemen directly. Faber reveals the typical coward because although he new that burning books wasn’t right, he didn’t do anything about it unlike Montag.

QUESTION 4-Fahrenheit 451

What is the climax of this novel? What happens? How do the events of this novel make you feel?

And then he was a shrieking blaze, a jumping, sprawling gibbering mannikin, no longer human or known, all writhing flame on the lawn as Montag shot one continuous pulse of liquid fire on him. There was a hiss like a great mouthful of spittle banging a red-hot stove, a bubbling and frothing as if salt had been poured over a monstrous black snail to cause a terrible liquefaction and a boiling over of yellow foam. Montag shut his eyes, shouted, shouted, and fought to get his hands at his ears to clamp and to cut away the sound. Beatty flopped over and over and over, and at last twisted in on himself like a charred wax doll and lay silent.
-from page 119, Fahrenheit 451

The climax of this novel starts when Mildred turned on the alarm and the firemen including Montag came to his own house to burn the books. At first, Montag didn’t know that his house’s alarm went on but he notices it when the salamander arrives to his house and when he sees Mildred going out from her house with bags. Beatty told Montag to burn his own house and after when Montag did it, he burns Beatty too. Montag himself was so shocked after he had thought what he had just done. When he heard the police coming, he pulls himself together and runs away from his house to nowhere. He later realizes that he was running towards Faber.
I was really surprised when Montag killed Beatty because I thought Montag would never do such a thing. I think Montag could have gotten away from Beatty without choosing a extreme way to kill him.

QUESTION 5-Fahrenheit 451

What is the mood of this novel? Do you find this novel saddens you in any way? Why?

The mood of this novel changes through the scenes but the main mood is very disoriented, menacing, tense, and depressing. The mood enhances when it comes to the climax of the novel, when Montag kills his captain. I think the elements which make the mood overall depressing and tense are because Montag is doing what he is not supposed to do and later he is on a run; so the story stimulates the readers to be strained. But in the beginning of the book when Montag met Clarisse, it felt mystique and a little bit of disharmonious because there were two people who were very different from each other, talking about their life.
This novel is a futuristic novel of United States, so it means that it could actually happen, not to us, but later in the future when our descendants would be living. When I thought of this concept, it made me sadden because it would be crazy to live in a world like in Fahrenheit 451. In this novel, everything is so harsh and it is a tough world to live in. I could see it really harsh when Clarisse said that the sign board of the stores were getting longer and longer because everyone is driving a car so fast that they can’t see the signboard if it’s too small since they go pass the stores so fast. Montag’s world was lack of conversations and they didn’t even care for their own family. One of Mildred’s friends, Mrs. Phelps, said that her husband is in the army and there is going to be a quick war but Mrs. Phelps told them that she isn’t worried about her husband. If a time this cold like Montag’s world comes, it would be a big problem for people to face.

QUESTION 6-Fahrenheit 451

Please choose one passage from the novel that is significant to you. Why is this passage meaningful? Please type it into one of your entries and comment on what you think about the passage.

“Faber?”
“Yes?”
“I’m not thinking. I’m just doing like I’m told, like always. You said get the money and I got it. I didn’t really think of it myself. When do I start working things out on my own?”
“You’ve started already, by saving what you just said. You’ll have to take me on faith.”
“I took the others on faith!”
“Yes, and look where we’re headed. You’ll have to travel blind for a while. Here’s my arm to hold onto.”
“I don’t want to change sides and just be told what to do. There’s no reason to change if I do that.”
“You’re wise already!”
-from page 92, Fahrenheit 451

In this novel, most of the people who live in this time are simple-minded. They only think what they want to think and do only things which please them. They do not think deeply enough to know what they are doing and what they are doing for. Montag was like that, too. He did not question himself why he burns books for his job. He only did things what he was told to do. This passage is very meaningful in a way that Montag learned that he has to think for himself and do what his own mind tells him to do, or else, reading books and spreading it to other people would mean nothing.
This passage was very significant to me because I saw love and true friendship between Montag and Faber. It was hard to see kind feelings for each other in this book since the people were so cold and careless to each other. I think in this passage, Montag found out about true meaning of life. He found out that following what other people said to him wasn’t the meaning of life; at least he didn’t want to live that way. I could see in this passage that Montag’s thinking improved since the beginning of the book when he thought he was happy and was satisfied with his life.

QUESTION 7-Fahrenheit 451

Are there any settings in this novel which you have found to be beautiful? Or disturbing? Or memorable? Describe these settings and comment on why they were meaningful to you.

“What have you got there?” he said.
“I guess it’s the last dandelions this year. I didn’t think I’d find one on the lawn this late. Have you ever heard of rubbing it under your chin? Look.” She touched her chin with the flower, laughing.
“Why?”
“If it rubs off, it means I’m in love. Has it?”
He could hardly do anything else but look.
“Well?” she said.
“You’re yellow under there.”
“Fine! Let’s try you now.”
“It won’t work for me.”
“Here.” Before he could move she had put the dandelion under his chin. He drew back and she laughed. “Hold still!”
She peered under his chin and frowned.
“Well?” she said.
“What a shame,” she said. “You’re not in love with anyone.”
“Yes, I am!”
“It doesn’t show.”
“I am, very much in love!” He tried to conjure up a face to fit the words, but there was no face. “I am!”
-from page 22, Fahrenheit 451

The setting which I have found most beautiful is the sidewalk where Montag and Clarisse used to meet to talk to each other and have conversations. The passage above was the most beautiful but simultaneously it was criticizing Montag’s love for Mildred. I liked the sidewalk setting because it was when Montag had a time to think deeply with Clarisse asking innocently about his life. When I was reading the part when those two were in the sidewalk talking together, it made me feel really comfortable because there were no lies and there talk was very humble.

The most disturbing setting in this novel was the parlor where there were 3 televisions which Mildred calls them “families.” The parlor was always noisy because Mildred turned them on most of the time; in addition there were 3 televisions on at the same time. Montag didn’t like the parlor families either, because he thought the televisions gave nothing but only light pleasure. But the parlor and the 3 televisions were the most important things to Mildred, even more than her husband. Mildred wanted another television so she could have one for each walls and ultimately she would be trapped inside a room with television walls. She would talk with her friends only about what was on TV the previous night.

QEUSTION 8-Fahrenheit 451

Entry of your choice.

I think this book was especially harder to read because of the symbols, paradoxes, and metaphor used in the novel so I tried to find some of the symbols, paradoxes and metaphors that are used in this book.
“Not empty” but “Indeed empty”- In the beginning of the book, Bradbury says the room was not empty at first by indeed empty. Mildred was lying in the bed but the author said it was empty because she had taken almost a bottle of sleeping pills and she was almost dead. I think the author was trying to explain the emptiness in Montag’s world.
The Hearth and the Salamander- This was the title of the first chapter in this novel. Hearth is the floor of the fireplace and the ancient people believed that salamander lived in fire. These two are symbolizing fire which is very important in this novel since Montag was a fireman and fire destroyed knowledge which Montag was seeking.
The Sieve and the Sand- In the book, the author tells a story about the sieve and the sand. When Montag was young, a cousin of his told Montag to fill the sieve with the sand and if Montag does, the cousin would give him a dime. Montag tried to fill the sieve, but the faster he tried, the faster the sieve was empty. There is no way that a sieve can be filled with sand. When Montag figured that he could never do it, he cried. Montag thinks the sieve and the sand is similar to the Bible. If he tried to read the Bible faster, there could be some left, but the details would fall through the sieve. This metaphor is telling how we can’t achieve something very instantly.
The Phoenix- Granger said phoenix was similar to the war they had. The phoenix destroys itself after a few hundred years. From this passage, we can predict that the world would be rebuilt like the phoenix after being destroyed.