By Johanna Hopkins and Jazmyn Rivera

LITERATURE CIRCLE BOOK

• In the book, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the main character moves setting a lot. The main places in the book are Montag’s house, the firehouse, the corner where he and Clarrise met, Faber’s house, the bus station, the railroad, and the woods.

Montag’s house is small, dark, has standard rooms, two beds, and air ducts. His house also includes a “parlor”, a wall sized television screen.

The firehouses in Montag’s time era are very similar to todays. There is a living area (where they play poker), a brass fire pole, and an area where the fire trucks and fireproof equipment are stored.

The corner where Clarisse and Montag met is very important to Montag. He feels as if the corner is magical, and he felt as if someone was waiting for him there.

Faber’s house is big for him. He lives by himself with only his technology keeping his company. Montag uses this house as a “rest stop” when he is running away from the government.

The bus station is similar to subways in our time era. Montag spends most of his time on a bench, thinking, and waiting for the bus.

The railroad Montag discovers is “home” to a secret network of people that have photographic memory, and have memorized a library of books.

ETTING

This is a picture of the firehouse Montag works at. chicagojournal.com

HARACTERS

Guy Montag is a guy. He is the main character of the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. He works at the firehouse. In this era, the firemen burn books instead of saving people from fire. It’s also illegal to own any type of book. In the firehouse, it’s very similar to the firehouses that we have today. It has the fireman’s pole, a living area and fire-proof gear. In the living area, they play poker while they wait to be called to burn books. All the houses in Montag’s time are fire proof, thus why they don’t need any firemen to save people from fire. He takes pleasure in burning books at first. Then, as the book goes on, he realizes what he’s doing and doesn’t have that pleasure anymore and eventually stops. He questions the motives of the firehouse. He doesn’t understand why they are burning books and why nobody is allowed to have them. He then finds out (by Captain Beatty telling him) that they burn books because they don’t want to make people think. They want the people to only know happy things, to never be sad. He then brought books home. People came to think that Montag was too philosophical, that he thought too hard about things. Montag began to go crazy, to not know what to do with himself. He let Faber guide and control every step that he made after he was given the little green bullet, a communication device in which he could talk to Faber with. After he killed Captain Beatty, he began to be more like a normal person. He began to think for himself and control his actions. He was his own man.

Mildred Montag is Guy Montag’s wife. Mildred is also called Millie by her husband and some friends. She is a little crazy. She once took too many sleeping pills and had to have an operation in which they pumped her stomach to make sure she was okay. She is with the government. She thinks that they shouldn’t have the books. She calls the firehouse and turns in their books. Montag then gets a call at the firehouse, which he then finds out is meant to burn his house. Mildred is like one of the many sheep of a flock. She will follow whatever the other sheep will do, no matter how hurtful or stupid it is. She also listens to whatever the government says on the news on her Seashell. A Seashell is a device you put in your ear to listen to the news. She doesn’t really love Montag, even though they are husband and wife. She doesn’t want to look bad and sucks up anything that the government says. She would even go against her husband, Guy, if need be. Mildred can be nice if things are going smoothly. If her life gets harder, then she doesn’t have everything right with the world. She started to get into fights with Guy when he brought those books home. She was a little scared of them, because if someone found out about it, they would lose everything they had worked hard for all those years.

HARACTER

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/378815-charriesThis is Clarisse McClellan. Clarisse is 17. She has very, very light blonde hair and very light skin that makes her look ghostly in the moonlight.

HARACTER

Clarisse McClellan is a very odd girl that lives very close to Guy Montag. She is one of the minor characters, not too important. They met at the corner of the sidewalk, close to their houses. Guy Montag felt that it was more than a coincidence. Many people call her crazy. She would think way outside the box in her way of doing things. For example, she would stare at the moon at night and would say that there was a face or ‘man’ on the moon. Nowadays, this is a normal thing to know that there is a face on the moon. Then, you wouldn’t really care what went on around you, just what went on with you. So, Clarisse looking at the moon and seeing shapes in it was considered crazy in their era. Clarisse wanted to know the ‘why’ behind things, not the ‘how’ like other ‘normal’ people in Montag’s time. Clarisse was killed by the government because she was different and that was it. She wanted to know more, to have more knowledge and be smart, but all the government did was call her names. Oddball, crazy, weird, out-of-the-ordinary, a mistake. Clarisse never did anything to them, but they didn’t stop to put an end to her, to her questions, to her life. She was just another mistake that they needed to get rid of. A pothole in the street, an infestation of cats, nothing more. To them, she was nothing but a piece of garbage. A little flimsy thing that needed to be thrown away. A piece of garbage and nothing more. That was what Clarisse McClellan meant to them.

Captain Beatty is the captain of the firehouse, Guy Montag’s boss. He’s a little more important minor character. The captain is bold and brash. He doesn’t really care what people think about him, as long as they don’t think he’s breaking the law by owning a book. Captain Beatty is the antagonist of this book. He’s the antagonist because he tries to talk Guy Montag into not following what Faber says. He also doesn’t care when Guy Montag gets his house burned down. In fact, he enjoys it. A real friend would try to console him and not laugh at him all the way. Captain Beatty is all for the burning of books. He thinks it’s right and should be done until every last page is gone. He also tried to encourage Guy Montag that he wanted to burn books, to have pleasure in it, when Guy Montag was starting to doubt the burning of books. Beatty went to Guy’s house when Guy had stolen the book from the house they had burned down. He knew about the book and tried to tell him false lies about how books are bad, hurt people’s minds, make them go crazy, and all sorts of rubbish like that. After Guy burns his own house down, he then burn Beatty and kills him. Captain Beatty was provoking Guy and laughing and making jokes. He wanted to do die. We don’t know for what reason, we can only guess. Maybe he wanted it to stop Montag and make him go crazy, make him have a horrible life. Maybe it was because he wanted Guy to be in big trouble. We’re not sure. But all we know is that he, for some odd reason, wanted to die.

HARACTER

Faber is an old man that lives alone and becomes a friend of Guy Montag. He’s a kind of important minor character. Faber would do just about anything just to hold a book. He helped Guy Montag a lot by giving him a gadget. It was shaped like a little green bullet. You would put this little green bullet in your ear and you could communicate with someone. In this case, Faber and Guy Montag were communicating with each other. He was very book smart and combined with Guy’s bravery, they were invincible, at least, they thought. At the start, Faber was a coward. He didn’t want to go out or do anything that might endanger him. He was scared, but wanted to help in some way so he was talking with Guy Montag through the green bullet. As the book proceeds, he gets braver and braver and Guy Montag helps him along the way. Finally, at the end of the book, he’s brave enough to really stand up to the government. When Guy Montag is running away from the Hound (mechanical device that’s like a dog to track bad people and kill them) he stopped by Faber’s house. Faber said that he didn’t care if the Hound came, following Guy Monatag’s scent, into his hour. Faber said that he would try to buy as much time he could so that Guy Montag could run away. Faber also gave him directions to tell him where the river was, so that it could wash him and his scent away.

HARACTER

Definition: Events in a story that lead up to the climax.

The rising action in Fahrenheit 451 is:Guy Montag was a firemen and loved itGuy Montag meets Clarisse McClellanMildred Montag eats too many sleeping pills and has to have

her stomach pumpedClarisse starts talk Montag into a new perspective of lifeMontag starts to question the motives behind the burning of

booksClarisse is killed by the governmentMontag quits his jobMontag joins the fireforce again, only to receive shocking

news…

LOT-RISING ACTION pnxsolutions.info

Definition: The main event in a story. Most of the time, the entire story is based off of this one event.

The climax in our story is when the firemen are playing poker. Beatty receives an alarm, and tells his crew to suit up, but does not tell his men where they are going. As they arrive at the house, Montag looks with horror when he realizes it is his house they will be lighting on fire. Mildred called Captain Beatty, reporting that there were several books in her and Montag’s house.

This climax is Man vs. Society because the firemen Montag works for is burning his house down. Society made a law that prevents any person to own books, and gives the permission to take necessary measurements to make sure it never happens again, in this case, burning his house down.

LOT-CLIMAXMontag looked with horror when he realized his friends were burning his house.ltfexperts.com

Definition: The events in a story that “tie up loose ends”. Generally

happens after the climax.The falling actions in our book is when Montag finds the

secret network of people, throughout the United States, that have incredible memories, and combined, have enough knowledge of written books to fill a library. This network of people is secret because, again, posessing written books is against the law. Montag finds this

group on railroad tracks after he escapes the city because the firemen he once called his job were burning his house down.

LOT- FALLING ACTION

The group Montag found escaping the city lived on railroad tracks.froginawell.net

“Books bombarded his shoulders, his arms, his upturned face. A book lit almost obediently, like a white pigeon in his hands, wings fluttering. In the dim, wavering light, a page hung open and it was like a snowy feather, the words delicately painted thereon. In all the rush and fervor, Montag had only an instant to read a line, but it blazed in his mind for the next minute as if stamped there with fiery steel. ‘Time has fallen asleep in the afternoon sunshine.’ He dropped the book. Immediately, another fell into his arms.” (p.41, Bradbury)

The mood is suspenseful. This is because this passage is very moving. For example, when the book falls into his arm, will he read it?

MOOD

“In the bathroom, the water ran. He heard Mildred shake the sleeping tablets into her hand. ‘Fool Montag, fool, fool, oh God you silly fool…’

‘Shut up!’ He pulled the green bullet from his ear and jammed it into his pocket.

It sizzled faintly ‘…fool…fool…’” (p.104, Bradbury) The mood in this passage is crazy. You can’t really get a grip of what

is happening because it’s happening so fast.

MOOD

  •“’Get up!’ he told himself. “Dammit, get up!” he said to the leg, and stood. The pain were spikes driven in the kneecap and then only darning needles and then only safety pins, and after he had shagged along fifty more hops and jumps, filling his hand with slivers from the board fence, the prickling was like someone blowing a spray of scalding water on that leg.” p. 125

•The mood in this passage is an uncomfortable mood. The main character, Montag, is in incredible amount of pain. This passage is all about Montag trying to regain his strength, running from the mechanical hound. There is so much detail that you as the reader is uncomfortable reading it.

MOOD

HEME AND ESOLUTION

The resolution is when Guy Montag and his new friends are making plans about what they are going to do when they reach the city.

The theme of Fahrenheit 451 is that we should not take what we have for granted. Especially education. In Montag’s era, having books is against the law, and voicing your opinion is very much looked down upon. We should be lucky that we live in a society where we can read freely and have debates to express what they feel.