Fahrenheit 451: Final Thoughts

Overall, Fahrenheit 451 was an easy read. It moved along nicely and did not spend too much time on one subject like The Grapes of Wrath. It had an interesting plot and a great cast as my last blog entry explained. I liked the story about how, in the end, Montag was able to rebirth the world, it seemed. I like Ray Bradbury. He did a good job with this novel. It was interesting that he killed off Clarisse because that really messed with my mind. I did not see that coming at all, but it made me get more into the book. The enthusiasm necessary to read The Grapes of Wrath just plain was not there for me. That was the most difficult book ever to get through. This one, however, had good plot turns and suspense which helped me get through it much more easily. Word choice in this book also played a huge role. I do not remember too many big words or phrases that tripped me up. Everything basically flowed from the opening line to the final word. Montag was a real, not down to Earth kind of guy (haha, no pun intended) and a serious headcase. He was not mischievous, but rather wide open with what he intended on doing. He would go out and pretty much announce his plans to the world, and then he was surprised when everything bad started happening. He was also kind of stupid, in general. He was lackadaisical in motion and redundant in thought, considering that he rarely thought things through. Instead, he was a go-to kind of guy, and by that, I mean he was a go-to-somewhere-and-do-whatever-I-want kind of guy (again, no pun intended). I kind of liked that in him, despite it almost leading to his ultimate downfall. It was amazing that he was able to get away, but I suppose there would have to be sort of suitable end to his long journey. It was just too bad it was not death.

Farhrenheit 451: Thoughts - Part II

I really liked the reality of the characters in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. They were symbolic in nature and represented different sides of real life. Guy Montag is a normal man, until he meets this girl who totally changes his outlook on everything, even himself. He is full of confusion and leads himself into situations that require quick thinking; not everything he does is well thought out like in some other books. He acts mostly on impulse, like the nature of most human beings in real life. Then, there is Mildred, the caring, devoted, and loving wife of Guy Montag. She is a sweet woman who is always dedicated to her life partner. Ha. Not. Mildred has one of the most turn-around kinds of personalities imaginable. She loves the soap opera, seems fascinated by books, which are illegal, yells at Montag for not doing what she says, and finally turns him in to the firemen for having the illegal books. She is probably the closest thing to an antagonist in this novel as anyone. That would be true if there was not Captain Beatty. Beatty is what I think of as a complete fool. He seems to care about Montag as more than just a co-worker judging by the speech he gives Montag. But he is also the sort of person who is hard to read. He also seems sort of insane. He has been working as a fireman for quite some time if he is the captain, but he also apparently had a strong relationship with books at one point. He knows an awful lot about the big no-no, but he is nearly afraid to show his love for books, and I am not really sure why. I guess it would revoke his job title if someone found out. Then, finally, there is Clarisse McClellan. Clarisse is quite the oddball. She is so much different than society allows, but she likes the way she is. She feels happy with her life and asks the most difficult questions at times. I think Clarisse was my favorite character partly because she was so mysterious, like her disappearance. Her presence in Montag's life sparked a change in thought for him, and it really started opening doors for him to climb through.

Fahrenheit 451: Thoughts - Part I

What happened to Clarisse? Where did she go? I really liked her. She was different than everyone else, and that made her stick out as in important character. Why did she have to get killed off? All she wanted was to know more about the world? Is that such a crime? Oh, yeah, I forgot, it is. This entire society without books is messed up. Homes are fireproof but can still burn down; firemen start fires; books are illegal; people's jobs make them go insane; no one is allowed to ask questions; people are silenced for moving against the current. The fireproof homes sound beneficial, but nothing else in that list seems right. Also, I do not think, just because books are banned, any of this will ever happen in the real world. Even if it were to happen, I also do not think the government would start raining nuclear warheads on the civilians. The city as a whole was not doing any wrong; it was mainly Montag. What kind of idiots are unable to catch a criminal who is on foot and alone in a futuristic society where televisions are enormous and cars are allowed to go super fast. It seems like someone would be able to find him fairly easily and, so long as the police force is not as stupid as Captain Beatty who handed his own death to Montag, alert the police to his whereabouts. Everything about this book is wrong. However, I really enjoyed reading it. It was pretty suspenseful throught to the very end, and it had an enticing set of characters who seemed very realistic and lifelike. Montag had a real human side because of all the misunderstanding in his life and misguidance he gives himself. He is so confused by what is happening all around him that it seems he will not climb out of the hole. But, like every good protagonist, he is somehow able to make one final run for the exit, just in time, to save his life and restart everything.

Fahrenheit 451: Mildred Montag - Part II

Really, Mildred? Did you really turn in your husband? Did you actually just do that to him? I thought you were enjoying reading those books and learning new things; were you not? How could you do that to such a feeble man? How could you betray the trust of the man whom you pledged yourself to for better or worse? You should have been able to see him deteriorating in front of your eyes. I thought I knew you better than that, Mildred. What did you accomplish by doing that to your one, true companion? He saved your life, you know! You were just about to leave the world forever, and this nice man came to your rescue and saved your life. You disgust me, Mildred. But, enough of me complaining about the awful character that is Mildred Montag and how I do not like her after that horrible act she did unto her husband, such a good man put into unfortunate circumstances causing him to crack under the pressure of living. Honestly, he should have been the one to attempt suicide. Okay, now I am actually done. Mildred is quite the character. She hates her real life and tries to escape it by hiding herself in the parlor and drowning her own sorrows with the sorrows of her favorite soap opera. She is surprised when Guy reveals his stash of books he has kept hidden from her, but come on, anyone could have seen that coming from eleven miles away. She really cannot be that stupid. She is also a character of mistrust and illusion when she proves that she is not a true friend and rats out Guy for having the books. She does not let Guy live his own way; instead, she expects him to live her way. I am seriously doubting if there is a heart under that chest of hers. I really just do not like her. She is not a nice lady.

Fahrenheit 451: End of a World

According to some sort of mythology, the noble phoenix is a bird of legend. A phoenix is said to die in one life in a massive ball of fire, only to be reborn from the ashes of its former body. Illustrating this idea perfectly is Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 in which the world ends under the power of nuclear proportions and is forced to be reborn. At the end of Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag happens across a group of wanderers who have been memorizing books in preperation for the apocalyptic end of mankind. They know it will be coming, but the question remains in when. Their answer is given with the arrival of this newcomer, Guy Montag, who brings with him destruction in the form of bombs on the city. These bombs are a last ditch effort to rid the world of the illegal books by the government and the firemen. These bombs not only accomplish the goal of completely annihilating the books, but they also wipe out most of the population of the city. Luckily, there is a small and brave group of poeple, the homeless men and now their new compadre, Montag, who are getting ready to rebuild society in the shape they want. This shape, left for the reader to assume, is most likely one including books as a source of knowledge and joy, since there is some fun left in reading and there are some people who still possess the knowledge of the once written words. This rebirth, of sorts, can easily be compared to the rebirth of the phoenix. From within the deepest, darkest depths of the begotten, there will rise a new form, a form of grace and subtlety to continue the journey of its last counterpart in hopes of better life. The phoenix is supposed to rebirth from its ashes in a new and improved fashion, one that could be in beauty or strength. Just like the bird, the men of the story are to remake everything from the ground up and refurbish something to make it better, possibly, in my opinion, to include books in every home again.

Fahrenheit 451: Summary - Burning Bright

Okay, first of all. I know I ended the last entry with Montag's house burning down. This is so not true, but it would have been so much more epic if it had been true. That would be a suiting end to the book; just kind of and "in your face!" to Montag. "Burning Bright" is the title given to the third and final section of Fahrenheit 451. It is so called because of the numerous instances of fire in the section. It starts with Guy Montag on the way to his home on an alarm call. When he arrives at home, he sees Mildred heading out of the house with all her things packed up in suticases, and Guy is led to assume that she was the one who alerted the firemen about the books. Beatty leads Montag into the house and gives him a flamethrower, which he uses, not for the intended purpose, but to scorch his long time friend and mentor, Captain Beatty. Montag had two options: option one was to destroy everything he had worked for in his home; option two was to destroy everything he had worked for from inside him. He chose to destroy everything inside himself by killing Beatty. After murdering his boss, Guy runs out into his backyard and digs up the four books he had also been hiding in the ground. The firehound races up onto Montag and injects his leg with something to make it go completely numb. But, just like he did with his last problem, Montag turns the flamethrower on it and gets it off his leg. He runs from his house as news helicopters and another mechanical dog track him. he ends up going to a co-worker's home to hide the books in his house and calls an alert to the house to draw some attention away from himself and onto this poor, unknowing, innocent man. Then, he runs to Faber's house, where Faber tells him to follow the railroad tracks, and he should meet a group of people. Guy runs down to a river and jumps in, hoping it will mask his scent trail from the dogs that could still be chasing him. Montag floats downstream for a while until he floats ashore. He meets the group of homeless men, and their leader introduces himself to Montag as Granger. he tells Montag that the group is memorizing books so they will be able to rebuild society when the world ends. Shortly thereafter, bombs are dropped all over the city, and the city is no more. The group then walks up the river to renew life and hopefully be reborn like the phoenix is said to do.

Fahrenheit 451: Summary - The Sieve and the Sand

The second section of Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, "the Sieve and the Sand," receives its name from a childhood memory of Montag's. He remembers himself at the beach, trying with no prevail to fill a sieve with sand and crying because the job is not possible. It begins with the Montags continuing their desperate reading in the hall of their home. Guy is thinkin gabout Clarisse and why she was the way she was. He keeps on thinking and remembers and old English professor he once met in the park who had given Montag his telephone number, and he tries to give the man a call in search of some information on the Bible he found in the woman's house. But, the feisty old man does thinks this question is too upfront and thinks he is being tricked into confessing a possession of books, and he quickly and abruptly hangs up the phone. Mildred goes back to the parlor to wtch some more television, and Guy catches a subway to head over to professor Faber's house with the Bible. While on the train, Montag is distracted by an advertisement and waves around the Bible for all the passengers to see and yells at them for looking. Frightened, Montag hurredly steps off the train at the next stop and walks the rest of the way to Faber's house. Inside the house, Montag tries convincing Faber to make a copy of the Bible for him. Faber joins Montag's plan and gives Montag a two-way radio ear piece. montag returns to his home and has a small conversation with Mildred and her friends. During the conversation, like an idiot, Montag becomes angered at the people for their shallow behavior and ridiculous viewpoints and takes out a book of poetry to read to them all. The group has mixed reactions as one woman breaks down and cries from the beauty of the poem, while another yells at Montag about the poem's evil. The following day, Montag returns to work and hands Captain Beatty a copy of the Bible, which he casually tosses into the street. Suddenly, the fire alarm rings, and the two men jump into action. To his horror, Montag finds out that the call is to his own house because someone, most likely his wife, Mildred, let slip the whereabouts of his hidden books. As the second section ends and the third begins, Montag is standing at his house, watching it burn to the ground.