Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 Characters: Record notes about characters, their descriptions, their
motives, their roles in the plot, etc. as you read the novel.
1. Guy Montag
2. Mildred Montag
3. Captain Beatty
4. Professor Faber
5. Clarisse McClellan
6. Mrs. Hudson
7. The Mechanical Hound
8. Mrs. Bowles and Mrs. Phelps
9. Stoneman and Black
10. Granger
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 Part One: “The Hearth and the Salamander”
1) Discuss Bradbury’s life and the historical context of the 1950s noting that the author’s life and
the historical context of a novel can inform and expand the reader’s understanding of it. This
book is, in some ways, Bradbury’s tribute to the role that books and libraries played in his life.
2) Read the handout titled “The Fifties.” Note that cultural and historical context give birth to the
dilemmas and themes at the center of the novel. Studying these contexts and appreciating
intricate details of the time and place help readers understand the motivations of the characters.
This novel was published the year the Korean War ended, with memories of Hitler’s atrocities
and WWII less than a decade old. The Cold War, meanwhile, had hardened into a standoff, and
both the United States and the Soviet Union were testing the hydrogen bomb.
3) Ultimately, the type of narrator determines the point of view from which the story is told.
Bradbury employs a third-person limited narrator by which readers only know Montag’s
movements and thoughts and follow Montag like a camera, only viewing other characters from
the outside and hearing what they say to him. This inevitably increases our sympathy for
Montag.
a. Bradbury opens the novel with a quote by Juan Ramon Jiminez: “If they give you ruled
paper, write the other way.” Why did Bradbury select this statement, and what does it mean?
b. Has any single book or series of books opened new doors to you (the reader) or had a
profound impact on you? Why? How?
c. Consider the differences between the life Montag lives and the life Clarisse lives based on
“Part One: The Hearth and the Salamander.”
d. How does the technology within the novel compare to our current technology? Does it
improve the quality of life for Montag and Mildred? Why or why not?
e. Why did Bradbury introduce readers to Montag at THIS time in Montag’s life, when he
encounters Clarisse and confronts Mildred’s overdose?
f. After rereading Captain Beatty’s monologue, discuss his view on school and what education
cultivates in his society. He charges that “a book is a loaded gun.” Do you agree or disagree
with this statement? Why?
g. Five significant characters have been introduced: Montag, Clarisse, Mildred, Beatty, and
Faber. What seems to motivate each of these characters?
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 Part Two: “The Sieve and the Sand”
1) Discuss the protagonist, Guy Montag, as the central character in this work of literature.
Protagonists usually initiate the main action of a story and often overcome a flaw, such as
weakness or ignorance, to achieve a new understanding by the work’s end. The protagonist’s
journey is enriched by encounters with characters who hold differing beliefs. One such character
type, a foil, has traits that contrast with the protagonist’s and highlight important features of the
main character’s personality. The most important foil, the antagonist, opposes the protagonist,
barring or complicating his or her success. Guy Montag’s major foils are Captain Beatty,
Professor Faber, Mildred Montag, and Clarisse McClellan. As you continue to read, think back
to Part One and note how these characters contrast with Guy Montag, considering what features
of Montag’s character they each highlight. Continue this notation as your read.
a. Use the literary terms and character foils PPT slide printout to take notes about Guy
Montag’s foils as the story continues to unfold.
b. Consider which one of the foils may be or is the antagonist: how does this character
complicate the plot and the protagonist’s success in overcoming a flaw and/or achieving a
new understanding?
2) Discuss how writers use figurative language such as imagery, similes, and metaphors to help
the reader visualize and experience events and emotions in a story. Imagery—a word or phrase
that refers to sensory experience—helps create a physical experience for the reader and adds
immediacy to literary language.
a. Why did Bradbury use “The Hearth and the Salamander” and “The Sieve and the Sand” as
section titles for the first two parts, and how does this deepen your interpretation of these
sections?
b. What does figurative language ask of the reader? Does exploring a novel’s figurative
language train us in precisely the thinking that Beatty hates? Why or why not?
3) Read the handout titled “Science Fiction.” Discuss symbols, which are persons, places, or
things in a narrative that have significance beyond a literal understanding. The craft of
storytelling depends on symbols to present ideas and point toward new meanings. Most
frequently, a specific object with be used to refer to or symbolize a more abstract concept. The
repeated appearance of an object suggests a non-literal or figurative meaning attached to the
object. Bradbury repeats and expands certain images.
a. Note the descriptions of the Mechanical Hound. How is the Mechanical Hound a symbol
of something else?
b. Are there other images in the reading that could be symbols? First, consider fire and
books; then, consider others.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 Part Three: “Burning Bright”
1) Novels trace the development of characters who encounter a series of challenges. Most
characters contain a complex balance of virtues and vices. Internal and external forces require
characters to question themselves, overcome fears, or reconsider dreams. The protagonist may
undergo profound change. The tension between a character’s strengths and weaknesses keeps
the reader guessing about what might happen next and the protagonist’s eventual success or
failure.
a. Consider Montag’s development, challenges, virtues, vices, strengths, weaknesses, fears,
dreams, and the internal and external forces that make him question himself. How has
Montag undergone a profound change by the end of the book? How is he a more threedimensional character than the other two-dimensional characters in the book?
b. How has Bradbury constructed the plot to reach the dramatic conclusion? What are the
two most important turning points in the novel? Are there other more minor turning points
worth discussing?
c. Imagine a sequel to Bradbury’s novel. How would it begin? What would the conflict be?
Which characters besides Guy Montag would play crucial roles? Would any new characters
be introduced? What would be the turning point and the resolution to the final conflict in the
sequel?
d. Read the “Afterword” and the “Coda.” Then read the handout titled “The Book of
Ecclesiastes.” Although we have focused on Montag as the central character, could books be
the heroes of the novel? Why or why not?
2) Themes are the central, recurring subjects of a novel. As characters grapple with
circumstances, profound questions arise in the reader’s mind.
a. What themes stand out to readers of this novel?
b. What evidence of each theme could the reader provide to prove the theme’s existence and
development throughout the novel?
3) Great stories articulate and explore the mysteries of our daily lives in the larger context of the
human struggle. The writer’s voice, style, and use of language inform the plot, characters, and
themes. By creating opportunities to learn, imagine, and reflect, a great novel is a work of art
that affects many generations of readers, changes lives, challenges assumptions, and breaks new
ground.
a. What characteristics make a book great? In essence, what elevates a novel to greatness?
b. Which of these characteristics can be found in Bradbury’s novel?
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 Thought-Provoking Questions After Reading:
1. Does the violence prevalent in the futuristic world of this novel comment in any way on
our own society? Do we, in a way, love violence as well? Is there anything wrong with
that? What’s healthy and what’s not?
2. Bradbury has stated that the novel is not about censorship, but since Captain Beatty cites
censorship as one of the main reasons books ended up banned, we’re going to ask you
this question anyway: where can we draw the line with appropriate censorship and
shameless destruction of information?
3. Check out the cover image for the 50th Anniversary Edition. What can readers say about
the fact that a man made of books is being burned rather than just a pile of books?
4. Bradbury says his novel is about TV replacing books, not about censorship. Does he get
to say what his book is about, or is it up to the reader? Is he “right” or are we all “right”
individually?
5. Which characteristics of a dystopian society does the society of this novel contain?
Which type of dystopian control or controls is/are used in this novel? Refer to the
handout titled “Dystopias: Definition and Characteristics” to answer these questions.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 Literary Analysis / Response to Literature / Writing Assignment:
Each student needs to propose a writing prompt or guiding question he or she plans to respond to
or answer in a formal writing assignment in the form of a literary analysis or a response to
literature. Some of the topics, characters, themes, etc. that have been discussed throughout our
study of the novel can be starting points for this assignment. Instead of assigning one topic to all
students, I am asking each of you to assign yourself a topic and inform me of it.
It should require the use of textual evidence from the novel, and it should be enhanced with
additional research from at least one outside source (which will need to be accurately cited and
included on a works cited page along with the book).
More than one person may share a topic, but each student must submit an original and “one-of-akind” formal written response that is in no way identical to another student’s formal written
response.
Please ask me for help if you are struggling to select and compose a writing prompt, and please
be sure to have your writing prompt approved by me before composing your formal written
response.