● Part 1: The Heart and the Salamander
- Guy Montag
- Meets Clarisse
- Montag’s wife embodies what society has turned into
- When responding to an alarm, Montag is shocked to see a woman choose to
burn herself alive with her books
- He also steals a book from her home before they all burn
- Beatty, the fire chief, suspects Montag has stolen a book so he tells Montag
to try to read the books and realize how confusing and unnecessary they are
- Montag seeks the help of an old english professor named Faber
● Part 2: The Sieve and the Sand
- Montag gets into an argument with his wife’s friends
- Montag and Beatty get into another argument about the issues surrounding
literature
- Their argument is interrupted by an alarm
- They go to the reported home and discover that it is Montag’s home that
was reported
● Part 3: Burning Bright
- Beatty forces Montag to burn his home alone and also puts him under arrest
- Montag freaks out and burns Beatty alive
- Montag then runs to Faber house to figure out what to do
- Faber instructs him to make it to the abandoned railroad tracks where he
can find a group of retired professors that also want to bring books back
- Montag finds the tracks and meets the group led by a man named Granger
- The group has dedicated their lives to memorizing books
- Montag joins them and is given the task of memorizing parts of the Bible
● Loss of individuality
● Deterioration of society
● Loss of control over oneself and
the negative effects that come
with it
● Significance of hands
● Significance of fire
Dover Beach Excerpt - Matthew Arnold
“‘Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
where ignorant armies clash by night.’”
● TED Talk - Margaret Heffernan: Dare to Disagree
http://www.ted.com/talks/margaret_heffernan_dare_to_disagree?utm_source=google.com&utm_c
ontent=awesm-publisher&utm_medium=on.ted.comstatic&utm_campaign=&awesm=on.ted.com_Heffernan#t-742039
● Dystopian society
● Technologically advanced
● Believes in “equality”
o
Rejects books
 they cause conflict, and
this society wants to avoid
conflict
●
●
Protagonist: Guy Montag
o At first he’s happy with being a fireman, but then he realizes
that his life is devoid of meaning
o Too hasty--thinks books will instantly fix his and everyone
else’s lives
o sometimes has a disconnect between his actions and
thoughts, like when he kills Beatty
Antagonist: Beatty and Society
o Uses his knowledge of books and authority to convince those
around him to not question the law - contributing to society’s
lack of knowledge and personal thought
o Montag is the first to challenge him
o Programs the Hound to attack Montag and forces Montag to
burn down his own home
o Meets his end when his arrogance and abuse of authority
pushes Montag over the edge
● 3rd person limited omniscient
● Bradbury provides readers with all of
Montag’s thoughts, but none of the other
characters’
● Allows readers to connect with Montag and
understand his struggle with accepting
society for the way it is
Three parts:
● The Hearth and the
Salamander
● The Sieve and the Sand
● Burning Bright
Part 1 - The Hearth and the Salamander
● Meets Clarisse
o
Begins to question societal norms
● Rethinks his personal beliefs
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMBu6
RUMJg0
Part 2 - The Sieve and the Sand
● Montag’s Realization
● Only way to change ideas is to challenge
them
Part 3 - Burning Bright
● Taking action
● Becomes fugitive
● Montag’s conflict with society and himself
o
Each part the struggle deepens
 Questioning, Realizing, and Taking Action
● p. 96: Montag discusses children
and politics with Mildred and her
friends
● shows lack of sentimentality,
independent thought
● shows how rarely people have
conversations
Montag moved his lips.
"Let's talk."
The women jerked and stared.
"How're your children, Mrs. Phelps?" he asked.
"You know I haven't any!
No one in his right mind, the Good Lord knows; would have children!" said Mrs. Phelps, not quite sure why she
was angry with this man.
No use going through all that agony for a baby. The world must
they sometimes look just like you, and that's nice. Two Caesarians tamed the trick, yes, sir. Oh, my doctor
"I wouldn't say that," said Mrs. Bowles. "I've had two children by Caesarian section.
reproduce, you know, the race must go on. Besides,
said, Caesarians aren't necessary; you've got the, hips for it, everything's normal, but I insisted."
"Caesarians or not, children are ruinous; you're out of your mind," said Mrs. Phelps.
I plunk the children in school nine days out of ten. I put up with them when they come home three days a
month; it's not bad at all. You heave them into the 'parlour' and turn the switch. It's like washing clothes; stuff
laundry in and slam the lid." Mrs.Bowles tittered. "They'd just as soon kick as kiss me. Thank God, I can kick back! "
"
The women showed their tongues, laughing.
Mildred sat a moment and then, seeing that Montag was still in the doorway, clapped her hands. "Let's talk politics, to please Guy!"
"Sounds fine," said Mrs. Bowles. "I voted last election, same as everyone, and I laid it on the line for President Noble. I think he's one of the nicest-looking men who ever became
president."
"Oh, but the man they ran against him!"
"He wasn't much, was he? Kind of small and homely and he didn't shave too close or comb his hair very well."
You just don't go running a little short man like that against a tall man. Besides -he mumbled.
Half the time I couldn't hear a word he said. And the words I did hear I didn't understand!"
"What possessed the 'Outs' to run him?
"Fat, too, and didn't dress to hide it. No wonder the landslide was for Winston Noble. Even their names helped. Compare Winston Noble to Hubert Hoag for ten seconds and you can
almost figure the results."
"Damn it!" cried Montag. "What do you know about Hoag and Noble?"
"Why, they were right in that parlour wall, not six months ago. One was always picking his nose; it drove me wild."
"Well, Mr. Montag," said Mrs. Phelps, "do you want us to vote for a man like that?"
Mildred beamed. "You just run away from the door, Guy, and don't make us nervous."
But Montag was gone and back in a moment with a book in his hand.
The problem in our country isn't with books being banned,
but with people no longer reading... You don't have to
burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop
reading them.
--Ray Bradbury