Summer Reading Study Guide
Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451
PART 1—The Hearth and the Salamander
1. What is the significance of the title Fahrenheit 451?
2. Describe the girl that Montag sees on his way home from the fire station.
3. Describe Guy Montag’s profession. How is it different from today’s firemen?
4. What kind of “simple pleasures” does Clarisse tell Montag about?
5. What does Clarisse ask Montag before disappearing? Why?
6. Montag keeps rehashing the short discussion with Clarisse. What does he think of her?
7. What does Montag decide about his happiness?
Summer Reading Study Guide: Fahrenheit 451
1
8. Describe Montag’s wife.
9. What happened to her that night?
10. How was Mildred acting the next morning? What was she planning to do that day?
11. Where was Clarisse going that day? Why?
12. According to Clarisse, how is Montag unlike the rest of the firemen?
13. Describe the game the firemen play on slow nights.
14. Describe the fire station hound. What does it do to Montag?
15. Why doesn’t Clarisse go to school?
Summer Reading Study Guide: Fahrenheit 451
2
16. Describe the activities of children.
17. Describe what Clarisse has witnessed.
18. How do ALL firemen look?
19. Who was the first fireman? When and why?
20. What happened at Mrs. Blake’s apartment?
21. What does Montag hide under his pillow?
22. What did Montag and Mildred both forget?
23. What else did Mildred forget?
Summer Reading Study Guide: Fahrenheit 451
3
24. Why doesn’t Montag feel well the next day?
25. Describe the history of firemen as told by Captain Beatty.
26. What does Captain Beatty say about books?
27. Summarize the front porch passage.
28. What does Montag pull from the air conditioner?
29. Describe the close encounter at the end of Part 1.
Summer Reading Study Guide: Fahrenheit 451
4
Summer Reading Study Guide
Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451
PART 2—The Sieve and the Sand
30. Discuss the quote “books aren’t people”.
31. Describe the scene between Montag and the old man. When did it occur?
32. Who does Montag call and why?
33. What is the meaning of the sieve and the sand? Why is it important?
34. Who does Montag go to see? Why? How does he get there?
35. What are the three things Faber tells Montag? Why are they important?
Summer Reading Study Guide: Fahrenheit 451
5
36. Why are books hated and feared?
37. What does Faber suggest they do?
38. Why does Faber say that firemen are “rarely necessary”?
39. How is Faber’s house different?
40. What does Montag do to get Faber’s attention? How does he react?
41. What did Faber create? Why does he give it to Montag?
42. What does Montag do after he leaves Faber’s house?
43. What forces Montag to unplug the walls? What do they do after it’s disabled?
Summer Reading Study Guide: Fahrenheit 451
6
44. What does Montag talk about with the women?
45. What does Montag retrieve? How do the women respond?
46. What does Montag do with this item? Why?
47. What does Captain Beatty do to Montag?
48. Where does the firetruck stop at the end of Part 2?
49. What do you think will come of Montag and Faber?
Summer Reading Study Guide: Fahrenheit 451
7
Summer Reading Study Guide
Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451
PART 3—Burning Bright
50. What does Mildred do when the firemen appear at her house?
51. What does Beatty say about fire?
52. What does Montag do to his house?
53. What does he do to Captain Beatty?
54. What does Montag do to the other firemen and the mechanical hound?
55. Describe Montag’s injury.
56. Why does Montag go back to his house?
Summer Reading Study Guide: Fahrenheit 451
8
57. What did Montag stop to do?
58. Where did he start running towards?
59. Who was chasing Montag? Why?
60. What does Montag do with the books? Why?
61. What does Montag find out from the small TV?
62. What does Montag tell Faber to do? Why? Does it work?
63. What does Montag do when he reaches the river?
64. Why does Montag decide to never burn again?
Summer Reading Study Guide: Fahrenheit 451
9
65. What does Montag see when he finally finds the railroad track?
66. How does the mechanical hound’s chase end?
67. Who are the men around the fire? Why are they there?
68. What does Montag learn about them?
69. What does Granger tell Montag?
70. What was going on in the city?
71. What does Montag finally remember?
72. What do the men see when they wake up?
Summer Reading Study Guide: Fahrenheit 451
10
73. How is the phoenix bird compared to humanity?
74. Where are the men heading at the end of the novel?
Summer Reading Study Guide: Fahrenheit 451
11