15
Fahrenheit 451
Comprehension Questions
Part 1: The Hearth and the Salamander [Pages 1-20]
1. What is a hearth and what is a salamander? How are they connected to fire? If you don’t know the answers, look in a dictionary or do a Google search online.
A salamander is type of lizard that according to mythology lived in fire. It could withstand fire. A hearth is the area in front of a fireplace.
2. What is the “great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world” in the first paragraph of the story?
It is a flame thrower that shoots out fire.
3. What is Montag’s job? Does he like his job?
He is a fireman. However, firemen in his society start fires. They burn books. Yes, he liked his job. There are several statements in the reading that show this. For instance, “It was a pleasure to burn,” “It was a special pleasure to see things eaten…,” and “He would feel the fiery smile…”
4. How would you describe the setting for this story? Does it take place a long time ago or in a modern setting? Is the technological level of the society advanced?
It takes place in a modern setting, and the society is technologically advanced. There is a “silent air-propelled” subway train, an escalator that Montag uses to leave the subway station, jet cars (page 6), jet bombers, and a special machine that pumped out and replaced a person’s blood.
5. How does the author describe the girl that Montag meets near his home? What is her name? How old is she? What does she like to do?
She seems full of life. She has eyes that are “shining and alive,” and her face is “bright as snow in the moonlight”. Further, her face had a “constant light in it”. Her name is Clarisse McClellan and she is 17 years old. Clarisse likes to take walks at night and stay up to watch the sun rise. She enjoys looks at things in life that people often take for granted. For example, she likes to smell things and takes notice of things like grass and flowers.
6. What symbols does Montag wear on his uniform? Look up the symbols in a dictionary or online. What do they represent?
There is a salamander on his arm, which represents an animal that lives in fire. There is also a phoenix-disc on his chest. A phoenix is a mythical bird that dies in a fire and then is resurrected as a new, youthful bird.
7. What does Montag smell of? Why does he smell like this?
He smells of kerosene because firemen use it to burn books.
8. How old is Montag? How long has he been a fireman?
He is 30.
9. What is illegal to do in this society?
It is against the law to read books.
10. What does this quote tell us about the society in which Montag lives? What does it say about technology? “I sometimes think drivers don’t know what grass is, or flowers, because they never see them slowly…”
It shows that people are removed from nature. Their technology has made them unaware of the natural world.
11. Describe the billboards.
Billboards are 200 feet long. They made them longer so that drivers who are driving very fast can actually see what is on them.
12. Describe Montag’s bedroom. Is he happy?
It is dark and unwelcoming. It is like a mausoleum. The conversation with Clarisse and the sad state of his bedroom made him realize he was not happy.
13. What are the Seashells?
They are little earplug radios.
14. What did Montag kick? Why is this significant? What happened to Mildred? Does she remember what happened?
He hit a bottle of sleeping pills, and this is important because it makes him realize that Mildred had overdosed. No, she doesn’t remember what had happened.
15. Who comes to help Mildred? Why is Montag upset?
Two men come and operate a machine that takes out the poison and a machine that cleans Mildred’s blood. Montag is angry because one of the men talks so lightly about people dying while his wife is being worked on.
16. Is “One of them slid down into your stomach like a black cobra down an echoing well” a metaphor or a simile?
It is a simile because the comparison is made using the word “like”.
17. Describe the parlor. Who really likes it?
It is a room with large TVs on three walls. Mildred loves being in the parlor and watches shows.
18. How healthy is Montag’s relationship with Mildred?
It seems very unhealthy. She seems to be more interested in the TV show than talking to Montag.
19. What does Clarisse do with the dandelion? Why does this upset Montag? What does this tell us about him?
She put it under his chin and because it didn’t rub off, she said that Montag was not in love. Of course, this bothered him because he is married. But, he really isn’t in love. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so bothered by her saying he isn’t. Also, the statement, “He tried to conjure up a face to fit the words, but there was no face,” show that he isn’t in love.
20. Why does Clarisse go to a psychiatrist?
She is sent to the psychiatrist because she does things that are considered weird in this society such as take hikes in the woods and that she appreciates nature.
Part 2: The Hearth and the Salamander [Pages 21-45]
1. What is the Mechanical Hound? How can it be “the dead beast, the living beast”?
What do the firemen do with it when they are bored? What did the Hound to do Montag? How does he feel about it?
It is a robot that looks like a dog that is used to kill animals like rats and stray cats in the firehouse. It is extremely efficient. It is alive in that it moves and does actions, but it is dead because it doesn’t have a soul. It doesn’t think like humans. It growled at him, and it seemed like it wanted to attack him. He doesn’t like the hound and thinks it may have been programmed to go after him.
2. The captain’s hat has a phoenix on it. What does it symbolize? Again, look in a dictionary or online to find the answer if you don’t know it.
It is a mythical creature that dies in fire and then resurrects from the fire. It symbolizes new life created by fire.
3. Why doesn’t Clarisse go to school? What is school like?
She is considered strange and antisocial. There is not a lot of actual learning at school. Students do not ask questions, and they are just given information. They are not taught to think.
4. What is the Fun Park? Who goes there and what do they do there?
It is an amusement park, and kids go there to break things and bully people.
5. What does Clarisse think about people her own age?
She thinks they are dangerous and violent.
6. What do you think of the type of society Clarisse describes?
It seems like a terrible place in which people are selfish and hurt people for entertainment. Also, according to Clarisse everyone thinks the same.
7. What happens to Clarisse?
She stopped being in Montag’s life.
8. What do the firemen look like?
They are sunburnt, have dark hair, and dark eyebrows. They have a “shaved but unshaved look”, which means they shave like they are civilized but they seem like they are unruly or uncivilized.
9. What happened to the man whose books the firemen burned?
He was sent to the insane asylum.
10. What line from a book does Montag let slip in conversation with Captain Beatty? (31) How is Montag changing? What or who started him to change?
He said “Once upon a time!” He is starting to question his society, and it seems that his interactions with Clarisse are changing him.
11. What are the fireman’s rules? Is the history of the rules historically accurate?
There are five rules stated on page 32, and the most interesting one is to burn everything. They think that they started with Benjamin Franklin. The rules are not historically correct.
12. What do you think the orange dragon which “coughed to live” on is? (32)
I think it is the fire truck.
13. What is the normal procedure when an alarm is called in on someone? How is this alarm different? (34)
Normally, the police get to the scene first and take away the person who has the books before the firemen start burning the books. But, in this case the woman is not taken away, so she was able to make them feel uncomfortable while they were doing their work.
14. How is the book that is lit on fire described? (34) How is it similar to how the author describes the book at the beginning of the novel?
Bradbury describes the way the book flew in the air like it were a pigeon and its cover flapped like a pigeon’s wings. This is similar to a description of books on page 1.
15. Does the woman whose home the firemen have come to burn leave with the firemen? What happens to her?
No, she doesn’t. She stays and dies in a fire in the house. She actually lit the fire that the firemen were going to start.
16. When do the alarms come? Why do they come at this time of day?
They come at night so that there is a greater show with the light from the fire.
17. What is “heresy”? How could the woman’s actions be considered heresy.
Heresy is believing something that is considered not theologically correct. In medieval Europe people who were considered heretics were often burned alive. The woman is a heretic in this society because she believes that people should have books and read them.
18. What does Montag do with the book that he stole?
He hides it under his pillow.
19. What does the line “He lay far across the room from her, on a winter island separated by an empty sea” show about Montag’s relationship with his wife? (39)
They are very distant from each other. They do not have a close relationship.
20. What question does Montag ask Mildred that neither of them can answer? Would Montag cry had Mildred died from her sleeping pill overdose? How does this revelation make him feel? What is Montag’s most significant memory of Mildred?
He asked her where and when they met each other for the first time. No, he would not have cried if she had died. It makes him realize that they are not in love and are numb to life.
21. Mildred never really listens to Montag. There are always too many distractions. What are these distractions?
The biggest distraction is the parlor with the three TVs. The Seashells are also distractions.
Part 3: The Hearth and the Salamander [Pages 45-65]
1. What has happened to Clarisse and her family? Who tells Montag about what has happened? Why did it take so long?
Clarisse gets killed by a car and her family moves away. Mildred tells him about Clarisse, and it took her four days to tell him because she forgot about it, so it probably wasn’t important to her.
2. Who or what does Montag feel is outside that night? (45)
Montag feels the Hound is outside his window. Maybe, he thinks it is programmed to attack him.
3. What does Mildred look like? Do you think she is attractive?
She has brittle hair, eyes that seem to be emotionless, pale skin, and a very thin body. No, she is not described as a beautiful woman.
4. What is the relationship Mildred has with her parlour walls? What does she consider them to be?
She considers them to be like her family.
5. Montag wants Mildred to call Captain Beatty and tell him that he is sick and will not be coming into the fire station that night. Why is Montag sick?
He feels uncomfortable because they killed the woman whose books they burned.
6. Explain the significance of the following: “There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine to make a woman stay in a burning house. There must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.” (48)
He realizes that books are very important and contain wisdom or information that is useful.
7. Why do you think that Montag became a fireman?
It was what his father and grandfather did, so he became one too.
8. What is the realization that Montag comes to about books?
Books contain the knowledge and experiences of authors who sometimes got that knowledge over a lifetime. Destroying books is destroying a lifetime of accumulated knowledge.
9. Who pays Montag to visit a home? Why does he come? Summarize the visitor’s explanation why books have been banned in society.
Beatty visits Montag because he realizes that Montag is having a difficult time accepting what the firemen do. That’s why he says “Every fireman, sooner or later, hits this…Need to know the history of our profession.” Beatty first people started wanting more superficial entertainment and less challenging ideas. Books and magazines started to be bland because of a combination of technological advances, exploitation, and “minority pressure”. However, firemen burn books because they are dangerous; they make people uncomfortable and challenge their thinking. (51)
10. Captain Beatty says the following about firemen: “We stand against the small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought. We have our fingers in the dike.” What role does Captain Beatty see firemen have in this time?
Firemen protect society because burning books keeps everyone in society happy, for they are not offended or troubled by what books have to say about the world or life.
11. What is the rule about a fireman who takes home a book?
A fireman is allowed to take a book home and keep it for 24 hours. Afterwards, he has to burn it.
12. What does Mildred think is fun about driving in the country? (61)