Fahrenheit 451: “The Hearth and the Salamander” (Pages 3-20)
Pages 3-10
- What do firemen do in the world of Fahrenheit 451?
- What was written on the firemen’s helmets? Make a guess as to why?
- What are the two professional symbols that Montag wears?
- What does Montag say he always smells like?
- Who does Montag run into on his way home?
- Why is it ironic that so many people are afraid of firemen?
- How do the doors work?
Pages 11- 20
- What is etched on Montag’s igniter?
- What did Montag hit with his foot?
- What is Montag’s wife’s name?
- What are the two machines being used on Montag’s wife. What do they do?
- Where does the laughter that Montag hears come from?
- Explain Montag’s toaster. What does it do?
- What did Mildred have in her ears?
- What did Mildred remember of the night before? Or what did she pretend to remember?
- What kind of program is Mildred going to watch in the afternoon?
- Explain Montag’s television. What does Mildred want for the television that Montag claims they cannot afford?
Fahrenheit 451: “The Hearth and the Salamander” (Pages 21-26)
- What does Clarisse rub under her chin? Why?
- What does Clarisse’s psychiatrist want to know?
- According to Clarisse, how is Montag “not like the others”?
- Describe the Mechanical Hound.
- What do the firemen bet on dull nights?
- What happens when Montag touches the muzzle of the Mechanical Hound?
- How did Montag escape the Hound and get to the upper level of the firehouse?
Pages 26-32
- What is Montag’s theory on why the Hound reacted the way it did?
- How many times before had the Hound reacted this way toward Montag?
- Why has Montag never had any children?
- What is different about Montag’s laugh?
- Explain a school day in the world of Fahrenheit 451.
- Why does Clarisse find it odd that people find her to be antisocial?
- Name one thing that Clarisse talks about that is different today than in the past.
- What did the radio in the firehouse say?
Pages 33-40
- What happens to people that try to fool the government?
- Why was Montag foolish to use the phrase “Once upon a time”?
- What is the history of Fireman of America?
- How is the fire engine described?
- What was different at Mrs. Blake’s?
- What does Montag do with the book that lands in his hand?
- What does Beatty say to Mrs. Blake about the books?
- Who started the fire at Mrs. Blake’s house?
- What piece of information does Beatty share with Montag that refers back to something Mrs. Blake had said?
Pages 41-52
- What questions does Montag ask his wife when he finally talks to her?
- What does Montag cry about?
- What does Montag notice about the television shows?
- What does Mildred say about Clarisse to Montag?
- What did Montag imagine being outside his window?
- What excuse is Montag trying to use to avoid going to work?
- Why does Montag not want to go to work anymore?
- Who comes to visit Montag?
Fahrenheit 451: “The Hearth and the Salamander” (Pages 58-68)
Pages 53-59
- What does Mildred find behind Montag’s pillow?
- What word became a swear word?
Pages 60-68
- Why does society lower the kindergarten age year after year?
- According to Captain Beatty, if you don’t want a man unhappy politically, what do you do?
- What does Beatty say about fireman taking books?
- According to Clarisse’s uncle, why did the architects get rid of front porches?
- About how many books had Montag hidden in the ventilator?
- What happens right before Montag and Mildred begin to read the book?
Fahrenheit 451: “The Sieve and Sand” (Pages 71-94)
Pages 71-82
- Montag and Mildred think someone is at the door. Why doesn’t the door-voice tell them if someone is there?
- What does Mildred think is at the door? What is at the door?
- What is Montag talking about when he says he saw a snake?
- What is a rumor Montag has heard?
- What does Montag remember when he is wondering where to get a teacher?
- Who is the English Professor?
- Why did the last liberal arts college shut down?
- When Faber was about to leave Montag, he said some things. What did Montag think he was reciting?
- What does Faber mean by “I don’t talk things sir. I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and know I’m alive” (75)?
- What does Faber give Montag at the end of their meeting?
- What are some of the books that Montag asks Faber about?
- Why is Faber afraid is answer?
- Why is Mildred excited?
- What is the name of the show that Mildred plans to watch?
- What question does Montag ask Mildred?
- While Montag is on the train what does he remember about when he was a child?
- Why is he trying to remember the bible?
- What is causing Montag to have a difficult time reading the Bible?
- How does Montag begin to behave? What is the reaction from the other riders?
- Whom does Montag visit?
- How is Professor Faber described?
- According to Faber, what does Jesus do on the parlor walls?
- According to Faber, why is Faber a coward?
Pages 83-94
- What are the three qualities that Faber says are needed?
- What idea did Montag have?
- What is Faber’s reaction to Montag’s idea?
- What idea does Faber suggest to Montag about printing extra copies?
- What does Montag do to the Bible to try to get Faber to agree with Beatty?
- What does Faber give Montag to help him out with his meeting with Beatty?
- Describe the bank.
- Describe the show that Mildred and her friends are watching.
- What does Montag do to the parlor walls?
- What questions does he ask?
- What happened to Gloria’s husband?
Fahrenheit 451: “The Sieve and Sand” (Pages 95-110)
- How did Mrs. Bowles have two children?
- What were Mrs. Bowles’s reasons for having children?
- Describe Mrs. Bowles’s way of parenting.
- How did the women vote? What did they use for criteria when voting for president?
- What does Montag do after he can’t take the women anymore?
- What is the name of the poem Montag reads?
- What is Mrs. Phelps’s reaction to the poem?
- What does Montag do with the book after he read the poem?
- What does Beatty say when he sees Montag in the firehouse?
- According to Beatty, why does he quote from the books that Montag clings to?
- What house do the firemen go to?
Fahrenheit 451- “Burning Bright” (Pages 113-165)
Pages 113-121
- What hint does Captain Beatty say he sent to Montag that he must not have picked up on?
- What does Mildred have in her hand when she walks out of the house?
- What does Montag suspect Mildred of doing?
- What does Beatty say is the real beauty of fire?
- Instead of using kerosene, Captain Beatty wants Montag to use what to burn down his house?
- How does Montag figure the books got back into his house?
- What does Beatty say to Montag as he is finishing burning the house?
- Who called in the alarm?
- What did Beatty do to Montag?
- What happened to the “green bullet” radio that Faber gave to Montag?
- What does Beatty say he will do with the radio?
- What did Montag do to Beatty?
- What was the reaction of the other two firemen?
- Explain Montag’ dealing with the Hound.
- What happens to Montag as he is leaving the Hound?
- Why is Montag having a hard time getting away?
Pages 122-134
- What does Montag find in his old garden?
- Montag thinks to himself that Captain Beatty probably wanted to do what?
- Why is Montag having a difficult time getting up?
- What does Montag hear in the Seashell?
- To where does Montag realize he is running?
- Why was Montag having a difficult time getting across the street?
- After Montag makes it across the street, from whom does he hide?
- What does Montag do to the Black family?
- What does Faber say there are a lot of along the railroad tracks?
- Where does Faber say he is going? Why is he going there?
- What has been brought from a different district to track down Montag?
Pages 135-145
- Why does Montag tell Faber to burn the bed spread and chair?
- Why doesn’t Faber give Montag another “green bullet”?
- What does Montag watch on the parlor walls?
- What do the police suggest everyone do at the same time?
- What did Montag do when he go to the river?
- What did the sun burn?
- What does Montag think of when he smells the hay?
- What did Montag think was looking at him?
- What was it that was looking at him?
- What did Montag hit with his foot?
- What was the single fact that Montag could not prove?
Pages 146-165
- What does Montag see?
- What do the men offer Montag?
- What is the name of the man that is talking to Montag?
- What is the colorless fluid in the small bottle supposed to do?
- Why is the chase still going on if they have lost Montag?
- What does Montag see in the portable viewer?
- How was it possible that not even Montag’s friends would recognize that the men they caught wasn’t him?
- Where is Montag keeping the Book of Ecclesiastes?
- What does Granger think their job is?
- How does Montag feel about Mildred still being in the city?
- What does Montag see happening in the city?
- What other book does Montage realize he has remembered?
- What does Granger compare man to?
- What kind of factory does Granger say they are going to build?