Guilty Conscience

  In my last blog, I had written that I was getting a flirtatious vibe between Montag and Clarisse, but I was concerned about their age difference.  The author may have cleared this up for me when Montag tells Clarisse, "You make me feel very old and very much like a father" (p. 28).  Perhaps I was misinterpreting the type of relationship these two characters will end up having.  Clarisse asks Montag why he never had any kids of his own and his answer was that his wife never wanted any -- again another major difference between his wife and himself that makes me wonder why they are together in the first place.  In this section of the book, the author also gives a little more information about the youth of this book's world.  Clarisse explains to Montag that she doesn't fit in at school and they call her "antisocial" which to them means she does not care to participate in typical school activities such as "an hour of TV class, an hour of basketball or baseball or running, another hour of transcription history or painting pictures, and more sports" (p.29).  Due to the lack of books, it seems that school is more focused on physical and technology activities.  She also mentions that many young people kill each other.  Clarisse also references her uncle several times in this section and how he explains of the days before... the days that are more like the world of today, that I know.  We still have yet to meet her uncle, however.  Montag and Clarisse have established a daily routine of chatting while he walks to work; until one day, Clarisse does not show, which leaves an unsettling feeling with Montag as if something might be wrong.  This section does not explain why she didn't show.  Did something happen to her?  If so, what?

  I had also speculated in my previous blog that The Hound killed people who owned books.  While this may still be true, I have learned that people do not necessarily get killed for owning books.  Montag asks Captain Beatty what happened to the last man whose books they burned, and he tells him that "They took him screaming off to the asylum" (p.33).  Montag says that the man was not insane and begins to speak of the guilt he feels, saying "I've tried to imagine just how it would feel.  I mean, to have firemen burn our houses and our books."  Beatty asks him if he has any books, which makes Montag think of his secret hidden behind the ventilator -- at this point, I think it's safe to assume there is definitely a book behind that ventilator, even though the author has not directly stated it.  Montag quickly denies owning a book and changes the subject by bringing up what Clarisse had told him earlier and asking if firefighters used to put out fires instead of start them.  At this point, his fellow firefighters, Stoneman and Black, jump in and bring out their rule book, which clearly states that this was not the case.  This makes me realize that there are some books and clearly, they know how to read, which were questions that I had earlier.  So it must be the content of the books is the reason the firefighters must burn them.

  The last section of this book describes a call the firefighters get of a woman who is suspected to have books in her attic.  They go to the house and the woman is still there, which throws Montag off because usually the police have already taken the owners away and "when you arrived you found an empty house.  You weren't hurting anyone, you were hurting only things!" (p.36).  The woman being there gave Montag a tremendous feeling of guilt.  In the midst of all the guilt and the book burning, Montag catches a glimpse of a line in one of the books and he ends up stealing the book!  It's described as if he wasn't even in control of himself, his hand just snuck the book into his pocket in a flash, before he could even think about what he was doing.  No one seemed to notice that he took the book.  They have to find out at some point right?  I think that Beatty already has his suspicions about Montag.  Another bit of insight given in this section is when Beatty tells the lady who owns the books, "Where's your common sense?  None of those books agree with each other... The people in those books never lived" (p. 38).  So it seems that the main reason they burn books is to discourage differences of opinion... and ultimately thinking for yourself as well.  The woman refuses to leave the house, knowing full well that it will burn down in flames as soon as the fire is lit.  Montag tries to convince her to get out, but the women pulls out a match of her own.  All the firefighters leave the house and the women lights the match, burning herself along with the books.  On the way back to the firehouse, Montag asks about what the woman was saying when they first entered the house.  Surprisingly, Beatty knows the quote that the woman was reciting from a book.  He claims that he is "full of bits and pieces...most fire captains have to be." (p.40).  I found this to be interesting, since it's supposed to be illegal to read/own these books!  Maybe Beatty had once been curious like Montag?  The section ends with Montag going home to Mildred, not really saying a word and shoving the stolen book under his pillow.

QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS:  Why did Montag have the sudden urge to take that book?  What happened to Clarisse?  Who is going to catch Montag with the book -- Mildred?  If it was her, would she turn in her own husband?  Or maybe Beatty will figure it out.  Either way, someone HAS to find out, right?  Will Montag tell Clarisse his secret about the stolen books?  When will we meet Clarisse's uncle who has been mentioned several times, but not yet introduced into the story?

Communication & Secrets

This section begins by describing two devices used to cleanse Mildred of the pills she overdosed on.  Montag is surprised that a doctor was not sent, but instead only two men who operate the devices.  One device pumped everything out of the stomach and the other device drained Mildred's blood and put in new, fresh blood.  To the device operators, this overdose is no big deal since they "get these cases nine or ten a night" (p.15).  He tells an angry and worried Montag matter-of-factly that, "You take out the old and put in the new [blood] and you're okay" (p. 15).  The device operators were in-and-out as they had another call to get to.  Seems like these overdose cases are plentiful.  Why is everyone overdosing on sleeping pills in this book's world?

The next morning, when Montag wakes up, Mildred is up and eating toast.  She wonders why she is so hungry, with no recollection of the events the night before.  At first, Montag doesn't have the heart to tell her what happened, but later in the afternoon, he finally tells her and she denies that it happened, saying, "What would I want to go and do a silly thing like that for?" (p. 19).  Instead of arguing the point, Montag just goes along with it.  The book again mentions the "Seashells" that are permanently in Mildred's ears, so much so that she has become "an expert at lip reading" (p.18).  I am beginning to equate these ear seashells to a teenager who constantly has their iPod/iPhone earbuds in.  There's also another piece of entertainment technology that the book describes in this section called wall TVs.  Mildred complains to Montag that they need to get a fourth wall TV to complete their room, since they only have three.  Montag argues that it's expensive -- $2000, which is one-third of his yearly salary.  When reading, I immediately calculated his salary in my head and thought $6000/year?  This book's world really IS different than ours!  I have to remind myself that this book was originally written in 1953, but still, in comparison with the cost of living today, it surprised me.  Also, it seems that Mildred does not work at all.  She seems a little crazy to me, in fact.  I am surprised that her and Montag are still married, or how they came to be together in the first place, since they seem so different.  Was Mildred always this way?  Or did something happen to her after Montag married her that made her this way?

When Montag leaves for work that day, he runs into Clarisse again.  While reading their conversation, I got a bit of a flirtatious vibe between these two characters, which seems a little scandalous to me since she is 17 and he is 30, besides the obvious fact that he is married (although not exactly happily).  Clarisse also questions Montag about why and how he became a firefighter in the first place.  She tells him, "You're not like the others... When I talk, you look at me... The others would walk off and leave me talking.  Or threaten me... That's why I think it's so strange you're a fireman.  It just doesn't seem right for you, somehow" (p. 23-24).  Montag does not respond to her questions and instead tells her that she better get going off to her psychiatrist appointment.  Montag seems to be really intrigued by Clarisse and her family.  He doesn't understand how they can stay up late at night talking.  He wonders, what do they talk about?  It seems that communication in this book's world is rare and not normal.  Perhaps this is an effect of not being allowed to read books?

The last piece in this section introduced me to "The Mechanical Hound," which is a type of robot dog, but with eight legs instead of four.  The Hound is a type of weapon used by the firefighters to hunt and kill, I would guess people who own books (although it does not say specifically in this section).  Montag swears the Hound doesn't like him, since he has growled and nearly attacked him multiple times.  A new character, Captain Beatty, tells Montag that the Hound is incapable of having feelings and that Montag must be mistaken.  However, Montag insists that since the Hound is programmed to hunt for certain things, maybe someone programmed it to hunt him.  The Captain assures him that he has no enemies at the station, but Montag has a secret that, if discovered, makes him think otherwise.  The author writes, "Montag did not move and only stood thinking of the ventilator grille in the hall at home and what lay hidden behind the grille.  If someone here in the firehouse knew about the ventilator then mightn't they "tell" the Hound?" (p.27).  I can only assume that Montag has stolen a book and stashed it at his house, which was very surprising to me.  What book did he steal?  Why did he steal it?  Does he even know how to read?  Does someone at the firehouse know about his secret and did they program the Hound to kill Montag?  Or perhaps the Hound can sense the smell of books and Montag has a faint hint of it on him?!  So many questions...

A Few Main Characters

     Wow, in the first few pages of Fahrenheit 451, I have already learned so much.  I have been introduced to three characters, two more specifically than the last.  The main character, Guy Montag, when first introduced, seemed a little cocky to me when the author wrote, “He knew that when he returned to the firehouse, he might wink at himself… in the mirror” (p. 4).  I have learned that Montag is a 30-year-old firefighter – which has a completely different definition in the book than what I know a firefighter to be.  The firefighters in this book actually start fires to burn books and it is against the law for them to read any of the books they burn, which is information that is pointed out by the second character, Clarisse McClellan.  Clarisse is a 17-year-old girl who seems to have many questions.  To me, her questions seem valid, perhaps because I think of the world that I live in today.  To Montag, her questions seem ridiculous and unfounded, since the world he knows is so different.  One question she asks Montag is, “Are you happy?” and this question seems to haunt him.  Later in the section, as he dwells upon this question, it is revealed that his smile that, “never went away, as long as he remembered” (p.4), has finally left his face.  I felt I got a little more insight to Montag when the author writes, “He wore his happiness like a mask” (p. 12).  Finally, the section ends with Montag coming home to his wife, Mildred, the third character introduced to me.  Just by the description of her, I immediately felt like something was wrong.  The author describes Montag picturing what his wife would look like if he turned on the light, “like a body displayed on the lid of a tomb” (p. 12).  It also describes “little Seashells” in her ears that seem to be transmitting ocean sounds, music, and words… I’m still unclear about what these Seashells are and I am hoping to learn more.  Montag then trips over an empty medicine bottle that he knew was full that morning, and he realizes that his wife has taken all of the pills, and this section ends with him calling the “Emergency hospital.”            

     Questions I have after reading this section are:  Why do firefighters burn books and why is it illegal to read them?  Why does Montag hide his emotions?  What will be the significance of the mysterious Clarisse character?  Why is Montag’s wife so depressed she is trying to kill herself?