By Jay, Rory, Bishop, and John The ABCs of Fahrenheit 451 By Jay, Rory, Bishop, and John

is for Apathy Apathy is a lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal. Most people in Fahrenheit 451 are extremely apathetic. Montag cried when he discovered how apathetic he was. He realized he would not care if his own wife died. This was brought on by how selfish people had become and how often bad things happened. When the maintenance people came with the stomach pump and the blood transfusion machines, they weren’t even doctors and they showed no emotions while they brought back a person from the brink of death.

is for books Book are totally banned in the time of Fahrenheit 451. People just stopped reading them at first, but then they started burning them and books slowly became illegal. The government just pleased the people because it didn’t make books illegal until people stopped reading. Once non-readers found out others were reading them, they demanded to be made equal because they thought that if someone read, it gave them an unfair advantage over them.

is for Captain Beatty Captain Beatty was the fire chief. He knew a lot about books and despised them. Beatty knew Montag had books and tried to get him to turn them in. He slowly tried to trick Montag into admitting he had more books, but before Montag could slip up, he got calls to go to his house. Beatty ordered Montag to burn his own house and the books inside. He then egged Montag on to shoot the flamethrower at him and got killed when Montag did.

is for Dearth Most people in this book had a dearth of thinking. This was caused by not reading books and not having any time to think. Front porches were eliminated so that people could not sit outside and talk to people and think. Also, TVs were extended wall to wall and the shows on them were absolute nonsense so that when people were watching, they would not think about anything. People also were constantly bombarded by advertisements on their seashells and while on trains and in other public places. People wore seashells that kept their ears filled with music or other noise so that they could not think.

is for Ember An ember is a glowing cinder or red hot ash. This was what was mostly left after the firemen showed up at people’s houses. Embers captivate people that are watching; that’s why fire was used to destroy books. The fire and embers would keep the firemen entertained and keep them from thinking too much about why they burn the books or any other thoughts.

is for Faber Faber is the man Montag saw in the park a year earlier before his life as a fireman went downhill. He quoted poems constantly as he talked to him knowing it would either make him a friend in the future or an enemy. Montag remembered Faber when he realized he could not understand the books and needed a teacher. Faber was cautious at first but then let Montag in and helped him with his life. Faber later told Montag where to go and probably helped save his life.

is for Guy Montag Guy Montag was the protagonist of the story. He first started off as a mindless fireman who was apathetic to life. After he met a little girl named Clarisse, everything changed. Montag started to think about life and think about the reason why things are the way they are today. By the end of the story he had burnt his own house and was on the run from the police. Montag survived the war because he had fled the city and met up with others who had memorized the great books of history.

is for Hound The firemen used special mechanical hounds that hunted down criminals for them. The hounds would hunt down the prey and then inject them full of drugs that would numb them and eventually just kill them. Montag thought that someone had set the hound to his specific proteins because of how often the hound growled at him or chased him. Towards the end of the story the hound injects Montag’s leg full of drugs and left him barely able to walk. The hound was on his trail and was quickly following every move he had made since he ran from his home.

is for Intellect Intellect is the ability to learn and reason and it is the capacity for knowledge and understanding. Most people had no signs of intellect. They did not even notice that the shows on TV were just constantly yelling and had no story line to them. Montag showed he did not have intellect when he was reading the books but could not understand or even remember what he had just read. Also Mildred showed signs of not being intellectual when she forgot that Clarisse had died and did not remember to tell Montag until four days later.

is for Jesus In the book, Jesus has become a spokesperson for companies. He helps advertise products for people to buy. This shows that religion was completely wiped out after books were. They didn’t want people thinking about how life was started and other things like that. Faber says how he wonders if God would even recognize his son after all they did to him.

is for kerosene Kerosene was used to burn the books and houses in the story. The firemen would just take out a hose and spray all the books and walls with kerosene and then light it and watch it burn. At the end of the story, Montag is made use a flamethrower instead of Kerosene and that led to his escape. Montag had become so used to the smell of kerosene on his cloths that he didn’t even notice the smell. That shows how often they burned books.

is for Leisure People in the book had no leisure time. All the time they had to themselves was filled with mindless entertainment. They had no leisure time to think to themselves and that kept them mindless and apathetic. The government tired to give people no leisure time to think because anywhere they went they would have to hear the sound of advertisements or the sound of just noise.

is for Mildred Mildred was Montag’s wife. She was very stupid and not intellectual. At the start of the story, she almost died because she overdosed on the sleeping pills she was taking because anytime she took a pill she would forget she took one a short time later and take another one. She also did not remember how or when the first time her and Montag met. When she first found out Montag was hiding books she was afraid and thought about how it would endanger their lives. She was slowly burning the books one by one. She ended up turning in Montag after what he did when her friends were over.

is for Nonsense The society in Fahrenheit 451 is nonsense. They do not think or decide anything around them.

is for the Old Lady who burns down her own house with herself inside. This shows the passion books have on people’s lives.

is for Phoenix The Phoenix is the bird that dies in fire and is reborn in the ashes. The firemen in Fahrenheit 451 have this on their uniforms.

is for Quality Quality is one of the three things a book has to have, according to Faber, the English professor.

is for Ray Bradbury, the author of this novel. He shows the censorship of books and the dangers of technology throughout this book.

is for Salamander The Salamander is the lizard that is able to live in fire. The Salamander is a symbol on the firefighters uniform.

is for Two atomic wars There have been two atomic wars in the society of Fahrenheit 451. This shows the destructiveness of man’s technology.

is for Undermining Montag and the group of people at the end of the book undermine the authority of the fire department by memorizing books and eventually planning to rewrite them in the future. U is for

is for Violence The government in Fahrenheit 451 destroys houses and removes people from the society that think. They use Violence to make everyone the same and make sure they don’t think.

is for White Clown White Clown is the television show that Mildred watches, and all it involves is a clown that juggles. It does not allow any time to think.

is for the eXtirpation of books. The civilization in Fahrenheit 451 is not allowed to read books. Therefore, the books in Fahrenheit 451 are being eXtirpated.

is for Y are the intelligent so feared in this society?

is for Zippers The society has become so lazy that it replaced buttons with Zippers. This is another point Bradbury makes to show how technology is bad.

The End of the Fahrenheit 451 ABCs