The Symbolism of the Firemen Fahrenheit 451 The Symbolism of the Firemen

Main Characters in Fahrenheit 451 Guy Montag Clarisse McClelland Mildred (Millie) Montag Captain Beatty

The Legend of the Phoenix A supernatural, beautiful bird Yellow, orange, gold, red feathers (fire) Associated with the pagan sun god, Heilos Only one phoenix lives at a time, stands alone lives for 1000 years Builds funeral pyre, throws self into flames Reborn into ashes, rises to live again Symbol of immortality, life after death, resurrection

The Salamander Greek, meaning “fire animal” Small lizard, cold-hearted Popular in fall (symbol of death, end of life) Born of fire & flame Fire-proof skin, can endure flame without damage colors of red, orange & gold = fire, flames Symbol of faith & courage

The Beetle A small, black bug Associated with devil Act as mediators between gods & normal men Symbol of the immortality & the divine; industrialness

The Python Powerful snake Biblical reference to Adam & Eve Symbolic of sin

The Hearth Fireplace Contained fire, controlled Symbolic of the home

Symbolic Colors In Fahrenheit 451 Red – fire, blood, war, danger, power & passion Orange – determination & enthusiasm, aggression, thirst for action Gold- wisdom, wealth Yellow – energy Black- devil, evil, power, death

Guy Montag “It was a pleasure to burn” Futuristic fireman - caretakers of society - keepers of peace of mind 30 years old Married to Millie - thinks they have good marriage - can’t remember how they met Appears to love job, “forced smile”

Clarisse McClelland Montag meets her on his way home “I’m seventeen & crazy” She doesn’t fear Montag Questions & talks with him “Do you ever read any of the books you burn?” She is odd, enjoys walks, talking “Are you happy?”

Mildred (Millie) Montag Montag’s wife Representative of Society - Escapes - drugs, ear seashells, TV parlor walls - Overdosing - Selfish - Violent (Clarisse points this out)

Millie’s Overdose Overdoes on sleeping pills Crew comes, pumps her stomach & blood Crew is very informal, routine - smoking cigarettes, joking around Millie is in denial Montag is scared She doesn’t believe Montag

Montag & his Meetings with Clarisse These encounters set up Montag’s future and his battle against censorship & banned books They start his quest for knowledge

Meeting One She meets Montag on her way home from work She likes to walk, talk, look at things, smell things - lives with her parents, uncle - Doesn’t watch parlor walls Not afraid of Montag – others fear firemen “Do you ever read any of the books you burn?” Jet cars race down the street –foreshadowing - people don’t drive slowly, uncle did once- got arrested - miss things like colors of the grass “Are you happy?”

Meeting Two “Rain tastes good” Dandelion test She sees a psychiatrist He thinks she is more mature than Millie She starting to forget he is a firemen Montag doesn’t know how firemen started As she leaves, Montag TASTES rain

Third & Final Meeting Montag feels he has known her for years “Why don’t you have children?” “It has been a long time since anyone cared.” His smile, laugh nicer, more relaxed, not forced like before Anti-social behavior Ends conversation by saying “goodbye”

Impact of Clarisse Opposite of society and its norms The catalyst – gets Montag thinking - asking questions, softening Montag Discovery of Violence of Teens - teens smash windows, beat each other - drive recklessly - “Afraid of others her own” - They kill each other” - foreshadows her death “goodbye”

The Mechanical Hound A programmable, robotic dog, has 8 legs Made of rubber & metal Armed with needles to inject victims with Morphine or procaine Programmed by DNA, to find victims Montag fears the dog, “It doesn’t like me”

The Mechanical Hound (cont.) Devil dogs are guardians of Satan Mechanical – it “functions” Can only be programmed Beatty suspects Montag is “having doubts” Montag is told about a man who programs the dog to kill him

The Firehouse & The Old Woman Alarm sounds, heads to the woman’s house After several warnings, she refuses to leave Her statement about Master Ridley - burned for heresy for a crime he did not commit - she begins the quote, BEATTY FINISHES IT She lights a match & burns with her books Montag’s hand steals the Bible For the 1st time, Montag is sick after a burning

Back Home After the Burning Montag pretends to be ill, calls off work Millie notices Montag crying about the women He hides the book under his pillow Realizes he is no longer in love with Millie Millie tells Montag “Clarisse is gone”

The History of the Firemen Beatty informs Montag of the Firemen Things have MASS People long for a simpler life Classics cut, short, people lost interest in reading English, grammar, spelling neglected Languages dropped Money & pleasure only important Minority groups did not like books

History of the Firemen (cont.) People became too politically correct Too worried about offending People want to be happy Only way to ensure happiness is equality People MUST be made EQUAL Fire is pure & clean

At Montag’s House Only books allowed are comics, manuals & trade magazines “Every firemen gets an itch…..” Beatty knows Montag is curious Millie finds the book while Beatty is there Millie & Montag argue after Beatty leaves

Section 2 The Sieve & The Sand FAHRENHEIT 451 Section 2 The Sieve & The Sand

The Sieve & the Sand Montag remembers a story about a SIEVE as a child Sieve – Sifter, sand falls through the cracks Trying to fill a sieve with sand is impossible How is this like Montag?

Millie & Montag Millie is unhappy with her husband He is trying to discuss books with her She thinks books are useless She wants Montag to get rid of the books Montag realizes he needs a teacher

Meeting Faber Faber is a retired college professor Montag met him in the park, one year ago Calls Faber on the phone Asks him about books Faber is too cowardly to talk to Montag

Montag’s Trip To Faber’s House Montag’s moment of self-discovery Realizes the “old, burnt-in smile” is gone Sieve & the Sand = helplessness Tried to read the Bible without comprehension Tries to memorize a passage on the subway Dentham’s Dentifrice - toothpaste commercial distracts him

At Faber’s House Faber is afraid of Montag Faber is cowardly Montag needs someone to talk to/explain things Faber tells Montag about 3 missing things -

Three Missing Things Quality of information -Books have quality, texture, pores - Provide details of life Leisure – time to think, digest Time to develop own conclusions Right to carry out actions based on the first 2

The White Clown Television show Millie thinks these television characters care about her – fantasy world/real vs. fake Very violent, people cutting limbs off of people and laughing about it The women enjoy this violent television

View of Families & Marriage Relationships & Husbands - husband off at war, not worried - replaceable - no love Children & Childbirth - have no kids at all, no desire - births by cesarean - don’t want to raise kids, drop them off at schools - turn the TV on & leave them alone - laundry, “ruinous”

Fahrenheit 451 Section 3 Burning Bright

Who turned Montag in? Mrs. Bowles & Mrs. Phelps turned them in – Beatty ignores those complaints Millie turned him in –worried about TV more than Montag Beatty is torn between duty as fireman/his conscience Beatty wanted Montag to be a good fireman Could have finished him off Beatty appears HUMAN The last time Millie is seen in book

Beatty & Montag Beatty wants Montag to torch his own house Beatty confesses to sending the Mechanical hound Beatty seems to feel regret but also enjoys tormenting him Beatty doesn’t realize Montag ENJOYS buring his house – SYMBOLIC of a life he hated

The Legend of Icarus Beatty compares Montag to Icarus (more proof that he is well-read A young man who wanted to fly - made wax wings that worked - flew too close to the sun/melted & his died Beatty taunts Montag with this idea - going down wrong path will get him “BURNED”

Montag & the TV Screens Montag enjoys burning the TV screens Revenge on something he hated Symbolic of his life and what is gone After the burning, he is NOT smiling

Montag talks with Faber Faber tells Montag to leave through the ear radio Beatty discovers the ear radio & threaten to go after Faber Montag “We never burned right” - firemen burn out of habit, shown have been aware of what they were burning Beatty rants, Montag stalls him -”Go ahead – spit Shakespeare at me” - Beatty was wrong to encourage burning & he knew the value in books

Montag Kills Beatty Montag sets fire to Beatty, killing him Beatty teases/taunts him Did Beatty WANT to be killed? HE WAS EDUCATED - he didn’t fight back, stood there – defenseless - Too cowardly to carry out any plan against firemen - Knew he was responsible for society - Charred wax doll (Millie & Beatty) symbolic of people “Don’t fix a problem – burn it” -people avoid problems rather than try to solve them

Montag gets away Montag is injured by the Hound - injures his leg - Difficult to run Hears war is going on while on the way to Faber’s house Cross a busy street to get to Faber’s house - Violence/speeding cars

Visit with Faber Gets to Faber’s house safely Faber tells him of a place down the river Montag covers self in whiskey to kill the scent (protect from hound) Faber cleans house to rid of Montag’s scent

Journey Down the River Montag gets to river, splashes with whiskey and gets rid of his old clothes to lose the hound Follows railroad tracks to find a group of men around a fire Fire has changed to warm, soothing and pure from destructive & dangerous

Meeting Granger Granger is the leader of the group They group memorized books Gave Montag a drink to change his body chemistry They watched on a small tv, an innocent man get killed by the hound –protect society

Human Books Montag couldn’t remember what he read people memorize Montag would become the backup, if anything happens to that person MOntag takes over They were all in hiding, hoping to come back one day and get people reading & thinking again

War A bomb strikes the city. Everything is destroyed Millie is dead, Faber got away They started walking down the river to return to the city Hope, of the future Represent the phoenix/city reborn from the ashes