Fahrenheit 451 Formula

Status Quo: Montag, as well as the other firemen, loves to burn, and he loves fire. And, he hates books. That is why he burns them.
Trouble: But if that is so, why is it that Beatty admits to Montag that all firemen, including himself go through a stage where they steal books.
Question: If firemen hate books, but they all end up eventually stealing books, why are they so drawn to books?
Claim: Firemen see books as a link to freedom, because they have always been restricted to them. They therefore feel as though books are their only way out. But, they have been burning thing their whole life. They see the parallel between that and being in captivity their whole life.

Fahrenheit 451 Exploratory Draft

Cale Houghton

Exploratory Draft

My proposal: I am interested in writing about Beatty and all the contradictions he has, because I want to understand why he is always quoting books, and why he wanted to die. One reason he might have wanted to destroy books, despite his knowledge of them is that he read them, and they reflected reality on him. And because reality is so depressing, he wanted to die.

Looking over my proposal, I realize that my claim does not really go very deep. It is more of an observation about the text that I made, because:

• It’s pretty obvious Beatty read books.
• Yeah, books don’t solve any problems for you, that doesn’t need to be said.
• Well he didn’t want to die because the world was so wonderful. The people in this world are obviously are not happy. Suicides happen regularly. So that is kind of just a observation.

So I was thinking of ways that I could explore this more fully.

For the second bullet: Did Beatty expect books to solve any problems for him? If you take the risk in that society to read books, you probably thought they would do something for you. So Beatty expected books to do something for him: To figure that out, I looked at Montag’s pull towards books, because his story seems very similar to Beatty’s. So, what brought Montag into books? Well, he started collecting books before the book began, but in the span of the book, he always mentions books in association with birds.

So now, I’m onto birds. What they usually represent in literature? Freedom of course. They fly around and do anything they want. For example, the Bald Eagle, which symbolizes the freedom found in America. I was actually pretty excited when I found this, because it fits perfectly into the story. The thing that people don’t have in this world is freedom. They do the same thing every day of their lives, because the mysterious government tells them that it’s normal. So people that work with books, the firemen, are the only ones who really get to see the freedom of books, the things that the government has kept away from everyone else. It seems like the one way that they can escape.

Another thing I didn’t include in my proposal is the firemen’s relationship to fire. Thinking about it now, fire does its job every time, just like they are supposed to. And when it does that, it gives them a basic happiness like their walls do. It represents their confinement. Also, it burns books, which shows how it clashes with freedom.

So Beatty (like all firemen, according to him) saw this parallel between books and freedom / fire and confinement, so he expects books to save him from the sad reality that everybody in the book denies. And, as I said before, books may be enlightening to some people, they are just pieces of paper. They have no magic. If someone (like Beatty) were to realize this, after expecting their life to be saved, they would turn bitter against books, and resort to the simple, empty pleasure of destroying with fire.

Sorry if this didn’t make too much sense. It made sense to me at the time.

Fahrenheit 451 Text Explorations

Cale Houghton

12/16

Text Exploration

Passage 1: “Any man who can take a TV apart and put it back together… is happier than any man who tries to slide rule, measure, equate the universe. I know, I’ve tried it; to hell with it,” (p.61).

The first type of person Beatty tries to describe is the one who knows little about how their society works, but knows how to get by in his own life. This is similar to most people in the book, who wander around aimlessly in their never ending loop of a life. The OED defines happiness as: The state of pleasurable contentment of the mind; deep pleasure in or contentment with ones circumstances. So apparently everybody in the society who is seemingly brainwashed is very happy with that. But if that is so, why is it that Mildred tried to kill herself? She is definitely among the sheep. But she isn't happy as Beatty says. So if what Beatty says is a lie, then Beatty obviously has a purpose in making this up. Maybe he is trying to trick himself into thinking it.

The second type of person he describes is someone who tries to explore the world. He describes someone like Montag, who wants to reach out and discover more. He says they try to “equate the universe”. OED defines equate as: To take the average of. Obs. So in a way, Beatty is saying that if you try to create rules and equations for things in the universe, you are never going to do good for society. This makes me think more about the mysterious government. They would have to have academics among them, yet they condemn academics. It adds a level of mystery to them, because why would they condemn academics if they are academics? Just to add to the mystery from other parts in the book, why is it that nobody is ever informed about the nuclear war that they are in, even though it is blowing up cities? Maybe the government is implied to be raising the citizens for war, but this could be explored more.

The most important part of this quote though, is how he says “I’ve tried it”. OED defines tried as: Proven or tested by examination or experience. This is in a way, the first insight he gives into his life. He was always trying to be mysterious, with his confusing sentences and cloud of smoke. He makes a mistake now though, and admits that he has examined or experienced books. This is strange, because it shows how he once was not too different from Montag: Experimenting with the restricted. So if he is similar to Montag, why does he constantly bully him?

Passage 2: “Fire is bright, fire is clean,” (p.60).

OED defines clean as: Clear of all encumbrance or restrictions. Beatty thinks that fire is free, and is a way that is exactly what their society isn’t. They are always confined with doing the same thing over and over again. So I think that fire is a way of breaking away from this. 
OED defines bright as: Lit up with happiness, gladness, or hope. Also, hopeful, encouraging, cheering. So in a way, Beatty sees fire as one of the few ways that he can get happiness: And happiness is what he always says is the most important thing in life.
OED defines fire as: States of ignition. This is where the troubling part comes into play. His views on fire are very similar to Montag’s at the start of the book. It is always destroying, but at the same time, it seems beautiful to them. I think that the reason for this is the way that it eats their problems away. If they see a book, they burn it, without a second thought. But in their lives, they have to do the same things over and over again, while dealing with the fact that they have nothing that makes them happy. So fire is a way of simulating their escape from that reality. One example of this is how Beatty gets Montag to kill him by fire. He wants things to be happy and free, and fire is his way of doing that.

Passage 3: “God what a pulse! I’ve got you going, have I, Montag? Jesus God, your pulse sounds like the day after the war. Everything but sirens and bells! Shall I talk some more? I like your look of panic. Swahili, Indian, English Lit., I speak them all. A kind of excellent dumb discourse, Willie!” (p. 107).

One thing I would like to talk about is how he mentions it sounds like the day after the war. The OED defines war as: Hostile contention by means of armed forces. Everyone else in the story seems to be left out on information about the military. The ladies who have husbands in the army barely know anything about. At the end, when they all got bombed, nobody saw it coming. So this raises the question, how does Beatty know what it sounded like the day after the war? I think that he must have some outside source, which would most likely a book, as that would never be put on the news.

And then he brings up all these languages that he speaks, which brings another question up, how does he know these languages? I think that the answer to this is also kind of obvious: He must have read books. So twice now, I have seen that he apparently has read books. So why does he hate them so much? It’s possible that they weren’t the instant gratification that he wanted, because he realized that, as Mr. Garces Kiley puts it, books are sad.
Also, he is taking Montags pulse. The OED defines pulse as: The throbbing or rhythmic expansion of the arteries. So he is checking Montags pulse, and when he confirms that he is nervous, he is pouncing on him for it. It seems like he is constantly looking for weaknesses in Montag. I wonder why he wants to tear him down and make him nervous?
Just to add on to this he says he enjoys Montag's panic. The OED defines panic as: Of fear, terror, etc. So he enjoys seeing Montag in terror. That is at a new level, to be that cruel to someone, you would have to hate them. But why would Beatty hate Montag? Montags never done anything to him, except steal books, which he is still proving at this point. So maybe he hates books. He may have been let down by them in some way in his life, because they couldn't physically hurt him. Or maybe he got caught with them.

Expanding on this, I think it is because he views Montag as someone similar to himself when he first started reading books: They had just skimmed the surface, but they wanted more. And he is angry at himself for thinking books could solve his problems, because once again: Books are sad, they can't solve any problems for you. Montag has problems to: He never felt content with his life, and he has come to terms that he isn't happy in his life. Beatty is angry at Montag for making the same mistake as himself, which he now sees as obvious.

Stage 1: Brainstorm

Things that I am thinking of writing about include...

• How Beatty claims that he hates books, but is always citing them.
• How Beatty always tells Montag about how the important thing for everyone in life is to be happy, yet he himself apparently wants to die.
• Mildred is unhappy (suicide attempt) yet she refuses to change anything in her life (she turns Montag in for wanting to get books and rebel).
• Connections between the Hound and Montag.
• What do the walls represent?
• Why is it named Fahrenheit 451?

Process Post

During this unit on the book Fahrenheit 451, we have learned several new reading techniques and strategies. One of the most important things we learned about is symbolism, because there are a lot of examples of it in the text. The one that we went over is the mechanical hound. I think this is an example of symbolism because Montag views the hound in a similar situation to himself. He says to Beatty, that it makes him sad all the hound will ever do is destroy. All Montag ever does is destroy. And when the hound gets killed, that part of Montag that always conforms with society also does. He runs away and joins a group of people dedicated to remembering books. Symbolism is so important because it reveals main ideas in the book, just by examining an object.
Another technique we learned was close reading. One thing we noticed when we were close reading was how Montag was always comparing books to pigeons in his mind. Also, we noticed that the author always introduces a new character by showing contrasts. Montag is introduced by saying how it is a pleasure to burn and destroy. The hound is introduced by showing how it seems both dead and alive. I think both of these could also be expanded to find major ideas in the book..