Reflection Project

Rough Draft of Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 Essay

Cale Houghton

The book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is about a man named Montag living in a dystopian future, where books are burned and society is brainwashed by technology. Montag works as a fireman, but in this reality, firemen don’t put out fires, they make them. Montag, his Captain Beatty, and the rest of the fire crew burn books, houses that contain books, and occasionally, the people who own the books. Their only goal is to eradicate books. To the firemen, its a great time. They all seem to love fire though. As Beatty says it, “Fire is bright, fire is clean,” (p.60).

In contrast to this though, Montag begins to steal books from the hidden libraries that he is supposed to be burning. It might seem like a curiosity at first, but Montag continues stealing books over the span of several months. And when Captain Beatty visits him at his home, he admits that he once stole books. But thats not all, he goes so far to admit that, “At least once in his career, every fireman gets an itch. What do the books say, he wonders. Oh, to scratch that itch, eh? Well, Montag, take my word for it, I’ve had to read a few books in my time,” (Bradbury, 62). So, here, he is not only admitting to having read books himself, but he is also saying that EVERY firemen reads a book sometime in his career. So this brings me to the question, if firemen are supposed to despise books, but they all eventually steal a book to read, so what is it that pulls them towards books?

The reason that firemen such as Montag are pulled toward books is that their life is dull and repetitive, and books seem like a symbol of freedom that they need to save. We can see strong examples of how they feel that their life is monotonous in the connections they make to things around them. They feel like books need to be saved because they compare them to a living creature.

Montags life of destruction is very repetitive and monotonous.

One way I can tell this is that he feels connected to the Mechanical Hound, which has one purpose, to destroy.

Montag also feels connected to fire itself, which also has only the purpose of destruction in this book. At the start of the book Montag describes his everyday work as, “His hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of burning and blazing,” (Bradbury, 3). The fact that he is comparing his relationship with fire to a relationship with a human, especially a conductor to a musician, shows that he is feels very related to it. To further prove this connection between Montag and fire, later in the book when he feels like he is productive instead of destructive, he sees fire for the first time being productive, and giving warmth. This is the first time that he feels that he is being productive, (Bradbury, 146). The reason that this shows his life is repetitive is that he is comparing himself to fire. Fire follows a predictable pattern, and is used in their society for one thing: Destroying. When Montag feels a kinship to it, it shows he also feels like all he does is destroy.

The way this affects Montag is that it makes him feel bad for the books.

It’s true that at first he does feel happy when he burns books. Later in the book though, he feels remorse when he burns books.

Books also appear as though they are birds to Montag. At the very start of the book, when Montag is first introduced, the narrator speaks of the books as, “the flapping pigeon winged books died on the porch,” (Bradbury, 3). Also, later in the book the author describes that, “a book lit, almost obediently, like a white pigeon, in his hands, wings fluttering,” (Bradbury, 37). So here the author describes them as flapping, winged, pigeons, and able to die, on multiple occasions. If he just saw a book burning he probably wouldn’t feel remorse. But seeing an animal dying is very different. He would feel remorse that he was killing something, especially a bird, because birds often represent freedom. So, if he were to burn one he would feel like he was burning his freedom.

In conclusion, firemen become depressed in their monotonous life, and they feel guilty destroying books, so they end up saving books instead, because to them books represent freedom. The reason that I think it is books that represent freedom, and not something else, is because books are what is restricted by the government. The government is the only ones who really know the meaning of why books are restricted, and they are the only ones who know about these mysterious wars that they say will be short and easy, even when cities get blown up. So with this oppressive government, anything they withhold might make people subconsciously think of it as freedom.

Tree-Web Fahrenheit 451

Sorry if it's too hard to read, I had difficulty taking the picture in my lighting. I can try again though if needed.

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?