Fahrenheit 451 Questions

1. The world that Montag lives in is similar in the sense that we've adapted as a society to living life more dependant on technology and technological forms of entertainment. Although our society is not as far gone as it is portrayed in the novel, the prospect of the world evolving to a point where it becomes very similar to the one described by Bradbury is not that farfetched. Although the world may be seen as a utopia through the eyes of characters such as Beatty, it is clear that this censored, war plauged reality is anything but.

2. Clarisse is an important character because she is one of the few people in the world with a sense of self identity and imagination. She is driven by her sense of curiosity, and Montag identifies with her because of it. Montag, who begins to suffer from a crisis of identity, attempts to find himself through his meetings with Clarisse.

3. I suspect that Beatty had suspicions of Montag and may have programmed the hound to react to him in an effort to scare Montag and keep him in line. 

4. The woman was so passionate in her fight for preserving knowledge and her books that she would rather burn with them then continue living in that world. Witnessing this, Montag begins to speculate as to why someone would be willing to die for the sake of such a trivial thing and his curiosity and want to explore literature grows. 

5. The description serves as a way to explain the painfully obvious pointlessness and mindlessness of the trash Mildred constantly indulges in. 

6. It shows the lack of appreciation for life and the therefore the pointlessness of it. If life is not valued and respected by society then what's the point of it? Clarisse's death was easily dismissed and was talked about as if it wasn't anything significant.

7. Montag is not so much physically sick as he is mentally and emotionally sick. He is overly stressed after experiencing the burning of that woman and her house and does not wish to go back to work without reflecting on his life and choices.

8. It shows the constant guilt and pressure that Montag must have been feeling throughout the novel. It explains many of the sentences that were intended as forshadowing for that moment of unveiling. Montag claims his hands have a mind of their own because he impulsively continued to steal books.

9. Beatty explains to Montag that society has evolved of its own accord to the point it is at. People became more interested in the "fast life" and left less time to enjoy in activities such as reading, and slowly it began to fade from society.

10. Ignorance is bliss, and it certainly seems to be the case with Mildred. My definition of happiness is the antithesis of how Mildred sees it. Mildred puts material values over anything else because thats what she has been conditioned to value.