Name ____________________________Class__________ Section ______________

Study Guide Questions for Fahrenheit 451

As you read the first section of the novel, answer the first 15 questions from the list below in
complete sentences.

*** If you choose to only answer 15 questions they must be the first 15 questions = The highest
grade you can receive for answering the first 15 questions is 85.

*** If you choose to answer all 26 questions, the highest grade you can get is up to 100, the
choice is yours.

*** I will be grading 5 of your responses for quality. The five responses will be the same five
questions for every student.

These questions should act as a reading guide and are not intended to replace careful
examination of the novel’s themes and development.

This assignment is Due Friday March 26th before 3:30PM

Part I: The Hearth and the Salamander (pp. 3-68)

1. What do the “firemen” do for a living? Why is this ironic?

The firemen burn down houses that contain books. This is ironic because today firemen try to
control fires and stop them.

2. In the opening scene, why are the books compared to birds?

Books are compared to birds because as birds fly away books can trigger thoughts in our mind
that lead to many ideas. Like birds who fly in freedom, books give us freedom of knowledge and
allow our minds to “fly away.”

3. According to pages 3-4, what does Montag think of his job?

He likes his job.

Montag meets 17 year old Clarisse McClellan.

5. During his conversation, Montag says that “You never wash it off completely” referring
to the kerosene. What could this mean symbolically?

Montage means that the smell and work guilt of burning the books stays with you forever.

6. Why do you think that Bradbury would introduce Clarisse before Montag’s wife,
Mildred?

Clarisse is introduced first because she is more important than his wife because she does not
follow social norms and is a free thinking woman.

7. Why does Mildred need help when Montag gets home?

Mildred needs help because she has overdosed on sleeping pills.

8. Describe the help that she receives. Is there anything unusual about the way the two men
go about helping Mildred? How is it unusual?

The help she receives is that she gets her stomach pumped. Their treatment is weird because the
2 men come in to help her as if they were fixing a common household problem, not a human.
They treated this situation as if it were a common routine call.

9. How is life in Montag’s house very different from that of Clarisse’s house?

Montag’s house is dark and still except for the TVs. Clarisse’s house is full of laughter and life.

10. How does Mildred react after she wakes up from her previous night’s experience?
She wakes up extremely hungry and doesn’t remember anything that happened. She suspects she
was at a party and is hungover

11. What does Mildred do all day?

Mildred does nothing but watch her 3 TVs and interacts with a storyline she knows nothing
about.

12. Describe the setup of Montag’s TV room.

The TV room has a large TV on each wall except for one.

13. What is Clarisse doing when Montag sees her on page 21?

She’s walking in the rain.

14. How is Clarisse different than Mildred?

Clarisse questions things and thinks for herself whereas Mildred relies on the TV for her few
thoughts.

15. What is the mechanical hound and what is its purpose?

The mechanical hound is the firehouse dog; it is programmed to hunt and kill those that are
violating the law of keeping books.

16. What is the hound’s reaction to Montag?

The hound seems to not like Montag, as if he knows Montag’s secret.

17. Why does society consider Clarisse “anti-social?” (p. 29)

18. At the next fire, what does Montag take?

At the next fire, Montag takes the books and hides them

19. On page 40, Beatty reveals something very important about himself and his knowledge.
What is it?

when Beatty talks it is revealed that he is very wise and knows alot about the fireman industry.
He knows the ups and downs and the common events that take place in a man's life during the
course of his fireman job.

20. What technology does Mildred use to go to sleep?

Mildred uses a technology called Seashells to soothe her to sleep. These seashell transmitters fit
in her ears like thimbles, and through them she can listen to music and programs far into the
night until she falls asleep.

21. Who is Mildred’s “family?”

Mildred's family is the characters in the television shows she watches on her parlour walls. They
give her joy and distract her from what is happening in the world. Montag is annoyed by his
wife's feelings for the characters on the television. It was Montag himself who originally called
them relatives.

22. What has happened to Clarisse? How did it happen?

A few weeks after Montag meets Clarisse, she disappears. Mildred later tells Montag that
Clarisse was run over and killed by a car and that her family moved away. Clarisse's death could
have been an accident by the joyriding teenagers Clarisse admitted she was scared of.
 23. What is unusual about the way Mildred told Montag about Clarisse?

Mildred has no emotion telling Montag about Clarisse's death. She tells him in a "oh, yea,
Clarisse died" sort of way.

24. Read pages 55-62 very carefully. They contain great truths about our world. List three
things Beatty talks about in his speech to Montag that are true about our world?

A.Knowledge is the key

B. Thinking helps us grow

C. Books are a gift

25. What human institutions are being criticized in the novel?

The human institutions that are criticized in Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 are academic learning
(education), marriage, and families (having children).

26. What is Fahrenheit 451?

Fahrenheit 451 presents a future dystopian American society where books are outlawed and
“firemen” are charged with burning any that are found. Literally, in the novel its the fact that at
451°F paper catches fire and burns.