Study Questions &
Essay Topics
Study Questions
1. How plausible is the future envisioned
in this novel? Specifically, do you think the author provides a convincing
account of how censorship became so rampant in this society?
As noted in the analysis of the “Censorship”
theme (in “Themes, Motifs & Symbols”), the future envisioned
in this novel is brought about by many different factors that may
or may not relate directly to censorship. This society is characterized
by fast cars, violent youth, invasive television programming, intolerant
special-interest groups, and so on. To answer this question effectively,
the reader first has to combine a number of these fragmented factors
to form the best explanation of this future that he or she can—Bradbury
doesn’t make the connections for us. Then the reader would have
to evaluate this explanation by weighing the individual factors. For
instance, does it seem accurate to say that special-interest groups
exert a great deal of pressure for writers to conform to one norm?
Do television and youth culture really threaten to supplant reading?
2. Why do you think Beatty hates books?
It is obvious that Beatty has spent a considerable
portion of his life not just reading but passionately absorbed in
books. His facility with literary quotations by itself demonstrates
this. The first place to look for an answer to this question is
in his statements to Montag about why books are dangerous and worthless.
For example, he tells Montag that books do not give definite answers,
that they contradict themselves and one another, and that different
people can “use” them to make absolutely contradictory points. Generalizing from
these statements, we can infer that he has become frustrated with
books because they don’t have one stable meaning. They are too complex
and can be interpreted in multiple ways, so nobody can really be
said to have mastered them. Beatty may dislike books because he
wants to be the one in control of the answers. This inference can
be connected to the major theme of “The Sieve and the Sand”: the
process of reading may be likened to a person trying to fill a bucket
that has holes in its bottom; it may be frustrating and does not
guarantee the reader access to a tangible meaning. While the sieve
and sand image is used to describe the frustrations Montag experiences,
it might provide clues to Beatty’s frustrations as well.
3. Read the poem “Dover Beach,” by
Matthew Arnold. In what ways is it significant that Montag reads
this particular poem to Mildred and her friends?
The speaker in “Dover Beach” relates that
his world used to be filled with and surrounded by faith, like an
ocean (the “sea of faith”), but that this sea has receded, and faith
has abandoned his world. There are many ways to interpret the speaker’s
statement, but one fairly definite meaning is that the speaker has
lost the religious belief that used to sustain him. He tells the
woman he is speaking to that they must cling to one another, because
all that they have now that faith has abandoned the world is each
other. The reader should be able to relate this much of the poem
to the novel by comparing the world of the novel with the world
of the poem. Is the world of the novel a world that has been abandoned
by faith? What would that mean? Next, the reader should ask whether
there is a corollary between the couple in the poem and the world
of the novel. Is Montag asking his wife for something similar to
what the speaker in “Dover Beach” asks for? Is he likely to get
it from Mildred, or from any of these women? Why or why not?
Suggested Essay Topics
1. How does Faber define the
value of books? Does his definition of “quality” apply to media
other than printed books? Do you think his definitions are accurate
or not? Explain.
2. Discuss Montag’s relationship
with Mildred. Is this a typical marital relationship in their culture?
Discuss the role of family in the characters’ lives, particularly
in relation to the TV parlor “families” and their nature and function.
3. Describe Clarisse’s effect
on Montag and her function in the novel. How and why does she change
him? Why does she vanish from the novel?
4. Discuss the use of quotations
from literature in Fahrenheit 451. Which works
are quoted and to what effect? Pay specific attention to “Dover
Beach,” the Bible, and quotes from Shakespeare.
Become a fan on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
