From the opening through Montag’s visit with Faber
Summary
Do you know why books such as this are
so important? Because they have quality. And what does the word quality
mean? To me it means texture. This book has pores.
(See Important Quotations Explained)
Montag and Mildred spend the afternoon reading. The Mechanical Hound
comes and sniffs at the door. Montag speculates about what it was
that made Clarisse so unique. Mildred refuses to talk about someone
who is dead and complains that she prefers the people and the pretty
colors on her TV walls to books. Montag feels that books must somehow
be able to help him out of his ignorance, but he does not understand
what he is reading and decides that he must find a teacher. He thinks
back to an afternoon a year before when he met an old English professor
named Faber in the park. It was apparent that Faber had been reading
a book of poetry before Montag arrived. The professor had tried
to hide the book and run away, but after Montag reassured him that
he was safe, they talked, and Faber gave him his address and phone
number. Now Montag calls the professor. He asks him how many copies
of the Bible, Shakespeare, or Plato are left in the country. Faber,
who thinks Montag is trying to trap him, says none are left and
hangs up the phone.
Montag goes back to his pile of books and realizes that
he took from the old woman what may be the last copy of the Bible
in existence. He considers turning in a substitute to Beatty (who
knows he has at least one book), but he realizes that if Beatty
knows which book he took, the chief will guess that he has a whole
library if he gives him a different book. He decides to have a duplicate
made before that night. Mildred tells him that some of her friends
are coming over to watch TV with her. Montag, still trying to connect with
her, asks her rhetorically if the “family” on TV loves her. She dismisses
his question. He takes the subway to Faber’s, and on the way tries
to memorize verses from the Bible. A jingle for Denham’s Dentifrice
toothpaste distracts him, and finally he gets up in front of all
the passengers and screams at the radio to shut up, waving his book
around. The astonished passengers start to call a guard, but Montag
gets off at the next stop.
Montag goes to Faber and shows him the book, which alleviates Faber’s
fear of him, and he asks the old man to teach him to understand
what he reads. Faber says that Montag does not know the real reason
for his unhappiness and is only guessing that it has something to
do with books, since they are the only things he knows for sure
are gone. Faber insists that it’s not the books themselves that Montag
is looking for, but the meaning they contain. The same meaning could
be included in existing media like television and radio, but people
no longer demand it. Faber compares their superficial society to
flowers trying to live on flowers instead of on good, substantive
dirt: people are unwilling to accept the basic realities and unpleasant
aspects of life.
Faber says that people need quality information, the leisure
to digest it, and the freedom to act on what they learn. He defines
quality information as a textured and detailed knowledge of life,
knowledge of the “pores” on the face of humanity. Faber agrees with Mildred
that television seems more “real” than books, but he dislikes it
because it is too invasive and controlling. Books at least allow
the reader to put them down, giving one time to think and reason
about the information they contain.
Montag suggests planting books in the homes of firemen
to discredit the profession and see the firehouses burn. Faber doesn’t think
that this action would get to the heart of the problem, however,
lamenting that the firemen aren’t really necessary to suppress books
because the public stopped reading them of its own accord even before
they were burned. Faber says they just need to be patient, since
the coming war will eventually mean the death of the TV families.
Montag concludes that they could use that as a chance to bring books
back.
Montag bullies Faber out of his cowardice by tearing pages
out of the precious Bible one by one, and Faber finally agrees to
help, revealing that he knows someone with a printing press who
used to print his college newspaper. Montag asks for help with Beatty
that night, and Faber gives him a two-way radio he has created that
will fit in Montag’s ear; that way the professor can hear what Beatty
has to say and also prompt Montag. Montag decides to risk giving Beatty
a substitute book, and Faber agrees to see his printer friend.
