Each person traveling knew of a story or book. This reminded me of Native American traditions. Native Americans passed down stories to their young in order to teach them lessons. The intellectuals were like a library of the road. On page 155, someone said “Don't judge a book by its cover.” I love this quote, because it means to not judge someone by just looking at them. Everyone has their own story. I also found this humorous, because they travelers were each known as a book. For example, “If anything should happen to Harris, you are the Book of Ecclesiastes (151).” The ending of the book was very interesting. The war began and ended. The town was bombed and destroyed. The tone of the ending was sad, yet relief. Fahrenheit 451 was full of lessons and taught me how to look at things in other perspectives. Some quotes that taught me this were: “It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after you take your hands away” (157) and “Someday the load we're carrying with us may help someone” (164). It was a very good book that I would recommend for reading.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Journal #14
Montag reached land. He expected a nice, warm and free land. He almost drowned while getting on shore. He thought to himself "Too much water! (143)" This event symbolizes the reality of life. We all expect a perfect outcome, but sometimes our expectation does not work out as we planned. He didn't know how, but he knew Clarisse had been there. I found this strange, but I figured that this place made him feel the same way Clarisse made him feel. The runaway found a group of old intellectual travelers on the railroad tracks. The leader was Granger, an author of the book "The Fingers in the Glove; the Proper Relationship between the Individual and Society" (150). He was welcomed and they watched the search for Montag on their little TV. The news lied and killed a random, innocent man. They said it was Montag to please their audience. I think sometimes this is how the news is today. Some things are changed to things that are not true. You never know what TV will do to please it's audience.
Journal #13
Journal #12
Montag stumbles away. Police sirens and other firemen are heading his way. He falls, sobs, and then gets up with his numb leg. He heard through a radio the police report warning townsmen of who he was and what he just did. If I was in Montag's place, I would be scared. Having the town after you and having no where to go is very frightening. On his escape journey he encountered a group of children, ages twelve to sixteen (128), in a car. They tried to hit him. These kids were a probable cause of Clarisse's death also. Montag followed through with his plan and planted books in a fireman's house. I think this was good revenge and a step closer to getting books back legal. Faber switched on the TV and saw a new Mechanical Hound was brought to town to search for Montag. This builds a lot of suspense. From what the book has told the readers, Mechanical Hounds (if set with correct amino acids) always hunt down their prey. The hound is after Montag and there is no telling what comes next. On page 125, it says “War has been declared”. This symbolizes not only actual war, but the war between Montag and the society.
Journal #11
Captain Beatty saw the radio and repeatedly beat his fellow employer whose house was burning to ash. The radio fell out of Montag's ear. Montag had been caught with the radio and, Beatty was going to track down Faber. Montag turned on his fire captain and killed him with the flamethrower. He then turned to the other firemen at the scene, Stoneman and Black, and knocked them out. The book is notorious for keeping it's readers on the edge. You never know what to expect next. I believe all this pressure on Montag drove him a little crazy. After murdering three people, Montag turned to see the Mechanical Hound. “He turned and the Mechanical Hound was there”(120). He fought with the hound and killed him, but the hound stuck his needle into Montag's leg just enough to numb it. I thought the hound would come for him, but I didn't think Montag was going to kill him so quickly. I like how strong Montag is and that he will do anything to get what he wants. He doesn't care what is in his way.
Journal #10
After they arrived, Montag just looked at Clarisse's house. Captain Beatty scolds him for falling under her influence. Mildred runs out of the house with a suitcase and leaves in a taxi (114). She was the one who called in the alarm for Montag's book collection. This was a total surprise to me. Out of all people, I would have not guessed it would be Mildred who calls the firemen. I thought she would keep quiet, because of all the nice things that were at risk of burning, like her TV walls. Montag was forced to burn his own house with a flamethrower. On page 116, Captain Beatty said “I want you to do this job all by your lonesome, Montag. Not with kerosene and a match, but piecework, with a flamethrower. Your house, your clean up.” I found this ironic, because the fireman who was burning other houses was burning his own house. The Mechanical Hound was in the neighborhood just in case he tried to run and, Captain Beatty arrested Montag right after the house was burned.
Journal #9
Faber reads from the Bible to Montag over the two-way radio ear plugs. This reminds me of a conscience. Your conscience is always telling you what to do, just like Faber was telling Montag what to do. Montag interrupted Mildred's get together with Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Bowles. Angrily, he grabbed a book and showed it to them. Faber warned him not to through the radio. ““Montag,” Faber's voice scraped away at him. “You'll ruin everything. Shut up you fool!” (98)” Mildred came up with a lie and Montag went along with it. The lie was that they were reading the book to show the nonsense that was in it. I felt that this was a good cover up. Montag noticed his wife was burning the book collection one book at a time, so he moved the collection to outside in a bush. He returned to work and they got a call. On page 110, the firemen arrived at Montag's house. Montag said “Why, we've stopped in front of my house.” This was not shocking to me. I predicted one of the women would tell on Montag for having a book, especially since he insulted one of them (Mrs. Bowles).
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