Fahrenheit 451, Week 3

Welcome to Week 3 of the Online Book Club discussion of Fahrenheit 451. 

This section ended with a pretty big cliffhanger, didn't it? Did you continue reading, just to find out what was going to happen, or did you stop since we are only discussing the second section in this blog post? 

I think the best person in this section was Faber. He was such a cool character. I liked the way that he talked about books, and I liked all the tinkering he did—especially the earpiece he created. The scene where he was listening to Montag from the earpiece made me think of every cop show I have ever seen. I feel like there is an earpiece segment in every one of those shows. Faber describes himself as a bit of a coward, but I thought he was still brave to stay true to himself and not live like the rest of the people in the city. I feel like it's understandable that he didn't want to stand out or do anything to bring the firemen to him. And, he had to be brave to trust Montag. 

What did you think of Montag's plan to plant books in the houses of firemen? Did you think that was a good plan? What about when Montag suggested printing more copies of books? Did you think that sounded doable? 

This section began with Mildred and Montag reading books together, but Mildred was not affected by the books like Montag was. She continued to be very anti-book throughout this section. We saw that clearly when she invited her friends over to watch shows. What did you think of Montag during that scene? Montag describes the women as "enameled creatures," and implies that they have nothing human-like about them. When he forces them to talk, the women had no desire to talk about anything or interact with the real world. Do you think they believed Mildred when she said that firemen were allowed to bring one book home a year? Do you think Montag hurt himself by showing them a book and reading them a poem? Could you believe that Mrs. Phelps cried after he read the poem? 

Were you surprised when Montag went back to the fire station that night? I didn't think he would be able to face the other firemen. Beatty really needled him. I don't think I like Beatty at all. Did you have any idea, when the men went out on the call, that they would end up at Montag's house? Who do you think called in the alarm? 

Did I miss anything that really stood out to you in this section? It definitely was an action-packed section. 

A lot of people think that Fahrenheit 451 is about censorship, but according to this article and video from Ray Bradbury, he believed the book was about the danger of television. What do you think? After this section, do you think the book talks more about censorship or the danger of media? Read this article, too, to get a complete picture of the argument. (And we should remember that in the Comic-Con speech that we saw last week, Bradbury discussed how book burnings influenced the writing of the book.)

I hope you enjoyed reading this section. Make sure to leave me a comment, telling me everything you thought. Don't forget to finish the book before checking back in next week!