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Summary of Fahrenheit 451 Part 1 – The Hearth and the Salamander
advanced english (ENGADV)
University of Sydney
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Summary of Fahrenheit 451: Part 1 – The Hearth and the Salamander
When the novel begins, fireman Guy Montag is burning a hidden collection of books. He enjoys the experience; it is "a pleasure to burn." After finishing his shift, he leaves the firehouse and goes home. On the way he meets a neighbor, a young girl named Clarisse McClellan. Clarisse tells Montag that she is "crazy" and she asks Montag many questions. After they part, Montag finds himself disturbed by the encounter. Clarisse has forced him to think about his life instead of simply offering superficial responses to her questions.
At home, Montag discovers his wife, Mildred, unconscious from an overdose of sleeping pills. Montag calls for help and two technicians arrive to pump Mildred's stomach and perform a blood transfusion. They tell Montag that they no longer send doctors because there are so many overdoses. The next day, Mildred claims to have no memory of the overdose, believing she went to a wild party and woke up hungover. Montag is disturbed by her cheer and her inability to engage with what happened.
Montag continues to meet Clarisse almost every night for talks. Clarisse tells him that she is sent to therapy because she does not enjoy the normal activities of life and prefers to be outside and to have conversations. Some weeks later Clarisse suddenly stops meeting him, and Montag is saddened and alarmed.
The firemen are called to a book hoarder’s house. An old woman refuses to give up her library, and the firemen break in and begin to tear the house apart. In the chaos, Montag steals a copy of the Bible on impulse. The old woman then shocks him by setting herself and her books on fire.
Montag goes home and attempts to engage Mildred in conversation, but his wife’s mind has regressed and she is incapable of even simple thoughts. He asks her what happened to Clarisse and she is able to tell him that the girl was hit by a car and killed a few days prior. Montag tries to sleep but imagines a Hound (a robotic assistant to the firemen) prowling around outside. The next morning, Montag suggests he might need a break from his work, and Mildred panics over the thought of not being able to afford their home and the large wall-sized televisions that provide her "parlor wall family."
Hearing of Montag’s crisis, Montag’s boss, Captain Beatty, explains the origin of the book-burning policy: because of shortening attention spans and increased protest against various books' content, the society decided to voluntarily dispense of all books in order to prevent future trouble. Beatty suspects Montag has stolen a book, and tells Montag that a fireman who has stolen a book is usually given 24 hours to burn it. After that, the rest of the firemen will come and burn down his house.
After Beatty leaves, Montag reveals to a horrified Mildred that he has been stealing books for a while, and has several hidden away. She attempts to burn them, but he stops her and says they will read the books and decide if they have any value. If not, he promises to burn them.
Summary of Fahrenheit 451 Part 1 – The Hearth and the Salamander
Course: advanced english (ENGADV)
University: University of Sydney
