Fahrenheit 451 Discussion Questions
Answer each question thoughtfully and thoroughly. Be sure to show engagement with the question and the text. Write
your answers on your own lined notebook paper. Be sure to leave some space after each answer in order to add notes
during class discussion.
pp. 3-24
1. Montag compares the burning pages of a book to “flapping pigeon wings.” As a matter of
fact, he uses a lot of bird imagery when talking about books throughout the novel. What
might be the symbolic meaning of birds/flying/wings?
2. Explain how Bradbury has inverted the usual meaning of the word “antisocial” when it
comes to Clarisse. What do we usually think of when someone is “antisocial”? How is
Clarisse “antisocial” in this society?
3. How does the imagery associated with Clarisse differ from the imagery associated with
Mildred? What contrast is Bradbury accomplishing by including such imagery for each?
4. Bradbury has stated that a part of him is represented by Clarisse. What do you think he
means?
5. Why does the fire department use the phoenix and salamander as symbols? How are those
creatures symbolically related to fire? You may have to do some brief research to answer this
question.
6. Mildred depends on the TV “family,” her “seashell radio,” and the sleeping tablets. Why?
What purpose do all of those items serve for her? What is Bradbury indicating about this
society by having her need them?
7. The “handymen” who work on Mildred say that they get many calls of this nature every
night. What is Bradbury trying to say about this society by including that information?
8. Mildred denies taking all of her sleeping pills. What might that indicate about her? In what
way is her denial related to Montag’s initial beliefs that he was happy, was in love, and that it
was a “pleasure to burn”? What is Bradbury indicating about the people of this society?
pp. 24-48
1. Why has Bradbury included the reading of the history and rules of the fire department?
What is he indicating about the society of this book? Hint: What the real history and purpose of
the fire department in American society?
2. What role does the Mechanical Hound play? Why does Bradbury include it?
3. How do the conversations Montag has with Clarisse differ from those he has with Mildred?
Be specific. What is Bradbury telling us about this society through these two characters?
4. Bradbury uses a literary device known as meiosis (understatement for rhetorical effect) in
calling the alarm at the old woman’s house “inconvenient.” Explain why the use of that
word represents meiosis.
5. What is the quote the woman recites before she dies? How is that quote appropriate for the
way she’s dying? (You may have to do a little research). Why does Bradbury include her in
this story?
© Lisa Renard-Spicer
In English: Fahrenheit 451 page 80
6. What are the reasons that Beatty gives the old woman for the burning of books? Be specific.
Why does Bradbury have Beatty tell her these things? What does he accomplish by doing so?
pp. 48-68
1. More than one thing contributes to Montag feeling ill and unable to go to work. What are
the contributing factors? Be specific.
2. When Beatty visits Montag, he reveals a great deal about this society:
a. How did the ever-increasing speed of society affect books and reading? Be specific.
b. What became the most important thing in society? Be specific.
c. How did the objections of the minority groups affect books? Be specific.
d. What publications are left for people to read? Be specific.
3. Bradbury has stated that a part of him is represented by Beatty. What do you think he
means?
4. Bradbury has stated in interviews that Fahrenheit 451 is less about censorship by the
government and more about American society’s own diminishing interest in reading and
growing interest in less substantial entertainment like television. How does this section of the
novel emphasize that the society, itself, is more to blame than the government?
5. Bradbury lets us know that that Montag had stolen books even before meeting Clarisse. Why
is this significant? What does this tell us about him, about his subconscious?
pp. 71-93
1. What makes Montag think of finding Faber? Be specific. Why does Bradbury need to
include Faber’s character?
2. What is Bradbury trying to convey as Montag attempts to memorize a passage from the
Bible while being distracted by an annoying commercial toothpaste advertisement?
3. According to Faber, how has religion changed in this society? Be specific.
4. What three things does Faber say are missing from a world without books? Be specific.
Provide text quotations that support your answer (with page numbers).
5. Bradbury has stated that a part of him is represented by Faber. What do you think he means?
6. Why was the book of Job an appropriate one for Bradbury to have Faber read to Montag?
(Hint: What was Job known for?)
pp. 93-110
1. Explain Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Bowles’ relationships with their husbands and their children.
Be specific. Why has Bradbury included these two minor characters? What does he
accomplish through them?
2. Re-read the excerpt from the poem “Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold. Examine it line-byline to determine what it is about. Why is it an appropriate poem for Bradbury to have
Montag read?
© Lisa Renard-Spicer
In English: Fahrenheit 451 page 81
3. Why does Mrs. Phelps react to the reading of “Dover Beach” the way she does? What is
Bradbury indicating about her (and others like her in the society)?
pp. 113-136
1. Who turned in the fire alarm at Montag’s house? Be careful! There’s more than one person.
What is Bradbury indicating about this society through this?
2. Beatty says, “Well now you did it. Old Montag wanted to fly near the sun and now that he’s
burnt his damn wings, he wonders why.” To what myth is Bradbury alluding? Why is that
such an apt comparison?
3. On page 119, Bradbury includes a passage from Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. Beatty
is taunting Montag by saying that he (Montag) could use this quote as an argument. Re-read
the passage, several times if necessary. Explain what the passage is saying and why it actually
does fit Montag’s situation.
4. Montag says he realized that Beatty wanted to die. Why do you think Beatty might have want
to die? What id Bradbury indicating about Beatty by including this?
pp. 137-154
1. What happens to Montag as he floats down the river? Based on what Montag experiences in
the river, what does the river seem to symbolically represent?
2. What is ironic about the “capture” of Montag? What is Bradbury saying about the society by
including this?
pp. 155-165
1. What advice did Granger’s grandfather give him about “leaving something behind”? Explain
this advice in your own words.
2. Bradbury has stated that a part of him is represented by Granger. What do you think he
means?
3. How did the war “begin and end in an instant”?
4. How does Granger explain the phoenix connection?
5. Montag remembers a passage from Ecclesiastes. Re-read this passage about “seasons” and
explain what it means and how it applies to this novel.
6. What is the significance of Granger saying that the first thing they need to build is a “mirror
factory”? What earlier character do we think of when we hear “mirror’? How is Bradbury
using the idea of a mirror symbolically?
© Lisa Renard-Spicer
In English: Fahrenheit 451 page 82