Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Fahrenheit 451, pages 137-165--end
Find a quote from the reading to discuss. Make sure to include the quote or the subject as the first line of your post, then develop your thoughts about it completely, yet concisely. We now have the rubrics to use in the assessment. This post will be assessed, but more doesn't necessary mean better... make sure your comments are focused on the quote you have chosen--do not ramble.
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“He remembered a farm he had visited when he was very young, one of the rare few times he discovered that somewhere behind the seven veils of unreality, beyond the walls of parlors and beyond the tin moat of the city, cows chewed grass and pigs sat in warm ponds at noon and dogs barked after white sheep on a hill.”
This caught my eye. It’s the first time we really ever get a glimpse of Montag’s childhood. Throughout the whole book, someone’s past personally is not really spoken of. Neither Montag or Mildred mention of their parents, siblings (if they had any), or their childhood, as if they never even had them. My first thought when reading this was, who brought him there? Was it his parents, grandparents, maybe a brother or sister? It seems unrealistic that anyone in that current society would bring a child to a farm. I believe the reason no one visited the other parts of the world because they had no curiosity about it, but clearly back then, someone did. The way the people lived made me totally forget about the outside world. There was a war going on, but with who? Who were they even fighting? Another communist city? If not, how was the rest of the world living “normally” and letting this society go on? It was as if the city Montag lived in was the only one on earth, because all everyone cared about was their selves. This also made me think, was this going on when Montag was a child? Were firemen burning books when Montag was that young, or did he even live in the same city? It wasn’t that long ago, because Montag is only thirty. This passage leaves me with so many unanswered question about Montags past.
The quote I chose was something that Granger said, "Welcome back from the dead." This quote had a lot of meaning to me. Seems to me that Granger thinks that everyone who isn't in the woods memorizing books is a zombie. He is probably right! Everyone who hasn't read a book is, for the most part, dead. Montag was just beginning to wake up through most of the story. His first good taste of life was when he met one of the living, Clarisse. That life felt so good to him that he wanted more. He started to steal books, and as he did he started to feel alive. When he met Faber, a half living zombie, he got that extra jolt of electricity that woke him from the grave. Soon after, his real life began. Once he traveled into the wilderness and stumbled over Granger and his friends, he started to truly learn about life. Granger is just his teacher. Once the city of zombies blew up, Montag's first test began. Even though the story ended here Montag's life as a human is clearly far from over. The quote changed my thinking about a few things in the story. I just am dieing to know what happens next! I don't understand why the book would just end here when his life was just getting started! I feel like there should be another book. There is way to many unanswered questions.
“He saw the moon low in the sky now. The moon there, and the light of the moon caused by what? By the sun, of course. And what lights the sun? Its own fire. And the sun goes on, day after day, burning and burning. Sun and time. The sun and time and burning. Burning. The river bobbed him along gently. Burning. The sun and every clock on earth. It all came together and became a single thing on his mind.”
This quote really stood out to me in the reading. Of course, he continues on to talk about how one must stop, both can’t be burning at the same time. The thing that stood out to me most though, was that it was apparent that Montag had a very guilty conscious.
We don’t know what Montag was thinking in the beginning, when he first started this job. I’m guessing that he was thinking about how amazing it was that he was a fireman, a person who everyone looks up to. A person with authority. Montag would go with his fellow firemen and burn books in houses, stop people from doing something that wasn’t allowed. Thinking, learning that is. Montag didn’t know what should really have been right, that burning books wasn’t helping anyone.
Over time Montag must have become curious, wanting to know what the deal with books was. So, he took some home, read them, learned. But you know what they say, curiosity killed the cat.
Now we come to present day, where Montag is being chased by a Hound, chased by people who want to kill him. And for what? For reading, having a couple of books, wanting to make himself more intellectual. He realizes now, floating down the river, that he should have known from the start that books were helpful, not harmful. It was embedded into him though that books were bad.
I think that Montag just really can’t get over the fact that when it comes down to it, everything burns. And he can’t get that off his mind, knowing that he’s alone now in his world, seeking out salvation somewhere. I’m writing my comment before I’ve finished reading, so I’m curious to see how Montag will turn out and how he’ll get over his guilt.
After Montag had asked why the group of people that had let him join their group of runaways or fugitives had trusted him, one of them replied saying, "The look of you's enough." It stuck out to me as something that seemed very weird about this part. They trusted Montag just from the look of him? I would have thought that this group of people would be more paranoid of someone infiltrating their group. What they did seemed like something that the people from Montag's old society. I could definitely see one of those people being like, 'oh yeah, come on in,' or another welcoming gesture. These fugitives were so laid back compared to what I, or anyone in their right mind, would have expected from any other people on the run would have done, but this book makes everyone seem dumber than dirt. I guess I would have been able to believe it more if they didn't trust him and they helped him for a little bit and then made him go on his way, but this book is odd in that way. (They did have an interesting way of saving there books though. With the photographic memories method. That's cool.)
“But that’s the wonderful thing about man; he never gets discouraged or disgusted that he gives up doing it all over again, because he knows very well it is important and worth doing.” p. 153
Granger said this quote when he was explaining his group’s mission to Montag. Not only was he saying that man repeats himself, he was saying that man repeats himself for a reason. The phoenix is a perfect example to use. The phoenix basically kills itself in it’s own fire, a lot like the world Montag lives in. The phoenix kills itself in good reason though, because it rises from the ashes to become reborn, and relive it’s life over and over. Montag’s world and the present day society we live in is much the same way. We bury ourselves alive in our own problems, only to burst out of the Earth in hopes of a better outcome next time.
I very much agree with what Granger is saying. Our world today is just a reflection of what has happened in the past, such as world powers. In the early 1500’s, the Chinese were a huge part of trade. They died off later in time, but now, they have risen back to power, exporting around $1.2 trillion worth of goods around the world.
"The sun burnt every day. It burnt Time . . . Time was busy burning the years and the people anyway, without any help from him. So if he burnt things with the firemen and the sun burnt Time, that meant that everything burnt!"
This seems to be the focal point of Montag's entire renewal of self. For the first time in many years Montag sees the stars and has the time to observe them. He begins to think about the moon and how it gets it's light from the sun. Then he goes even farther to think about the sun itself and relates it to time and how the sun burns away time which burns away people, and he and the firemen burn, thus everything will burn. This makes him think that because the sun will not stop burning, he and the firemen must. This mean completely rewiring himself as a person to be rid of his past and what has been 'burned' into him over the years. Ironically it seems to be almost like a baptism by fire. Essentially, this represent the renewal of society as a whole and how it must be completely remade if it were to ever succeed again. How could this be done? Is an important question I think, well getting rid of the firemen would be a start, those who believe in the suppression of ideas and knowledge the most have to go first. Once they are out of the way to stop the spread of knowledge some people may begin to accept it and others will follow suit, reluctantly maybe, but everyone will come around eventually.
"'Stuff your eyes with wonder,' he said, 'live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal.'" Pg. 157
This quote that Granger's grandfather had told him definitely stood out to me. It stood out because it's so true. It's true in the book, and in real life. Montag should live life to the fullest because he doesn't know when a helicopter could spot him or someone might report him. He doesn't know how long he has to live, really. He could have been blown up in the city for all he knows! This is the same for real life. You never know when you could die any second. No, it's not very likely that an atomic bomb is just going to randomly drop on Jay High School, but it's still a possibility. Everyone should always live their life as if it's their last day. Montag took risks by reading books, and to me, that's a good thing. I think it is good to take some risks in life. As Helen Keller said; "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing!" Montag's life without books WOULD be nothing! But since he reads, it is a daring adventure.
“He walked on the track.
And he was surprised to learn how certain he suddenly was of a single fact he could not prove.
Once, long ago, Clarisse had walked here, where he was walking now.”
Clarisse is one of the most important characters in F451. She is the person that gets Montag thinking. Durning one of the conversations in the beginning of the book Clarisse say's she likes to walk on the train track outside of the city. When Montag steps onto these tracks he remembered Clarisse. He remembered the conversation he had with her. Clarisse told him that he should try it sometime.
This quote caught my attention because at I read it I picture Montag walking on the tracks and remembering Clarisse. Now Montag can understand the feeling of walking on these tracks. I also think remembering Clarisse gives him a little comfort in the rough time he is going through. Clarisse is the one who gave Montag the boost to be different than the rest of the people in the society. When he stept onto the train tracks he remembered Clarisse and he remembered what he was running for.
And when they ask us what we're doing, you can say, We're remembering. p. 164
Remembering. Remembering the lost, remembering the dead, remembering the life before the deadly temperature of 451 degrees. Remembering the lines of passages of the books, that were meant to be forgotten. Montag, would remember the pain of blindness, almost like Alice, stumbling through the rabbit hole called his society. A self-destructive place that he loved, destroyed. He would remember Millie, his love, his wife, the one who betrayed him. He would remember the hardships and transitions he had to face while fighting the war before the war, his personal war. Guy will remember Fabor and know he'll always have a friend out there, ready for taking action, to rise to the challenge of teaching a new way of living. Guy will remember the quiet peacefulness of the river and what it had to offer. Most importantly, he will never forget what it was like to be apart of the Salamander and the destruction so futile but so necessary within the self-destructive society. He will never forget being the flaming torch that kept the city in the dark. He will never forget, coming out of the cave.
“Grandfather’s been dead all these years, but if you lifted my skull, by God, in the convulsions of my brain you’d find the big ridges of his thumb print. He Touched me.” - Granger
I believe that everyone will find that someone in their lives have touched them in some way or another, and they remain touched, even after that person has passed on. I’ve seen this in people, at funerals mainly. When everyone is remembering the person that has passed, they realize that they have been touched by them. In the story, Guy is worried about not truly caring for Mildred. But, since she was in his life she left a fingerprint on his brain. Maybe the fingerprint is small and almost hidden, but it is still there. Clarisse on the other hand did memorable things, from taking the time to talk to Guy and making him think, to admiring nature, in turn she left a greater fingerprint on Guy’s brain. I believe that Guy knows and feels this in his heart. In my life the biggest print on my brain is my mothers. She has done so much for me and she is implanted in my memory as well as in my heart. She cared and nurtured me with her hands, so she is memorable to me.
“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
What a cliché statement, but so true. It’s heard everywhere, from everyone. Personally I believe that this particular statement goes hand in hand with golden rule; “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” The reason for this thought is because by judging someone you don’t even know in a rude way, you are treating them disrespectfully, and you wouldn’t want them to treat you disrespectfully. Judging someone without even knowing them isn’t always bad, though. For example; if someone new comes to your school and you look at them and say “They look nice. I think I’ll go introduce myself,” you are automatically assuming they are nice, so you go talk to them. In the end the two of you become the best of friends. In Fahrenheit 451 I gathered that this statement was a way for one of the men to basically tell Montag that each man had his own story and for him not to automatically assume they all shared the same or similar stories as to why they are in the position that they are in.
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