Question | Answer |
1. What do the "firemen" do for a living? | They help enforce the law in which no books are allowed – they burn the books that are found. |
2. In the opening scene, why are the books compared to birds? | The pages of the book are flapping, similar to the way a bird looks when it is flapping its wings. |
3. According to pages 3-4, what does Montag think of his job? | He enjoys his job and gets pleasure out of burning books. |
4. Who does Montag meet on the way home? | Clarisse McClellan |
5. During his conversation, Montag says that "You never wash it off completely" referring to the kerosene. What could this mean symbolically? | Montag can never escape being a fireman – the smell is always with him, and so are his actions. |
6. Why do you think that Bradbury would introduce Clarisse before Montag's wife, Mildred? | Clarisse has a major impact on Montag, making him consider things he has never thought of before. Clarisse is unique; Mildred is not. |
7. Why does Mildred need help when Montag gets home? | She has tried to kill herself by overdosing on sleeping pills. |
8. Describe the help that she receives. | Two men, handymen, come with two machines. The first slid into the stomach and removed all of the contents of her stomach. The second machine “pumped all of the blood from the body and replaced it with fresh blood and serum.” |
9. Is there anything unusual about the way the two men go about helping Mildred? How is it unusual? | They are impersonal and do not discuss the procedure or how Mildred is feeling with Montag. They are used to the procedure because they get 9 or 10 cases per night. |