Fahrenheit 451 Notes #6

114: “Oh, no! You weren’t fooled by that little idiot’s routine, were you? Flowers, butterflies, leaves, sunsets, oh, hell! . . . A few grass blades and the quarters of the moon. What trash. What good did she ever do with all that?”

• Why does it matter?
• “one of those damn do-gooders with their shocked, holier-than-thou silences, their one talent making others feel guilty”

Mildred’s good-bye “Poor family, poor family, oh everything gone . . .” which family?

115 – Beatty: “There are no consequences and no responsibilities. Except that there are.” To criticize Montag, but no one has any responsibility in the society except a few people in leadership positions.

Fire: “Its real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequences. A problem gets too burdensome, then into the furnace with it. No Montag, you’re a burden . . .” Contradicting himself (just like booksJ)

116 – Why does Beatty want him to burn the house room by room and not with a match and kerosene? How does Montag react to burning his own house? The books? (all meaningless, seems to enjoy destroying the evidence of his meaningless life with Mildred and esp. the TV walls with their “idiot monsters”)

117 – Mildred and all of her friends turned him in

118 – “Give a man a few lines of verse and he thinks he’s the Lord of all Creation. You think you can walk on water with your books. Well, the world can get by just fine without them. . . . If I stir the slime with my little finger, you’ll drown . . . Montag, you idiot, Montag you damn fool . . .” why is he taunting him?

119 – threatens Faberà puts Montag over the edge

· flips the safety, Beatty still taunts him

· “What’ll it be this time? Why don’t you belch Shakespeare at me, you fumbling snob?” Quotes Shakespeare at him and ends with “Go ahead now, you second hand litterateur, pull the trigger.” He took one step toward Montag.”

· Montag burns him

· Why? Good move?

· Burns the mechanical hound

121 – getting clever now “Beatty, he thought, you’re not a problem now, You always said, don’t face a problem, burn it. Well, now I’ve done both.”

122 – Beatty wanted to die, provoked him. Why?

125 – war declared, but no one notices

126 - crossing the street, why such a big deal? The car full of teens tries to hit him (5 points, but not a joke)

slows down time, why does he live? (falling causes the car to swerve—why?)

130 – plants books in Black’s house and calls in the alarm (was it worth it?)