Blog Post #1

It seems Ray Bradbury is finally hinting at where the novel takes place. At the bottom of page 31, fire chief Beatty mentions a fireman in Seattle releasing a mechanical hound on himself to commit suicide. Unless the "fire department" Montag works at is in a different country, this seems to suggest he is in America. And then, on page 34, it is mentioned that Benjamin Franklin was supposedly the first fireman. This also implies that he is in America, along with the insinuation that the government of the future has heavily altered society's perception of history. I wonder if we'll get any more evidence that Montag lives in America? Or what city he lives in?

Blog Post #1

     "How like a mirror, too, her face. Impossible; for how many people did you know who refracted your own light to you? People were more often-he searched for a simile, found one in his work-torches, blazing away until they whiffed out. How rarely did other people's faces take of you and throw back to you your own expression, your own innermost trembling thought?
     What incredible power of identification the girl had; she was like the eager watcher of a marionette show, anticipating each flicker of an eyelid, each gesture of his hand, each flick of a finger, the moment before it began. How long had they walked together? Three minutes? Five? Yet how large that time seemed now. How immense a figure she was on the stage before him; what a shadow she threw on the wall with her slender body!" (11)

     This passage stuck with me when I first read it because of its beautiful clarity. The book is a mix of vivid imagery and striking metaphors, gorgeous and easy to follow. I love his comparison of Clarisse to a mirror; it's so apt, because she makes him really reevaluate himself. As he thinks later, "he wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back" (12). In this "disposable tissue" (17) world, Clarisse is unique because of her openness. Unlike Mildred, Guy's wife, Clarisse asks for nothing except conversation. Her honesty is refreshing. Bradbury's language in this excerpt is amazingly eloquent, and puts into words emotions that are difficult to portray. When Guy remarks that Clarisse is huge on the stage before him, the reader understands that the fireman has undergone a profound shift, one that will define his internal conflict for the rest of the novel.

Blog Post #1

            In Fahrenheit 451 the society seems to be obsessed with material wealth. Mildred, Guy’s wife, lives with her Seashells blaring in her ears and participating in life through her televisions. She is only focused on what else she can buy to put into their home. This lifestyle in the book’s society causes the characters to miss out on life experiences and important relationships that should be formed. The couple rarely spends time with each other and they have begun to forget things about one another. The gain of technology that the author portrays heavily throughout the text is in a way portraying at how people are living today. Everybody believes that they need the biggest TV, the newest cell phone, or the nicest computer. We think we need these things when we actually only want them. We get so focused on gaining materials and being glued to those items that we miss out on life. We no longer actually talk to people because we are too busy texting, and we no longer spend time outside because we are watching TV. Most people think that these items will complete their lives and make them happy, but instead they are making everyone lazy, depressed, and miserable. Our lives today are beginning to resemble the characters in the book because we are stuck on the path of desire. So far the book seems almost as if it is warning to every reader to step away from material wealth and instead appreciate the things they already have.