"I wasn't crying for him at all, but for all the things he did"(Bradbury 155).
As Montag talks to Granger, he is beginning to find himself not only intellectually but emotionally as well. Montag discovers that he is not weird for not crying at the thought of Millie's death. As Granger points out, it is not so much a person that you remember, but their actions, their manner. Millie has neither of these for Montag. She never did much, she never changed anything, so how is Montag to remember her? She did nothing drastic that will be remembered.But in this society, does anyone do anything drastic? They cannot. They must all do the same things, because they are only allowed to know the same things. If everything is the same, memory serves no purpose, as history will just repeat itself, over and over.
"That's where we met! I remember now. Chicago"(Bradbury 160).
With chaos about to ensue, Montag finds himself pinned to the ground, alone with his thoughts. Only then, in this frantic moment, does he remember where he met Millie. One of the most memorable dates in our society, and Montag struggles to place it. This shows just how unimportant interpersonal relationships are to these people. As quickly as the memory surfaced, it fades from him, and he moves on to the next thing. No detail, no color, just fact. Chicago, a long time ago.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
F451 Day9 HW
"Welcome back from the dead"(Bradbury 150).
After finding the others who are running away, Montag has stumbled across new life. Due to the parlor walls, the world believes he is dead. If the parlor walls say it, the people believe it. Montag is dead to them. This allows Montag to, in a way, start fresh. He has new outlooks, new realizations, all which have helped him to put the world in a better perspective. With the help of the men he meets, he just might be able to survive. Montag was the to the world, and dead in his robotic mind, but now he is alive. Alive, and ready to go.
"It was not burning. It was warming"(Bradbury 145).
Montag is beginning to see how closed he was to the world around him before. He sees that the sun, time, and burning are all interconnected. But he also sees the difference between the way the sun burns and the way in which the firemen burn. The sun burns to cause light, to be constructive, helpful, where as the firemen burn to destruct and keep people living in darkness. The firemen burn, and scald, and bring about pain. The sun warms, brings gentle light, and opens up the world for people. The sun is Montag's light bulb, it signifies his new ideas and sense of awareness.
After finding the others who are running away, Montag has stumbled across new life. Due to the parlor walls, the world believes he is dead. If the parlor walls say it, the people believe it. Montag is dead to them. This allows Montag to, in a way, start fresh. He has new outlooks, new realizations, all which have helped him to put the world in a better perspective. With the help of the men he meets, he just might be able to survive. Montag was the to the world, and dead in his robotic mind, but now he is alive. Alive, and ready to go.
"It was not burning. It was warming"(Bradbury 145).
Montag is beginning to see how closed he was to the world around him before. He sees that the sun, time, and burning are all interconnected. But he also sees the difference between the way the sun burns and the way in which the firemen burn. The sun burns to cause light, to be constructive, helpful, where as the firemen burn to destruct and keep people living in darkness. The firemen burn, and scald, and bring about pain. The sun warms, brings gentle light, and opens up the world for people. The sun is Montag's light bulb, it signifies his new ideas and sense of awareness.
Monday, May 10, 2010
F451 Day8 HW
"He could see the helicopters falling falling like the first flakes of snow in the long winter to come"(Bradbury 129).
As Montag begins to run away, he can sense the urgency and length of his journey to come. He knows that for every obstacle he encounters now, there will be countless more challenging up ahead. He knows it is him against the world. The first helicopters do not pose too much of a threat to Montag, and he is able to over come them with a certain ease, just as one is not impeded by a little bit of snow. But as the search for him gets worse, his life will become one big blizzard.
"Beatty wanted to die"(Bradbury 122).
Beatty had provoked Montag tirelessly, forcing him to burn his own home and books, all the while tormenting and taunting him with quotes. However, Beatty had never seemed to consider the possibility of Montag turning and pointing his fire at him. Why not? With all of his vast knowledge and ideas, Beatty must know that when given a motive and a weapon, and years of abuse, this was something Montag might do. So why provoke him, Beatty had nothing to gain from harping on Montag, so maybe he did want to die. Maybe his knowledge left him lonely, isolated from a world that relates better with "white clowns" and "families" than they do with real people. Maybe Beatty saw the error of his ways, and wished to end it all, but had no way to explain why. Maybe, in his final moments, Beatty wanted to be a martyr. By allowing Montag to kill him, Beatty would in turn, make Montag the subject of police attention. In isolating Montag, it would keep him from being able to spread his new thoughts on the world to any other radical people. But maybe, just maybe, Beatty did not want to die. No book in the world could have prepared him for a sudden burst of temper and flame.
As Montag begins to run away, he can sense the urgency and length of his journey to come. He knows that for every obstacle he encounters now, there will be countless more challenging up ahead. He knows it is him against the world. The first helicopters do not pose too much of a threat to Montag, and he is able to over come them with a certain ease, just as one is not impeded by a little bit of snow. But as the search for him gets worse, his life will become one big blizzard.
"Beatty wanted to die"(Bradbury 122).
Beatty had provoked Montag tirelessly, forcing him to burn his own home and books, all the while tormenting and taunting him with quotes. However, Beatty had never seemed to consider the possibility of Montag turning and pointing his fire at him. Why not? With all of his vast knowledge and ideas, Beatty must know that when given a motive and a weapon, and years of abuse, this was something Montag might do. So why provoke him, Beatty had nothing to gain from harping on Montag, so maybe he did want to die. Maybe his knowledge left him lonely, isolated from a world that relates better with "white clowns" and "families" than they do with real people. Maybe Beatty saw the error of his ways, and wished to end it all, but had no way to explain why. Maybe, in his final moments, Beatty wanted to be a martyr. By allowing Montag to kill him, Beatty would in turn, make Montag the subject of police attention. In isolating Montag, it would keep him from being able to spread his new thoughts on the world to any other radical people. But maybe, just maybe, Beatty did not want to die. No book in the world could have prepared him for a sudden burst of temper and flame.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
F451 Day7 HW
"If you let it go on, it'd burn our lifetimes out"(Bradbury 115)
When Beatty states this, he is speaking to the mystery and uncertainty of fire. Beatty encourages fire, he lived to burn things. However, what he says is so true. If books continue to be burned, not only the lifetimes of people in history, but also the lifetimes of people to come will be erased. Anything that happens, will be burned into nonexistence. If no one remembers the people who have lived, if no one can learn anything from history, the world will be unable to move forward. And, if not watched well, the fires could do more than kill the books and knowledge, they could kill people.
"For everyone nowadays knows, is absolutely certain, that nothing will ever happen to me"(Bradbury115).
This mindset is very relate able. When ever you think of something bad happening, or you hear about something terrible on the news, you automatically think that the odds of it happening to you are slim to none. But when it does happen to you, you have no idea what to do. This is the situation that Guy finds himself in. He never expected to question his job, his beliefs, but now that he does, he is unsure of how to use these new feelings and ideas and put them into action.
When Beatty states this, he is speaking to the mystery and uncertainty of fire. Beatty encourages fire, he lived to burn things. However, what he says is so true. If books continue to be burned, not only the lifetimes of people in history, but also the lifetimes of people to come will be erased. Anything that happens, will be burned into nonexistence. If no one remembers the people who have lived, if no one can learn anything from history, the world will be unable to move forward. And, if not watched well, the fires could do more than kill the books and knowledge, they could kill people.
"For everyone nowadays knows, is absolutely certain, that nothing will ever happen to me"(Bradbury115).
This mindset is very relate able. When ever you think of something bad happening, or you hear about something terrible on the news, you automatically think that the odds of it happening to you are slim to none. But when it does happen to you, you have no idea what to do. This is the situation that Guy finds himself in. He never expected to question his job, his beliefs, but now that he does, he is unsure of how to use these new feelings and ideas and put them into action.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
F451 Day 5 HW
"I think he's one of the nicest-looking men ever became president"(Bradbury 96).
The society of the book as been simplified to much, that the people now measure the quality of a political candidate solely on their looks. As the women discuss the two candidates in the election, it becomes blatant that their only concern was how the people looked. This begs the question of in order to eliminate one of the political parties, the government made one candidate, "A little short man ... [who] mumbled"(Bradbury 97), in order to make there be only one option. This society has digressed so much that the voters, instead of listening to the words, and choosing candidates with similar views to their own, choose the best looking. The people seem unconcerned and disinterested as to who leads the country, as long as someone does the job.
"That's the good part of dying; when you've nothing to lose, you run any risk you want"(Bradbury 85).
As Guy grapples with his feelings, and the meaning of his life, he finds that knowing he has nothing to lose has freed his mind of fear. Knowing that his life is so bad, so robotic, so "blah", Guy knows that to lose it would not be so bad. He is not truly living if everything he does can never change. If his life is so rigid that he welcomes any change, even if this change may cost him. If he lives and succeeds, he will be a hero, if he dies trying, he will be a martyr like the woman in the house, his death will spark the fire in another.
The society of the book as been simplified to much, that the people now measure the quality of a political candidate solely on their looks. As the women discuss the two candidates in the election, it becomes blatant that their only concern was how the people looked. This begs the question of in order to eliminate one of the political parties, the government made one candidate, "A little short man ... [who] mumbled"(Bradbury 97), in order to make there be only one option. This society has digressed so much that the voters, instead of listening to the words, and choosing candidates with similar views to their own, choose the best looking. The people seem unconcerned and disinterested as to who leads the country, as long as someone does the job.
"That's the good part of dying; when you've nothing to lose, you run any risk you want"(Bradbury 85).
As Guy grapples with his feelings, and the meaning of his life, he finds that knowing he has nothing to lose has freed his mind of fear. Knowing that his life is so bad, so robotic, so "blah", Guy knows that to lose it would not be so bad. He is not truly living if everything he does can never change. If his life is so rigid that he welcomes any change, even if this change may cost him. If he lives and succeeds, he will be a hero, if he dies trying, he will be a martyr like the woman in the house, his death will spark the fire in another.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
F451 Day 5 HW
"Does the white clown love you"(Bradbury 77).
Mildred desperately dances around answering this question, because she does not know the answer. Mildred refers to the parlor walls as her family, she listens to them constantly, she watches them, she lives by them, yet who are they to her? It is not that she does not want to answer the question, she simply does not know the answer. If you never loved, or were loved, how can you know if something loves you? Mildred does not have the ability to know love, since it is nowhere in her life. Everything about her life is predetermined, programmed into her, nothing she does of feels is her own will. She can say the word love, but she does not know its meaning. The white clown cannot love her, but can she even love the white clown?
"Is it because we're having so much fun at home we've forgotten the world?"(Bradbury 73).
This is modern day America. If any single statement can consolidate our world views and sum up our lack of concern in most foreign affairs, this quote can. It is not that we as a country do not care about the rest of the world, but why think of things thousands of miles away when you have things to do? Well, while we sit home with our TV's and Ipod's the rest of the is going, moving, changing. But how will this affect us? The world starves while we see McDonald's on every corner. The world is in school while we are spending July on the beach. The world does not seem to like us, but we do not seem to mind. It is not that we want to be this way, we just have forgotten how not to be this way. It is not that we decided one day to be this way, it just progressively happened. It is not that we all are entirely this way, it is that it is our appearance. And in a world like ours, that is all that seems to matter.
Mildred desperately dances around answering this question, because she does not know the answer. Mildred refers to the parlor walls as her family, she listens to them constantly, she watches them, she lives by them, yet who are they to her? It is not that she does not want to answer the question, she simply does not know the answer. If you never loved, or were loved, how can you know if something loves you? Mildred does not have the ability to know love, since it is nowhere in her life. Everything about her life is predetermined, programmed into her, nothing she does of feels is her own will. She can say the word love, but she does not know its meaning. The white clown cannot love her, but can she even love the white clown?
"Is it because we're having so much fun at home we've forgotten the world?"(Bradbury 73).
This is modern day America. If any single statement can consolidate our world views and sum up our lack of concern in most foreign affairs, this quote can. It is not that we as a country do not care about the rest of the world, but why think of things thousands of miles away when you have things to do? Well, while we sit home with our TV's and Ipod's the rest of the is going, moving, changing. But how will this affect us? The world starves while we see McDonald's on every corner. The world is in school while we are spending July on the beach. The world does not seem to like us, but we do not seem to mind. It is not that we want to be this way, we just have forgotten how not to be this way. It is not that we decided one day to be this way, it just progressively happened. It is not that we all are entirely this way, it is that it is our appearance. And in a world like ours, that is all that seems to matter.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
F451 Day 4 HW
1. Beatty's analogy that, "A book is a loaded gun in the house next door"(Bradbury 51), is the sad reality of this society. When given the power of their own knowledge, people can rise up and demand change, people can question the ideas of their superiors, and above all, people become less predictable as they begin to make their own decisions. In this way, knowledge is a much a threat to the monotony of this society as would be a gun. If a book could cause this much danger, would not you want t make sure your neighbors did not possess any? If you were always told the contents of a book, foreign to and beyond you, could do so much, would not you be scared of them? Beatty recognizes that people fear the idea of a book because they are so difficult to understand and so non commonplace.
2. When Beatty says, "If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none"(Bradbury 61), he is defending the evolution of humans into robots. As the ability to think and to choose for oneself diminishes, as the ideas that anything can ever change disappear, society becomes one, unchanging, never ending, cycle. The less and less people do, the less and less they question, the less and less they are people. Without the ability to deviate from their course, people would be robots. So, to give no choices on one thing, would in this society lead to all things, to do this, no one would think. If no one's thinking, no one's changing anything, if nothing can change, where is anything going? It is not going at all, the car of civilization would go from being stuck in traffic to parked on the highway.
2. When Beatty says, "If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none"(Bradbury 61), he is defending the evolution of humans into robots. As the ability to think and to choose for oneself diminishes, as the ideas that anything can ever change disappear, society becomes one, unchanging, never ending, cycle. The less and less people do, the less and less they question, the less and less they are people. Without the ability to deviate from their course, people would be robots. So, to give no choices on one thing, would in this society lead to all things, to do this, no one would think. If no one's thinking, no one's changing anything, if nothing can change, where is anything going? It is not going at all, the car of civilization would go from being stuck in traffic to parked on the highway.
Monday, May 3, 2010
F451 Day 3 HW
1. Bradbury incorporates the scene with the old woman as a tool with which to convey the monotony of Guy's society. Before his encounter with the old woman, Guy has never seemed to think very much about his job, he does it, goes to bed, gets up, does it again. But after seeing the woman, he realizes that he is not only hurting people, but also that there must be some significance to books that would make that woman want to stay with hers until the end. Now, Guy finds reasons to question actions that had become for him involuntary. His eyes have been opened slightly to the magnitude of what he does.
2. When Guy states "Well, this fire'll last me the rest of my life. God! I've been trying to put it out, all night, in my mind. I'm crazy with trying"(Bradbury 51), he is speaking to the fact that the vision of the woman burning in the house with her books will stay with him always. No matter how hard he will try to extinguish it from his mind, it will always be there. When Guy asks himself the question "How do you get so empty...Who takes it out of you?"(Bradbury 44), he finds the answer in the fire. He, along with everyone else in his society become empty as they lose touch with their emotions, no one else seems half as bothered by the fire as Guy. The fire that drives them through life is out, they act out of routine. As Guy begins to realize this, it begs the question how did this come to be? Without seeing the woman in the fire and Clarisse, would not he be just as blank as the others?
2. When Guy states "Well, this fire'll last me the rest of my life. God! I've been trying to put it out, all night, in my mind. I'm crazy with trying"(Bradbury 51), he is speaking to the fact that the vision of the woman burning in the house with her books will stay with him always. No matter how hard he will try to extinguish it from his mind, it will always be there. When Guy asks himself the question "How do you get so empty...Who takes it out of you?"(Bradbury 44), he finds the answer in the fire. He, along with everyone else in his society become empty as they lose touch with their emotions, no one else seems half as bothered by the fire as Guy. The fire that drives them through life is out, they act out of routine. As Guy begins to realize this, it begs the question how did this come to be? Without seeing the woman in the fire and Clarisse, would not he be just as blank as the others?
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