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?
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