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1-Page Summary of Fahrenheit 451
Overall Summary
Guy Montag is a fireman who believes he’s happy with his job, which consists of burning books and the possessions of book owners. However, when he meets Clarisse McClellan, a teenage girl who asks him if he’s happy, it becomes clear that his discontent has been growing even though he didn’t recognize it. His wife Mildred attempts suicide by taking sleeping pills but is saved. The next day she has no memory of what happened. She sits in the parlor engrossed in its three walls of TV screens that play different shows at once.
Montag is still at the fire station and continues to talk with Clarisse. He has learned more about his life and how he got here. The next week, Montag asks Captain Beatty questions about why they burn books instead of saving them. Beatty says that there was a time when firefighters saved people from fires but not anymore. A call comes in for an elderly woman whose neighbor turned her into the government because she had books in her house; she refuses to leave her home as it’s being doused with kerosene by the firemen who are trying to force her out; so, she lights a match herself and burns along with the house.
The next day, Montag is at home with Mildred. He asks her where they first met and she says she doesn’t remember. Clarisse has been killed by the firemen for not following the rules of society. This news deeply disturbs Montag, who then decides to take a day off from work to grieve his loss and think about what it all means. Later that evening, Beatty comes over to talk some sense into him, which ends up being a long lecture on history, mass media, culture and how censorship works in society today. The author’s message is that people are too easily satisfied by things like television because they can get instant gratification without having to do anything themselves or use their brains or any kind of critical thinking skills. It also seems as though this book was written more recently than I thought since it mentions “instant gratification” which wasn’t really a cultural concept back during WWII when Fahrenheit 451 takes place (although it may be used metaphorically here). Anyway… so basically he’s saying how people don’t have the mental capacity anymore for real books because everything is just handed to them on a silver platter through television/the Internet/etc., etc., etc..
Reading is not easy if you haven’t practiced it. Mildred, Montag’s wife, gets tired of reading books and wants to stop so that they can get back to their lives. However, Montag remembers a retired English professor who might be able to help him out with his plan against the firemen; he goes looking for this man on the subway train. He brings some books with him in case Faber doesn’t want to talk about them. When he meets Faber at home, Faber says that he isn’t interested in talking about books because they’re dangerous and could get them both killed by the firemen. Eventually though, after some convincing from Montag, Faber agrees to help him out with his plan and give him access to a radio so that they can communicate when needed without being seen together or using phones which are monitored by the fire department. When Montag returns home later on after work, he finds his wife’s friends over watching TV again; this time however things go differently than before: instead of giving up like last time when trying to read their minds and figure out what they were thinking about, now Montag decides not just watch but also try reading one of his secret books while standing there listening. This makes all three women leave quickly since nobody likes people who act superior towards others or pretend as if they know everything better than everyone else does. Then Beatty comes over for visit soon afterwards ; upon seeing how upset Beatty is right now, Montag gives up another book (his second) in order to calm down Beatty once more – an action which apparently pays off well since immediately afterwards the alarm goes off at work signaling yet another call-out : The firemen have been called into action yet again – only this time it’s actually going into effect!
