The ending is filled with interesting events and ideas: Society finds a scapegoat for Montag as he escapes to the river and the forest. Montag thinks of Mildred, Faber, and Clarisse as he leaves the city. Finding the old railroad tracks, Montag joins Granger and the others who are preserving as many ideas as they can. They watch the city--and likely many cities all over the world--being destroyed. Granger talks about what makes life worth living--something his grandfather once taught him. They discuss the mythological phoenix that rises from the ashes and the way this parallels human history. Montag finally remembers the parts of the Bible he has been memorizing, and he brings this knowledge back to the city, which is in ruins.
After today's class activity, your job is to write your most detailed blog post to date--two paragraphs that address what you consider to be the two most important ideas or developments in the last section of the novel. What stands out to you and why do you think these two aspects of the ending are so important? As always, use quotes to back up your thinking.
I think that one of the most important dovelopments is the fact that the city was destroyed. To me the bombing was not necesaritly hopeful, but about how just becuase something is burned and dies, does not mean it is forgotten. Its actions forever exist and are remembered. First the message that supports this thinking. right before the bombing one of the men was talking about his grandfather and when he died: "I realized I wasnt crying for him at all, but for all the things he did..." "everyone must leave something behind when they die my gradfather said". This is thinking about the idea that when someone died they are not forgoteen, no matter what thier actions will last forever. In this scene they are talking about death, the classical dipiction of death is a cloaked figure coling a scythe to reap those souls he must take. Right after they are finished talkig the city is bombed, and this is montags reaction:"As quick as the wisper of a sythe the war finished"(151) I think that this is a direct connection showing that the city will never be forgotten even though it is dead. No matter how bad its actions were it will not be forgotten.
ReplyDeleteAnother important dovelopment was when society found a scape goat for montag. In this part it talks about how the whole thing is biult to be dramatic: "Biulding the scene. Suspense. Long shot."(141)
THis shows that all the people want is a show and all the police will do is give them a show. It shows how no one cares about justice, not even the people. It doesnt matter if they are safe, just that they are happy. Not only that but the fact that an innocent was sacrificed just to make the people happy. This shows how there is no real care for litterally anything but Happyness, not even in the eyes of the law or vengince.
In the last section of the reading one of the most important developments was that being away from the society, where they burned books, helps the people to think and develop new ideas of their own. Montag starts to think and realize that his society was holding him back when he first remembers about Mildred. Guy Montag was out in nature and his mind was free to explore and think about whatever he wanted too. The firefighters and others are no longer holding him back. Montag expressed this feeling when he said, “I remember. Montag clung to the earth. I remember. Chicago. Chicago a long time ago. Millie and I. That’s where we met! I remember now. Chicago. A long time ago.” He was in nature and he could remember all that he wanted and needed to. Not only was he free to think and explore his ideas he also realized that he did love Mildred and he cared about her. Montag thought about Clarisse too when he had left the society and he knew he cared about her. I think that he also saw that his life was better out of society and that he could think and do as he please when there are less rules. This relates to the quote, “If they give you ruled paper write the other way”This is exactly what Montag did he expanded his horizon and he made himself free and he thought like he wanted to. Despite the rules of society he needed to break them and sometimes it is ok to “write the other way.”
ReplyDeleteThe second most important idea of the last section was that society just went with the facts and they did not expand on their ideas even when they had the option. Before Montag’s society destroyed the books, books were an option and people could read as they please. Even though they could read the books they didn’t. The people strayed from the books and that is how they can to an end, they thought that books meant nothing and so they turned them into fuel for a fire and made a job out of it. People turned from history and thought that it meant nothing; “But even when we had the books on hand, a long time ago, we didn’t use what we got out of them. We went right on insulting the dead. We went right on spitting in the graves of all the poor ones who died before us” Montag is realizing that this is what corrupted their society and made them fall down and stop thinking and just do anything before thinking about it. The people didn’t know that history is important and that books may be a book about history but in the end they are just bits and pieces of history and that people make up books; “We’re all bits and pieces of history and literature and international law” When society loosed books and history they are losing pieces of themselves.
Maria,
DeleteI liked how you connected this section of the novel back to the opening quote at the beginning of the book -- about "writing the other way."
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ReplyDeleteI think one of the most important ideas in this section of the novel is when the city is destroyed and afterwards he refers to “a silly damn bird called a phoenix back before Christ, every few hundred years he built a pyre and burnt himself up. He must have been first cousin to Man. But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again". I think this idea is really important because it symbolizes how even though this city has been destroyed it will soon be reborn again. I also think it relates to the idea of a forest fire and how after the forest is fired it grows back even stronger which is what I think will exactly happen. I think Montag will help to rebuild a stronger and better society
ReplyDeleteAnother important idea that I noticed in this section of the novel was when Montag was bathing in the water trying to clean himself.He touched it, just to be sure it was real. He waded in and stripped in darkness to the skin, splashing his body, arms, legs, and head with raw liquor; drank it and snuffed some up his nose. Then he dressed in Faber’s old clothes and shoes. He tossed his own clothing into the river and watched it swept away. Then, holding the suitcase, he walked out in the river until there was no bottom and he was swept away in the dark.
I thought this was really symbolic because it represents how he is trying to cleanse himself from his past. He's trying to get rid of who he was and how he destroyed books and knowledge. And when he puts on Faber's clothing it represents how he is accepting his new future. He is accepting how he will try to protect knowledge and teach others of the past.
Nice discussion of symbolism!
DeleteThis book contained some very strange and at times frightening ideas about human society and what it will become. However, a surprisingly hopeful idea/theory was presented at the end of the novel. Humans are like a phoenix, “every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again. And it looks like we’re doing the same thing” (156). No matter what humans endure or experience they are always able to rebuild and start over again, even if they are the cause of their own downfall. This idea gives hope to the human race, even if humans become faceless people who don’t do anything but watch screens. They can restart and this time learn from their past mistakes to create a better society
ReplyDeleteAnother important idea that constantly surfaces throughout the novel is the idea of a different perspective. All throughout the book Montag was gaining a new perspective on the world and the actions that happened in the world. The government was trying to limit the amount of knowledge Montag was receiving so he could not widen his perspective. This idea is really hammered home when Montag realizes the fire used by the men, “was not burning. It was warming” (139). From this point on Montag understands that every story has two sides and that government that he had followed so foolishly,was manipulating him and everyone under its protection.
One change that happened in the book that I thought was very symbolic was Montag's view/opinion on fire. In the beginning of the book Montag was a fireman, and his view on fire was that it was a destructive force that destroyed books and killed. Once he left his job as a fireman and became a book reader and escape the city his first encounter with fire was different: "That small motion, the white and red color, a strange fire because it meant a different thing to him. It was not burning, it was warming"(139). This shows that something's meaning may change by the context and use, when he was burning things to destroy them the fire had a different meaning than when it was warming people. I think that this is one way the author wanted us to look at fire but also everything else, he is trying to tell us that things change depending on their use and your perspective.
ReplyDeleteBuilding off of Montag's new understanding of fire, another idea that i thought was very interesting was the Phoenix. Right after the city was destroyed Granger tells Montag of the Phoenix. "There was a silly damn bird called a Phoenix back before Christ, every few hundred years he built a pyre and burned himself up... But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again"(156). He is referring to us in general, we will beat ourselves up until there is nothing left but ashes like the Phoenix but we eventually recover. By point this out Granger is explaining how important it is that they keep these books inside of them because without it then there would be no way to try to prevent the next burning because there will be no past memory of it. When you think about the situation of the world it is actually in a way funny because they know this society can not last. The book keepers are just waiting for the rest of the world to burn itself up so they may then be reborn into society.
The last section of this novel offers up many scary life lessons, but are true regarding the people and depends on how you handle certain situations. One important development was that I thought was important in this last section was the evolution of Montag. Throughout this novel, Montag is on a search to finding his true self and what he truly believes in. By the end of this novel, Montag finally allows himself to open up and develop his own opinion. Although the society gave him a scapegoat for escaping, I feel that this journey along the railroad tracks and the river gave Montag a sense of what life's true beauties are and that sometimes you have to travel roads that you've never traveled to experience and really free your mind of adventurous ideas. When Montag comes across a group similar to him they talk for a long time and experience the city getting burnt down. Montag looks back at the city as it begins to vanish with just a glow. He said to Granger that his wife is back there and went on to say that, "It's strange, I don't miss her, it's strange I don't feel much of anything," said Montag." (148) I feel this quote shows that Montag is moving away from people that the society has taken over and is beginning to show his own feeling and think for himself for the first time. He realizes that Mildred had nothing to offer. Now that Montag is near others that are similar to his true self he is now realizing what life is about.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, another development in this last section of the novel was how the Phoenix was described. Granger said regarding the Phoenix, "But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again." (156) In this quote Granger is comparing the Phoenix to people. He explains that before the city had burnt down society was rough, but it's what the people enjoyed. Adding on, he means that nothing can last forever such as a fire. Once the people experience failure or disastrous actions, they always have the option to rebuked and start fresh like the Phoenix. I feel this was one of the most important developments in the whole novel because it explains what people are capable of and how they alone can control the outcome of their lives.
I was interested in your explanation of how the story was, in a sense, Montag's search for self.
DeleteIn the last section of the book, there are many important ideas that are displayed by the dialogue and events that take place. One important development in this last section is how the phoenix was associated with the books. I think that this is a connection between the books and the phoenix because Granger talks about the Phoenix myth and says, "“There was a silly damn bird called a phoenix back before Christ, every few hundred years he built a pyre and burnt himself up. He must have been first cousin to Man. But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again."(156) This myth relates to the books because over time society has been putting down books and destroying them, making the books less important, but since a new society has been born with the old one blown up, the people must now use books in order to gain knowedelge from the old societies. The books are reborn to serve as the knowledge from the old societies. The people must also use the books and information from them to fix the mistakes they made in the last society. They must bring back the themes of indivisualism and humanitarianism becasue these are human principes that cannot be ignored. The books will guide them to make a new society but will also help them not make previous mistakes that the last society made.
ReplyDeleteAnother important development in the last section was how Montag felt rather free and different went he went into the river and away from the city. When he was wading in the river leaving the city, he said, "The river was very real; it held him comfortably and gave him the time at last, the leisure, to consider this month, this year, and a lifetime of years. He listened to his heart slow. His thoughts stopped rushing with his blood." I think this shows his change from the city to the river because he is beginning to feel his surroundings and is finally free to think about his life. In the old society, yoiu cannot think about yourself because of the pace of life, but since this river is flowing nice and slow and equal, he is able to think and relax, something he could never have done before. He also could feel comfortable in the river because of its slow speed, but in the society like I said before, there was no time to relax and think becasue a person in that society was always busy with their job or technology. Without technology he is finally seeing the natural world for the first time and feels much happier and free in it.
In the being of the book, an idea of the dependent the society has become on letting the government live their lives. Everyones action have become very mechanical, robotic like. They have became depended on the same day to day routine. An example of this is Montag's wife Milly,an her focus on the tv screens in there home. "they right a script with one missing part. When incomes time for the missing lines, they all look out of the three walls and I say the line.'' Pg17 this shows how her only world is the screens in front of her, she is only thinking about the Tv's and not anything else. this is also shown when Montag is running for his life from the hound and cops. "Everyone in every house in every street open front or rear door or look out the front windows." Pg 132. They do not ask question anymore only follow they rules, no one wonders outside of these rules. they don't even question them, they are machines. they follow the same pattern and rules like robots program to obey whatever they are told.
ReplyDeleteAn other Main idea is this story is the censorship put in place to keep the people dulled down and narrow minded. With books out of the picture people listen to what they are told by the screens in there lives. they do not wonder away from the idea instilled in them. they have been programed this way. Montag reads a few pages of a book and it starts more question in his head than answered, he is warned about the dangers of it even by his captain. They censorship is used as a tool of fear to control the people, to turn each other in to. They monitor their people as much as anything else "Under the door still. a slow, probing sniff, an exhalation of electric steam" Montag later learns this is the hounds after, hunting him. nmaking sure he follows the laws.
I think your description of these citizens as "robotic" is exactly right. What's scary is that the government is only giving the people what they wanted ... so the removal of books started with the people and their belief that books were pointless.
DeleteThere were many important events in the final part of th Fahrenheit 451, and many realizations for Montag. The first one that I found most important was when Guy Montag talks about the fire burning. While with Granger and the others Montag notices something different about their fire. "It was not burning. It was warming . . . He hadn’t known fire could look this way. He had never thought in his life that it could give as well as take". Montag had not ever seen fire from this perspective, he had only seen the danger and harm of it, and the destruction that it could cause because of his old profession of being a firefighter. I feel that this important, because it is in a way reinforcing, Montag's new feelings of how what the firefighters did with fire was wrong.
ReplyDeleteThe second part of the end of the book that I felt was important is when Granger and Montag have a conversation. Granger talks of how if you have read a book you are important, because of your knowledge. "Montag . . . Walk carefully. Guard your health. If anything should happen to Harris, you are the Book of Ecclesiastes. See how important you’ve become in the last minute! . . . We’re all bits and pieces of history and literature and international law". Granger had explained that Montag was in fact important, because he had read books, and even though they have been destroyed over time the ideas and information in those books live on forever with in him. This conversation is espeacially important because the city, was destroyed at the end of the books, and their knowledge will love on through their memories.
One of the main ideas in Fahrenheit 451 is about realizing. Montag was completely oblivious to the ideas that Clarisse and Faber brought him. Books are actually good things not disgraces to society. Mildred lives her life glued to the screen and everybody in the society goes along with it too, except for a select few. Unlike the other firefighters, montag had an open mind and said “men like Beatty are afraid of [clarisse]... And suddenly I realized I didn't like them at all, and I didn't like myself at all any more” (64). Montag’s whole life revolved around his job, it's really all that he has and now to see that he doesn't enjoy his company, he should do something about it. It was only that step of realization that brought montag to peace. Montag then asks himself “How many other cities are dead?” (155) which takes the society into proportion and relates to the world as a whole compared to just this smal society.
ReplyDeleteThe next idea is power. The firefighting squad has power that in my opinion is abused. It's unnecessary to burn people’s books and houses. Montag thinks: “So if he burned things with the firemen, and the sun burned time, that meant that everything burned” (134). Relating back to the past, montag knows that people used to put fires out rather than start them. He questions why the force is burning down buildings that have books in them and what's inside of those books. One of the ways that the book has closure is that he finds other people who understand this idea and appriciate books.
The most important theme of the book was ignorance. The civilization that the government put the people in was keeping them ignorant, when the city is destroyed Montag remembered all of this information. This shows that he was freed from ignorance when the society based around ignorance is destroyed. Also by specifically remembering the bible and going back to the destroyed city portrayed him as a Jesus figure, bringing the words of the Bible to any people that will listen.
ReplyDeleteInteresting idea about Montag being the "savior" bringing new knowledge to a fallen world.
DeleteRay Bradbury predicted many items and lifestyles existences in his novel. For example, the traveling book-finding group is very similar to that of the hippies of the 1960's (the decade after the publication of the novel), who would travel across the country following things that they loved, like bands. Another example is the machine that Mildred was using in her home. When Mildred was surrounded by wall-sized screens in order to immerse her in the television program she was watching, it was very similar to that of modern day VR (virtual reality). However, modern virtual reality is much smaller than the average wall. "But who has ever torn himself from the claw that encloses you when you drop a seed in a TV parlor? It grows you any shape it wishes! It is an environment as real as the world. It becomes and is the truth."- Faber.
ReplyDeleteThe end of the book may symbolize rebirth. With everything he's ever known gone, and everyone he's every known gone as well, Montag must now forge ahead on his own. The war may have caught up with the everything else, but the war never caught up with Guy Montag. Montag must create a brand new life for himself. He even read a passage of a book about regrowing. “To everything there is a season. A time to break down, and a time to build up.” Montag is alone, and he must survive. Like Adam before Eve, he must survive on his own and rebuild for others that may come along. If they ever do, that is.