Fahrenheit 451 - Section 1 Annotation

1. P. 33 - I think the author used metaphor to describe the scene when a man is burning books. For example, “and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning” or “the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch and lawn of the house” (page 33) (I think symbolism also used on this sentence.) These literary devices help me to imagine easily and clearly on that scene.

2. P. 35 -  I think the author phrases and describes the female character, Clarisse very mysterious. For example, the phrases such as “the autumn leaves blew over the moonlit pavement” or “the dark eyes were so fixed to the world that no move escaped them”, creates the mysterious mood and emphasizes Clarisse’s sketch characteristics. Also, by directly mentioning “he felt he had said something quite wonderful” (page 35), it shows that Montag is interest in Clarisse.

3. P. 38 -  I think the author should have explain more about the world in Fahrenheit 451 such as the fireproof houses. He only mentioned that the houses have always been fireproof, therefore they don’t need any jobs like firefighter in reality. But, I think some readers can question that what if the fire started inside of the house? Does it mean that the fire never happens in that world? So, I wish that he could explain more about it.

4. P.38 ~ 39 - When I first encountered Clarisse in this book, I thought she is a strange or mysterious girl who knows everything about things in that society. I felt that there would be a little chance that she is a ghost. However, while I am reading I change my mind that she is a real human in that society and she is just a teenage girl same as us. She looks different because she is similar with the people in the reality, not like their society who doesn’t allow people to read.

5. P.43 ~ 46 I’m confused with the illness of Mildred who is Montag’s wife. It says her face was like a snow-covered island upon which rain might fall, so I got that concept which is she’s sick. But, I confused with the treatment of operator. What does it mean by cleaning the blood? And why is she sick? What’s the exact name of the disease?

6. P. 44 ~ 45 - In this part, the operators are using machines to perform their operation. It makes me to think of operations in these days. The operators use machines to perform exquisite surgeries. Sometimes, the operators just control the machine outside of the operating room. The author wrote this book way before those technologies are developed, therefore, I think he made a great prediction in this book.

7. P. 45 - In this scene, the operators were telling him what they are going to do with her. However, Montage shouted, “Stop it!” I’m wondering why did he stop the operators even though, they were there to help her.

8.  Overall reading - I think the author made quite accurate predictions of the future such as a Mildred’s electronic bees which is earphone and wall-TV which exist in these days.

9. P. 39 & 59 - These scenes are all conversation between Clarisse and Montag. During these conversation, Clarisse reveals her characteristic such as she is really curious at everything, she likes to ask questions, and she is talkative. Basically, it shows that she likes to interact with people which many people don’t prefer in their society. I think the author wants to say that her curiosity and interaction are the ideal behaviors that people should have while they are living in the society.

10. P. 54 ~ 57 - In this scene, Montag confront with the Mechanical Hound. When this scene just started, I was surprised because the Mechanical Hound tried to attack Montag. I think the author hoped the readers to feel tension in the story by this scene and allude that something will happen with the Mechanical Hound soon.

11. P. 56 ~ 57 - I disagree with Beatty’s opinion that the Hound does not threaten Montag and it’s just a coincidence. Because the Hound should be well trained or programmed, so they couldn’t attack innocent people. Also, Montag mention that all of those chemical balances and percentages on all of the fireman are recorded and it would be easy for someone to set up a partial combination on the Hound’s ‘memory’