Fahrenheit 451 Litblog Pages 32-50

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
2-26-13

Pages 32-50

 

Summary: Clarisse disappears and Montag misses her a lot. They get an alert then travel to an old woman's house and Montag steals a book while the rest of the books burn. . The old woman picked up a match and started the fire herself while the men ran from the house. When he returns home, Montag realizes that he barely knows Mildred, she is a stranger to him. Then Montag cries because he realizes that he wouldn't cry if she died. Then Montag hears that Clarisse was run over by a car and killed. He hides the book under his pillow and calls in sick to work.

Quotation:"He was in someone else's house, like those other jokes people told of the gentleman, drunk, coming home late late at night, unlocking the wrong door, entering a wrong room, and bedding with a stranger and getting up early and going to work and neither of them the wiser" (42).

Quotation Significance: Montag is saying that he actually doesn't know Mildred and she feels weird and almost like a stranger to him. He feels like a drunk man who has no idea what he was doing and slept with someone he barely knows. This is how he feels about Mildred.

Reflection: In this section, Clarisse disappears! Montag is distraught about her disappearance and is deeply saddened when he learns that she died being run over by a car. Montag likes Clarisse and his routine has been upset. Clarisse taught him about the old ways and how to think and look at the little details in life that everyone else passes by. Clarisse was Montag's mentor and Montag now is realizing that he needs to do something to fix the messed up world that they live in. When the old woman died, Montag felt terrible and wishes he could take it back. This woman died so she could be with her books. Obviously, the books meant the world to her. Montag is wondering why this is and this is partly why he takes one of the books. We know that he has some hidden in the ventilation grille in his house, and he wants more books because he wants to understand the mystery about them. Montag is also starting to realize that he barely knows his wife Mildred, he can't even remember when they met. Montag thinks this is sad and cries when he finds that he wouldn't even cry if she died.

Discussion Question: Why do you think Mildred listens to the seashells? Do you think that Montag will do something to try and reverse the world they live in?