Fahrenheit 451 Lit. Notebook

Phi Cao Carlin – 1 English IIK 30, January 2013 1. Character: Clarisse Quote: â€Å"I sometimes think drivers don’t know what grass is, or flowers, because they never see them slowly,† she said. â€Å"If you showed a driver a green blur, Oh yes! He’d say, that’s grass! A pink blur! That’s a rose garden! White blurs are houses Brown blurs cows. My uncle drove slowly on a highway once. He drove forty miles an hour and they jailed him for two days. Isn’t that funny and sad too? (1. ) Analysis: As Clarisse and Montag meet for the first time, she asks a series of mysterious questions that no one in the dystopia would ever even think of. The statements and questions display how wise she is and how there are very few people like her in this society that can actually see the enjoyments in life and nature. She attempts to make Montag understand that this world they live in, everything moves so fast, they need to slow down every once in a while and appreciate the simple pleasures in life.Because their society is overtaken by technology they are convinced that it is the only way to make them happy. Quote: â€Å"Are you happy? † (1. 10) By asking a simple question like this, it challenged Montag to think beyond his usual capacity, thinking outside of his normal life. He’s began to have thoughts about his definition of true happiness. He starts to realize he’s not truly happy, that’s why it took him a while to respond to her question. This quote by Clarisse is one of the most important quotes throughout the story.Without this quote, Montag wouldn’t doubt himself about his true happiness. 2. Symbols: Fire Quote: â€Å"We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out. † (1. 40) Analysis: As the old woman whose house was about to be burned due to her love for books, she screams to Montag about â€Å"Master Ridley† and â⠂¬Å"playing the man. † As the story continues, Beatty reveals to Montag this quote said by a british man named Latimer. After critically thinking Montag learns that there are things in the world hat are worth living and dying for which no one in this society is willing to do. For the woman it symbolizes unyielding strength, determination and dedication. Quote: The fire was gone, then back again, like a winking eye. He stopped, afraid he might blow the fire out with a single breath. But the fire was there and he approached warily, from a long way off. It took the better part of fifteen minutes before he drew very close indeed to it, and then he stood looking at it from cover. 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. (3. 145) Analysis: Throughout the whole story Montag saw fire as nothing but destruction and he took pleasure into book burning at the beginning. So now seeing that this flame as a nice warming home for him, it begins to make him question. This small warm-felt fire began to make him see what he’s been so clueless about all along. Burning books wasn’t the solution but the problem. He then reconsiders about what Clarisse said about firemen. What if his job was really to stop burning books and rather than starting them?