Fahrenheit 451
Part Three, Reading 4 — Teaching Companion
Burning Bright
Ray Bradbury · Pathfinders 7th–9th
Coaching, not a script — and not an answer key: every question here has more than one defensible answer.
This chapter's big question
Granger's men burn each book once they have it by heart. Is a book kept only in a person's memory still the same book?
The tension Montag “had never thought in his life that it could give as well as take”, yet the men around the warming fire tell him “We’re book-burners, too.”: they read the books and burnt them, so the same act that served the city now serves the keeping.
Today's focus
How a fire that warms, a false capture on television and a band of hunted old scholars show Montag another way to keep what matters.
Two core ideas
- Fire, the city’s tool for destroying, can also gather people and warm them, and Montag has never seen it so.
- The men have turned themselves into the books, so what they know lasts only as long as they do, and they choose to be humble keepers, not heroes.
The shape at a glance
Out of the dark, a shape with two eyes looks at Montag, and he cries out: the Hound! It is a deer, and it bounds away. Alone in the wilderness, Montag smells the land, smells like pickles, parsley, mustard and carnations, and the more he breathes it in, the fuller he feels; he is not empty. His foot strikes the old railroad track that runs out of the city along the river, the one familiar thing, and he walks on it. He is suddenly certain, though he cannot prove it, that Clarisse once walked here. Half an hour later he sees a fire ahead. He creeps close and watches from cover: it is not burning, it is warming. Hands are held to it, and there is a silence about it, then quiet voices that seem able to talk about anything. One of the men sees him and calls him out. Montag steps back, then comes to the fire, where five old men in blue denim sit. Their leader, Granger, gives him coffee, and a bitter drink that will change the smell of his sweat, with the Hound after him. Granger knows his name: they have watched the chase on a portable TV. He turns it on. The chase is still running, the other way. Granger says the police lost Montag at the river and cannot admit it; the show needs a quick ending, so they will catch someone else in five minutes. The camera comes down on an empty street. A man out for a walk turns a corner, and the Hound and the camera seize him together. He screams. Montag cries out and turns away; the men sit with their faces expressionless. The announcer says Montag is dead. Granger notes that the face was never shown in focus, and welcomes Montag back from the dead. He names the men, scholars and a reverend who lost their places. Montag says he does not belong; Granger says they all made the right kind of mistakes, and asks what he has to offer. Nothing, Montag says: he thought he had part of Ecclesiastes and a little of Revelation, but lost even that. Granger is delighted that it was in his head. A man named Harris holds Ecclesiastes; if anything happens to Harris, Montag is that book. Montag protests that he has forgotten; Granger says it will come when it is needed. The men are books: Granger is Plato’s Republic, Simmons is Marcus Aurelius, and others are Swift, Darwin, Gandhi and Lincoln, and the four Gospels. They laugh quietly. They are book-burners too, Granger says: they read the books and burnt them, so nothing can be found on them. Montag says he was blind to plant books in firemen’s houses. Granger says their way is simpler: keep the knowledge safe, stir no one up yet, and wait for the war, which has begun, to end. If people will not listen then, the books will be handed down by word of mouth, and a lot will be lost. Thousands like them walk the roads; whole towns hold whole books. They had to learn they were not important, only dust-jackets. Montag asks what they do tonight. Wait, Granger says, and move downstream. The men, and Montag with them, put out the fire together.
A way in
Before reading, ask the student what fire has meant in this book so far, and let them list it. Read aloud to “It was not burning; it was warming!” and stop: ask what is different about this fire, and leave it open. Read on through “Granger turned it off.” and stop again: ask the student to say what they have just watched, and leave it open. Read on to “We read the books and burnt them, afraid they’d be found.” and leave a silence; do not say whether a book kept in a head is the same book, because the last written question asks the student to judge it. Then read to the end without stopping. Do not make the camp a happy ending: the men are hunted, some have changed their faces and fingerprints, and Granger calls their waiting “a horrible job”. Do not say who the man on the screen was, that Clarisse walked the track, that Montag can already recall Ecclesiastes, that the city will listen, or what the war does to the city.
Lesson plan
Retell The student tells the reading back in three parts. First the woods: the shape in the dark, the deer, the smells, the railroad track, the certainty about Clarisse. Then the fire and the screen: the warming fire, the silence and the voices, the call to come out, the coffee and the drink, the chase still running in the city, the man on the street, the scream, “Montag is dead”, and “Welcome back from the dead.” Last the men: their names, “What have you to offer?”, Ecclesiastes and Harris, the books the men are, “We’re book-burners, too.”, the plan to wait, word of mouth, the towns that are books, the dust-jackets, and the fire put out. Ask for three or four sentences for each part, in order.
Imitate the author After copying, the student writes five sentences built like the first passage, about something familiar seen for the first time in a new way: a short sentence that turns on a semicolon from what a thing is not to what it is; a sentence and a fragment that show a picture in two parts, one part and then what is above or behind it; and two plain sentences that say what the speaker had never known. Then five sentences built like the second, about a group that keeps something safe by staying quiet: a short sentence that ends on “yet”; a sentence that begins with “For” and gives the reason; a long sentence that turns on a semicolon into three things the group does; a sentence that turns on “but”; and a short last sentence that ends on three describing words.
Debate Take sides on the last written question. First make two lists together. Reasons it is the same book: a book is its words, not its paper; the men “can recall anything that’s been read once”; when the war is over “the books can be written again” and set up in type; a book in a head is one no fireman can find, “burns on the outside, libraries inside”. Reasons it is not the same: Montag has already “forgotten”; passed on by word of mouth, “A lot will be lost that way, of course.”; a book kept in a man dies with him, “For if we are destroyed, the knowledge is dead, perhaps for good.”; the men are “bits and pieces”, and one book may be spread across a whole town, “so many pages to a person”. One side argues each, with a reason and a line from the reading, then they switch. No side may say the city will listen, that Montag can already recall Ecclesiastes, or what the war does to the city.
Purpose Close on the reading’s two fires. The first fire Montag sees from cover is warming, not burning, and he is afraid his breath could put it out; the reading ends with every man’s hands, Montag’s among them, “putting out the fire together.” Ask why Bradbury closes this reading, in a book about firemen, with men putting a fire out, and with Granger’s one-word answer, “Wait”. Do not end on calm: they are moving downstream “just in case”, and the war has begun.
Easier Read aloud together from “It is,” replied Granger, smiling. to “Better to keep it in the old heads, where no one can see it or suspect it.” Talk through what the men did with each book, in the student’s own words, without saying whether that was right. Then answer the last written question aloud, starting from the line “We read the books and burnt them, afraid they’d be found.”
On level Talk through the five discussion questions in order, then have the student write answers to the three written questions in complete sentences: a claim, evidence from two different parts of the reading, and an answer to the strongest objection.
Harder Ask the student to write the last written question as an argument: a claim, the strongest reason against it, and an answer to that reason. Then give them a puzzle from the reading itself. When Montag says he has forgotten, Granger tells him, “No, nothing’s ever lost.” A few minutes later, of passing the books on by word of mouth, he says, “A lot will be lost that way, of course.” Ask whether Granger can mean both, and what each line is for. The answer must use only this reading and must not say what happens next.
Discussion
- Out in the wild, Montag smells pickles, mustard and “parsley on the table at home”. Why does Bradbury make the wild land smell like a kitchen?Author's choice
What it asks It asks the student to notice how Bradbury describes a place Montag has never been. The shape in the dark turns out to be a deer, and Montag is “alone in the wilderness.” Then the smells come: “hot cloves and warm dust”, “a smell like a cut potato”, “a smell like pickles from a bottle and a smell like parsley on the table at home”, “a faint yellow odour like mustard from a jar”, “a smell like carnations from the yard next door”. “His fingers smelled of liquorice.” “He was not empty. There was more than enough here to fill him. There would always be more than enough.” The student decides why the wild land is written in the smells of a kitchen and a yard. It takes up one part of the last written question: what fills a person, and whether what a person takes in stays what it was. Do not say the danger is over; Montag is still “stumbling”, and the Hound is still running somewhere.
One reading
He has no other words for it. His whole life was the city, its kitchens and its yards, so he meets the wild through the only smells he already knows.
a smell like pickles from a bottle
There was a faint yellow odour like mustard from a jar.
Another reading
The land is a kind of home. It gives back plain, good things the city lost, and it fills him in a way nothing in the city did.
He was not empty.
There would always be more than enough.
Listen for
- Notices that every comparison is to something small and close: a bottle, a jar, the table, the yard next door.
- Notices that the smells come right after Montag cries out at what he thinks is the Hound.
- Notices “He was not empty.” and asks who, or what, had left him empty before.
- Does not say Montag is safe now.
If stuck
- What did Montag think the shape in the dark was?
- Name three things the land smells like to him.
- Where in his old life would Montag have smelled those things?
A strong answer A strong response might say Montag has no other words: his life was the city, so the land comes to him as “a smell like pickles from a bottle” and “mustard from a jar”, the only smells he knows. Another might say the land is a kind of home: it gives back the “parsley on the table at home” and the carnations “from the yard next door”, and for the first time “He was not empty.” A careful answer may notice that the smells come just after Montag cries out at the Hound that is only a deer, and may ask whether a man who has just been that afraid would reach for home first.
- On the old track, Montag is suddenly sure that “Once, long ago, Clarisse had walked here”. What is he really sure of?Inference
What it asks It asks the student to look past the fact Montag cannot prove to what he can be sure of. Montag’s foot strikes the railroad track that comes out of the city and rusts “across the land, through forests and woods, deserted now, by the river.” “Here was the path to wherever he was going. Here was the single familiar thing, the magic charm he might need a little while, to touch, to feel beneath his feet”. “He walked on the track.” “And he was surprised to learn how certain he suddenly was of a single fact he could not prove.” “Once, long ago, Clarisse had walked here, where he was walking now.” Nothing on the track can check it, so the student decides what his certainty is really about: her, himself, or the road. It takes up one part of the last written question: something carried in the mind, true or not, with nothing on paper to check it against. Do not say Clarisse really walked the track; the page says only that he could not prove it.
One reading
He is sure of where he is going. The track is the path ahead of him, and she walked “where he was walking now”: he is sure he is on her road, going her way at last.
Here was the path to wherever he was going.
Once, long ago, Clarisse had walked here, where he was walking now.
Another reading
He is sure of her, not of a walk. He cannot prove where her feet went, but he knows the kind of person she was, and what he keeps of her feels true even though no one can check it.
he was surprised to learn how certain he suddenly was
a single fact he could not prove
Listen for
- Notices “surprised” and “suddenly”: the certainty comes to Montag; he does not reason his way to it.
- Notices “Once, long ago”, the way an old story begins, and asks why it feels long ago to him.
- Notices that the track is “the magic charm”, and asks whether Clarisse is part of the charm.
- Does not say Clarisse really walked there.
If stuck
- What does Montag’s foot hit in the leaves?
- Can he prove that Clarisse walked there?
- If he can’t prove the walk, what else could he be sure of?
A strong answer A strong response might say he is sure of his road: the track is “the path to wherever he was going”, and she walked “where he was walking now”, so for the first time he knows he is going her way. Another might say he is sure of her: he cannot prove a walk, but he knows the girl, and the page says he was “surprised to learn how certain he suddenly was”, as if the memory spoke for itself. A careful answer may notice that the thought begins “Once, long ago”, like an old story, and may ask whether something kept only in memory can be true even when it cannot be proved.
- When Montag first sees the fire far ahead, he is afraid he “might blow the fire out with a single breath”. Why is a fireman afraid for a fire?Theme
What it asks It asks the student to look hard at the turn in the fire itself, before Montag knows what kind of fire it is. Half an hour later, cold and moving carefully on the tracks, “he saw the fire ahead.” “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 takes him fifteen minutes to draw close. From cover he sees “That small motion, the white and red colour, a strange fire because it meant a different thing to him.” Then: “It was not burning; it was warming!” “He had never thought in his life that it could give as well as take.” The student decides what Montag is afraid of losing. It takes up one part of the last written question: what a few people keep can be lost as easily as a small fire, “For if we are destroyed, the knowledge is dead, perhaps for good.” Do not treat the camp as a happy ending.
One reading
It is the one thing ahead of him in the dark. A small fire far off can vanish, and a man running for his life cannot bear to lose the only sign of people he has found.
The fire was gone, then back again, like a winking eye.
But the fire was there and he approached warily, from a long way off.
Another reading
He already senses it is a different kind of fire, small and gentle, not like the fires he made. A fire like that has to be cared for, and for the first time he wants to keep one alive.
a strange fire because it meant a different thing to him
He had never thought in his life that it could give as well as take.
Listen for
- Notices how small the fire is: “That small motion”, a fire that comes and goes “like a winking eye”.
- Notices that a man whose work was starting fires now stops still, afraid his own breath could put one out.
- Notices that more than the flame is different: “Even its smell was different.” and “It was the silence.”
- Does not say Montag is safe once he reaches it.
If stuck
- What did fire do in Montag’s old job?
- How does this fire look from far off?
- What would Montag lose if it went out?
A strong answer A strong response might say it is the one thing ahead of him in the dark: it is “gone, then back again, like a winking eye”, and a man running for his life is afraid to lose the only sign of people he has. Another might say he already senses a different kind of fire: “a strange fire because it meant a different thing to him”, one that can “give as well as take”, and a fire like that has to be kept alive. A careful answer may notice that this fire is small enough to die of one breath, and may ask whether what the men around it keep in their heads is just as easy to lose.
- Montag cries out and turns away from the dark screen, but the men around the fire sit with “their faces expressionless”. What’s going on behind those faces?Character
What it asks It asks the student to read people who show nothing. Granger turns on the portable screen and says the police are faking: “They’ll catch Montag in the next five minutes!” A man out for a walk turns a corner. “The men at the fire bent forward.” The Hound and the camera reach him together. “He screamed. He screamed. He screamed!” Then “Blackout.” “Silence.” “Darkness.” “Montag cried out in the silence and turned away.” “And then, after a time of the men sitting around the fire, their faces expressionless, an announcer on the dark screen said, “The search is over, Montag is dead; a crime against society has been avenged.”” Granger turns it off and says the face was never in focus. Then, “Hell,” he whispers. The student decides what the still faces hide, or do not hide. It takes up one part of the last written question: men who keep everything inside, where no one can see it. Do not say who the man on the screen was; Granger only guesses the police had him “charted”.
One reading
They have seen it before. These men have been hunted for years, and Granger called this capture before it happened. What shocks Montag is no surprise to them.
They’ll catch Montag in the next five minutes!
I’ve been running ever since.
Another reading
They feel it and hold it in. They lean in to watch, and Granger says “Oh, God”. Men who are stopped and searched learn to show nothing.
The men at the fire bent forward.
Oh, God, look there!
Listen for
- Notices that the men “bent forward” before the capture, and sat still after it.
- Notices Granger’s whispered “Hell” after he turns the screen off.
- Notices the short lines on the page, “Blackout.” “Silence.” “Darkness.”, and what the men sit through in them.
- Does not say who the caught man was.
If stuck
- What does Montag do when the man screams?
- What does Granger say after he turns the screen off?
- What would it cost these men to show what they feel?
A strong answer A strong response might say they have seen it before: Granger knew “They’ll catch Montag in the next five minutes!”, and he has “been running ever since” he struck a fireman years ago, so nothing on that screen is new to them. Another might say they feel it and hold it in: “The men at the fire bent forward”, Granger says “Oh, God, look there!”, and after the screen goes dark he whispers “Hell” twice. A careful answer may notice that these men carry nothing on them that can be found, and may ask whether a still face is one more thing they have learned to keep inside.
- When Granger says “We are also Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John”, everyone laughs quietly. What is the joke?Tone
What it asks It asks the student to hear a laugh. Granger has just told Montag who the men are: “I am Plato’s Republic.” “Mr. Simmons is Marcus.” Then a whole list, from Jonathan Swift and Charles Darwin to Gandhi, Buddha, Confucius, Thomas Jefferson “and Mr. Lincoln, if you please.” “We are also Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.” “Everyone laughed quietly.” Montag says, “It can’t be”. The men are “five old men sitting there dressed in dark blue denim pants and jackets”, by a rusting track in the woods. Later Granger says the hardest lesson was that “we were not important, we mustn’t be pedants”. The student decides what is funny. It takes up one part of the last written question: whether a man can be a book, and how much of one. Do not turn the list of names into the point; ask what it means that men call themselves books.
One reading
The gap is funny. Five old men in denim, sitting in the woods, calling themselves the four Gospels. Said out loud, it sounds too big, and they know it.
the five old men sitting there dressed in dark blue denim pants and jackets
It can’t be
Another reading
They laugh at themselves on purpose. They had to learn they were not important, and a quiet laugh at their own grand names keeps them from feeling superior.
we were not important, we mustn’t be pedants
we were not to feel superior to anyone else in the world
Listen for
- Notices that the laugh is quiet, and asks why it would be.
- Notices “if you please” in Granger’s list, and hears how he says it.
- Notices that four men would be needed for four Gospels, and asks who the “We” is.
- Notices Montag’s “It can’t be”, and asks whether the laugh is partly at his face.
If stuck
- Who does Granger say he is?
- What are the men wearing, and where are they sitting?
- Can something be funny and serious at the same time?
A strong answer A strong response might say the joke is the gap: “five old men” in “dark blue denim pants and jackets”, by a track in the woods, calling themselves Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and Montag can only say “It can’t be”. Another might say they laugh at themselves on purpose: they had to learn “we were not important, we mustn’t be pedants”, and a quiet laugh at their own big names keeps them from feeling “superior to anyone else in the world.” A careful answer may notice that the laugh is quiet, by a fire in hiding, and may ask whether a man who knows he is only partly a book can still be one.
Critical thinking
- Moments after a stranger is seized in his place, Granger touches Montag’s arm and says, “Welcome back from the dead.” Who paid for Montag to come back?
What it asks It asks the student to weigh what Montag’s return from the dead cost, and who bore it. Granger calls the capture before it happens: “They’re faking. You threw them off at the river. They can’t admit it.” “The show’s got to have a snap ending, quick!” “Right now, some poor fellow is out for a walk.” “Anyway, the police have had him charted for months, years.” “It saves face.” On the screen a man turns a corner, “a cigarette burning in his hand.” “He stared at the Hound, not knowing what it was. He probably never knew.” “He screamed. He screamed. He screamed!” The announcer says, “The search is over, Montag is dead; a crime against society has been avenged.” Granger turns it off: “Even your best friends couldn’t tell if it was you.” “Montag said nothing but now, looking back, sat with his eyes fixed to the blank screen, trembling.” “Granger touched Montag’s arm.” “Welcome back from the dead.” “Montag nodded.” The student decides who paid: the man on the screen, Montag himself, both, or no one. Write a claim with evidence, in complete sentences, and answer the strongest case for another reading. It takes up one part of the last written question: the city now counts Montag as gone, as it counts a burned book, yet he is alive by this fire, and the student weighs what that survival cost. Do not say who the man on the screen was; Granger only guesses the police had him “charted”.
One reading
The man on the screen paid. He was only out for a walk, and he was seized and made to scream so the show could end and the city could say Montag is dead.
Right now, some poor fellow is out for a walk.
He screamed. He screamed. He screamed!
Another reading
Montag paid. The man he was in the city is gone for good. To everyone who knew him he is dead, so he can never go back, and he can live now only out here, hidden with these men.
The search is over, Montag is dead
Even your best friends couldn’t tell if it was you.
Listen for
- Notices that the police chose a man they had “charted for months, years”, and does not say who he was.
- Notices “He probably never knew.” and asks what that short sentence does.
- Notices that Montag sits “trembling” and then only nods: he takes the welcome without a word.
- States the strongest case for another reading and answers it, in complete sentences.
If stuck
- What happens to the man on the screen?
- What does the announcer say about Montag?
- What can Montag never go back to now?
A strong answer A strong response takes a position and tests it. A student might argue the man on the screen paid: he was “out for a walk”, the police had him “charted for months, years”, and he was seized so the show could have its ending; “He screamed. He screamed. He screamed!” Another might argue Montag paid: the screen says “The search is over, Montag is dead”, and “Even your best friends couldn’t tell if it was you.”, so the man he was in the city is gone for good. A careful answer may say both paid while the police paid nothing, since “It saves face”, and may notice that Montag only nods: the welcome is something he takes without a word.
- Granger tells Montag, “See how important you’ve become in the last minute!” What has become important?
What it asks It asks the student to decide what Granger values. Asked what he has to offer, Montag says, “Nothing. I thought I had part of the Book of Ecclesiastes and maybe a little of Revelation, but I haven’t even that now.” He touches his head. Granger smiles: “Better than all right; perfect!” The Reverend says they have one Ecclesiastes, “A man named Harris of Youngstown.” Granger takes Montag’s shoulder: “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!” Montag says, “But I’ve forgotten!” Granger: “It’ll come when we need it.” Later he says “we were not important”, and “We’re nothing more than dust-jackets for books, of no significance otherwise.” The student decides what has become important: the man, the book, or something else. Write a claim with evidence, in complete sentences, and answer the strongest case for another reading. It takes up one part of the last written question: whether a person who holds a book is only its cover. Do not say Montag can already recall Ecclesiastes; he has forgotten, and Granger only promises it will come.
One reading
The book. Montag matters as a spare copy, in case something happens to Harris. Granger says plainly that the men are covers and nothing more.
If anything should happen to Harris, you are the Book of Ecclesiastes.
We’re nothing more than dust-jackets for books, of no significance otherwise.
Another reading
Montag himself. The book cannot be kept without the man, so his life is worth guarding now. A minute ago he said he had nothing; now he is told to take care of himself.
Walk carefully. Guard your health.
Nothing. I thought I had part of the Book of Ecclesiastes
Listen for
- Notices that Montag offered “Nothing” and touched his head, and that Granger called this “perfect!”
- Notices that Montag has forgotten, and that Granger does not seem worried.
- Sets “important” beside Granger’s later “we were not important”.
- States the strongest case for another reading and answers it, in complete sentences.
If stuck
- What does Montag say he has to offer?
- Who else holds the Book of Ecclesiastes?
- Can a man be important because of what he carries, and not for himself?
A strong answer A strong response takes a position and tests it. A student might argue the book has become important: Montag matters only “If anything should happen to Harris”, and Granger says the men are “nothing more than dust-jackets for books, of no significance otherwise.” Another might argue Montag has: the book cannot live without him, so Granger tells him “Walk carefully. Guard your health.”, and the man who offered “Nothing” a minute ago is now worth keeping alive. A careful answer may notice that Montag has forgotten the words, so for now what is important is a promise, “It’ll come when we need it”, and may ask whether a cover that must be kept healthy is still only a cover.
- Granger's men burn each book once they have it by heart. Is a book kept only in a person's memory still the same book?
What it asks This is the last question the student meets, and it gathers the earlier ones: why the wild land smells like a kitchen to Montag; what he is really sure of on the old track; why a fireman is afraid for a fire; what is behind the men’s still faces; what the quiet joke about the Gospels is; who paid for Montag to come “back from the dead”; and what has become important when Montag becomes the Book of Ecclesiastes. Now the student judges the men’s whole way of keeping. “We’re book-burners, too. We read the books and burnt them, afraid they’d be found. Micro-filming didn’t pay off”. “Better to keep it in the old heads, where no one can see it or suspect it. We are all bits and pieces of history and literature and international law”. Simmons has worked twenty years on a method, “and now we’ve got the method down to where we can recall anything that’s been read once.” Yet Montag says, “But I’ve forgotten!” If the city will not listen, the men will pass the books on “by word of mouth”. “A lot will be lost that way, of course.” “For if we are destroyed, the knowledge is dead, perhaps for good.” A whole town is Bertrand Russell: “Pick up that town, almost, and flip the pages, so many pages to a person.” And “when the war’s over, some day, some year, the books can be written again”. The student writes a judgment with evidence, in complete sentences, and answers the strongest objection. Do not settle the question for the student. Do not say the city will listen, that Montag can already recall Ecclesiastes, what the war does to the city, that Clarisse walked the track, or who the man on the screen was.
One reading
Yes, the same book. A book is its words, not its paper, and the men can recall every word they have read once. The words can be set in type again, and in a head they cannot be found and burned.
we can recall anything that’s been read once
the books can be written again
Another reading
Not quite. A memory slips, and Montag has already forgotten his. Passed on by word of mouth, the books will lose pieces, and a book kept in a man can die with him.
A lot will be lost that way, of course.
For if we are destroyed, the knowledge is dead, perhaps for good.
Listen for
- Uses Granger’s own words on both sides: “recall anything” and “A lot will be lost”.
- Notices “bits and pieces”, and asks whether a book in pieces across a town is still one book.
- Notices that the men burn the books themselves, and asks what that act means now.
- States the strongest objection and answers it, in complete sentences.
If stuck
- What did the men do with each book once they had read it?
- What does Granger admit will happen when the books are passed on by word of mouth?
- Is a book its paper, or its words?
A strong answer A strong response takes a position and tests it. A student might argue it is the same book: a book is its words, and the men can “recall anything that’s been read once”, so “the books can be written again” and set in type, while a book in a head is one no fireman can find. Another might argue it is not quite the same: Montag has already “forgotten”, Granger admits “A lot will be lost that way, of course.”, and a book kept in a man dies with him, “For if we are destroyed, the knowledge is dead, perhaps for good.” A careful answer may grant both and notice that the men call themselves “bits and pieces”, a town with “so many pages to a person”, and may ask whether a book kept by people is less than the printed one, or something the printed one never was.