Part One, Reading 2 — Teaching Companion

What it asks It asks the student to name what, if anything, the two men did wrong, and to point to it. Strangers he has never seen pump out his wife’s stomach and change her blood. One smokes over “the silent woman” and explains how bad blood hits the brain “like a mallet”; Montag shouts, “Stop it!”, and “His anger did not even touch them.” They ask for fifty bucks, say they get “nine or ten a night,” and leave for the next call. Yet they also tell him, “Sure, she’ll be O.K.,” and how to look after her: “Keep her quiet.” Once they are gone, Montag thinks, “Strangers come and violate you. Strangers come and cut your heart out. Strangers come and take your blood.” The student must find the wrong in the page, not in a feeling about the scene, or say plainly that there is none. It takes up one part of the last written question: these are the first of “the others” the reading shows, and the question is how far Montag stands apart from them. Keep the talk on the men and on Montag, not on the details of the pumping.

One reading

Something real. The work was done, but the woman was treated as one more job. They smoke over her without blinking, talk about her brain while her husband listens, ask for money, and head off to the next house. Bradbury himself gives them the eyes of snakes.

• His anger did not even touch them.
• the men with the eyes of puff-adders

Another reading

Nothing that matters. They came, cleaned her out, and she wakes up fine. They even tell him what to expect. Men who see this nine or ten times a night may have to stay calm to do it at all.

• Sure, she’ll be O.K.
• We get these cases nine or ten a night.

Listen for

• Names something the men actually do or say, not just a mood.
• Uses “His anger did not even touch them” and asks why it could not.
• Notices how strong Montag’s words are: “violate” and “cut your heart out.”
• Asks whether Montag, a fireman, is also a stranger who does a job in other people’s houses.

If stuck

• What did the two men do for Mildred?
• How do they act while they work? What do they say in front of Montag?
• Can someone do a good job and still do it the wrong way?

A strong answer A strong response might name a real wrong: the men smoke over “the silent woman” without blinking, describe her brain being hit “like a mallet” while Montag listens, ask “That’s fifty bucks” before he knows whether she will live, and “His anger did not even touch them.” Another might say they did nothing wrong: they tell him “Sure, she’ll be O.K.,” leave her with a contra-sedative and plain advice, and get “nine or ten a night,” so calm may be the only way to do that work. A careful answer may notice that Montag is a fireman, a man who also does his job in other people’s houses, and ask whether he would pass his own test.

What it asks It asks the student to turn the uncle’s words back on the man who overhears them. Montag stands outside the lit, laughing house and wants to say, “Let me come in. I won’t say anything. I just want to listen.” What he hears is a man’s voice, which he takes for the uncle’s: “this is the age of the disposable tissue. Blow your nose on a person, wad them, flush them away, reach for another.” The student decides whether Montag, too, uses people that way, and finds the moments that say so or say not. A close reader will find the wish Montag makes just before, sitting beside Mildred: that the men could have taken “her mind along to the dry-cleaner’s” and brought it back clean. It takes up one part of the last written question: Clarisse says he is not like the others, and the uncle names what the others do. Keep the uncle in the talk; his speech is the one place where the reading says out loud what the night has shown.

One reading

Yes, at least once. Sitting by his wife, Montag wishes they had swapped her mind for a new one, the way the men swapped her blood: take out the old, put in the new. And two years ago he bet on the Hound’s kills with the others.

• If only they could have taken her mind along to the dry-cleaner’s and emptied the pockets and steamed and cleansed it and reblocked it and brought it back in the morning.
• There had been a time two years ago when he had bet with the best of them

Another reading

No, or not any more. He checks her breathing with his hand and tucks her in with care. He stands outside a house just to hear people talk. He has stopped going down to the games and lies upstairs with his face to the wall.

• he put out his hand to feel the warmness of breath on his palm
• checked Mildred, tucked the covers about her carefully

Listen for

• Says plainly what the uncle means by a disposable tissue.
• Finds the dry-cleaner wish and decides whether it is love, use, or both.
• Weighs it against the hand on her breath and the covers tucked “carefully”.
• Notices that Montag wants to go in and only listen.

If stuck

• What does a person do with a tissue after using it?
• What does Montag wish the men could have done with Mildred’s mind?
• Can you want someone to be different and still care about them?

A strong answer A strong response might say yes: Montag wishes the men could have taken Mildred’s mind “to the dry-cleaner’s” and brought it back “in the morning”, which is the operators’ way of thinking, take out the old and put in the new, and he once bet “with the best of them” on the Hound’s kills. Another might say no: he feels for “the warmness of breath on his palm”, tucks her in “carefully”, and stands in the cold just to listen to people talk. A careful answer may notice that the wish to clean her mind may come from love, and still treat her as something that can be swapped.

What it asks It asks the student to weigh two lonely people against each other. Mildred spends her day with “electronic bees” in her ears and a play where her lines are written for her. She wants a fourth wall so the room would be “just like this room wasn’t ours at all, but all kinds of exotic people’s rooms.” When Montag says the wall costs a third of his pay, she says, “I should think you’d consider me sometimes.” Montag, for his part, thinks “Nobody knows anyone,” tries once to tell her what happened last night and is told “Never in a billion years,” and stands in the hall looking at her. The student decides who is more alone, and must give Mildred a fair hearing. It takes up one part of the last written question: if the house is this empty, it matters a great deal whether anyone outside it truly sees Montag. Do not let Mildred become a joke; she is cheerful, she asks for something, and her forgetting is frightening.

One reading

Mildred. She lives inside radios and a script, and she wants more walls of strangers to keep her company. She asks to be considered, which is a lonely thing to have to ask your husband.

• She had both ears plugged with electronic bees that were humming the hour away.
• If we had a fourth wall, why it’d be just like this room wasn’t ours at all, but all kinds of exotic people’s rooms.

Another reading

Montag. Mildred at least has her shows and does not seem to know anything is missing. Montag knows. He knows what happened last night, and when he tells her, she will not hear it.

• Nobody knows anyone.
• He stood in the hall looking at her.

Listen for

• Takes Mildred’s words seriously, not as a joke.
• Uses the fourth wall line, “this room wasn’t ours at all”, to say what she wants.
• Weighs knowing you are lonely against not knowing it.
• Notices what happens when Montag tries to tell her about last night.

If stuck

• What does Mildred want? What does she say it would be like?
• What does Montag know that Mildred will not hear?
• Is it worse to be lonely and know it, or lonely and not know it?

A strong answer A strong response might say Mildred is lonelier: with “electronic bees” in her ears and a wall full of “exotic people”, she has filled the house with strangers, and she has to ask her husband to “consider me sometimes.” Another might say Montag is: he alone knows about last night, he thinks “Nobody knows anyone,” and he can only stand “in the hall looking at her.” A careful answer may notice that neither of them says the word lonely, and that the fourth wall would make the room “wasn’t ours at all”, so it would push them further apart.

What it asks It asks the student to explain a big reaction to a small thing. Clarisse rubs the last dandelion of the year under Montag’s chin and says, “What a shame,” and then, “You’re not in love with anyone.” He cries, “Yes, I am!” and then “I am very much in love!” and the book adds: “He tried to conjure up a face to fit the words, but there was no face.” He blames the flower, “You’ve used it all up on yourself,” and Clarisse agrees, “Of course, that must be it,” then says sorry and asks him to forgive her. He says, “I’m not angry. Upset, yes.” The student decides what really upset him. It takes up one part of the last written question: here Clarisse tests him with a playground game and finds something, and the student can ask whether it was really there. Do not say Clarisse and Montag are falling in love; the game says he loves no one, and the reading offers nothing more.

One reading

The game told the truth. When he looks for the face of someone he loves, none comes, not even his wife’s, hours after she nearly died. The weed found out something he did not want to know.

• He tried to conjure up a face to fit the words, but there was no face.
• I am very much in love!

Another reading

It is not the game; it is Clarisse. She looks at him and sees something, and she knows it at once. She even lets him keep his excuse about the dandelion, which may shake him more than the dandelion did.

• Oh please don’t look that way.
• Of course, that must be it.

Listen for

• Uses “there was no face”, not only “Yes, I am!”
• Notices how many times Montag insists, and asks what that shows.
• Asks whether Clarisse believes the excuse about the dandelion.
• Keeps to the reading: does not say Montag loves Clarisse.

If stuck

• What does Montag try to picture when he says he is in love?
• How does Clarisse answer his excuse about the dandelion?
• Have you ever been upset by a joke because some part of it was true?

A strong answer A strong response might say the game told the truth: Montag shouts “I am very much in love!”, but when he tries to “conjure up a face to fit the words”, “there was no face,” not even Mildred’s. Another might say what shakes him is Clarisse: she sees it in his face, “Oh please don’t look that way,” and then lets him keep his excuse with “Of course, that must be it.” A careful answer may notice that he says “Upset, yes” and not angry, and that being upset is closer to being hurt by something true.

What it asks It asks the student to explain why a man reaches out to a machine he has reason to fear. At one in the morning Montag slides down the pole, smokes a cigarette outside, then comes back to bend over the Hound and whisper “Hello,” “fascinated as always with the dead beast, the living beast.” He touches its muzzle; it growls, half rises, and pushes out its needle, and he escapes up the pole “trembling.” Only afterward does he tell Beatty, “This isn’t the first time it’s threatened me,” and “Last month it happened twice.” Upstairs, he stands thinking of the ventilator grille at home. The student decides why he went near it at all, and may give more than one reason. It takes up one part of the last written question: Clarisse says he is not like the others, and here Montag seems to suspect something about himself. Keep the scene a measure of Montag’s fear, not a thrill. Do not say that someone set the Hound against him, what lies behind the grille, or that Beatty knows; the reading gives only Montag’s guess and Beatty’s laugh.

One reading

He is testing it. It has threatened him twice, and he wants to know whether it will again. When it growls, his mind turns to what he has hidden at home, so the test was about him as much as the machine.

• This isn’t the first time it’s threatened me
• only stood thinking of the ventilator grille in the hall at home

Another reading

He is drawn to it. It has always held him, half dead and half alive, and he speaks to it gently, the way you would to a dog. Later he feels sorry for it. He goes near it because some part of him feels close to it.

• fascinated as always with the dead beast, the living beast
• What a shame if that’s all it can ever know.

Listen for

• Uses “fascinated as always” and says what draws him.
• Notices that he already knew it had threatened him.
• Connects the touch to what he thinks of next, without saying what is behind the grille.
• Does not claim that someone set the Hound against him.

If stuck

• What does Montag whisper to the Hound before he touches it?
• What does he tell Beatty about last month?
• Have you ever gone back to something that scared you? What made you go?

A strong answer A strong response might say he is testing it: he knows “This isn’t the first time it’s threatened me,” and once it growls he can only stand “thinking of the ventilator grille in the hall at home,” so he went down half wanting to know what it knows. Another might say he is drawn to it: he is “fascinated as always with the dead beast, the living beast,” whispers “Hello” and “No, no, boy,” and later says, “What a shame if that’s all it can ever know.” A careful answer may notice that earlier in the reading Montag tried the rain for the first time, and ask whether touching the Hound is another kind of trying, and what he learns about himself when it growls.

What it asks It asks the student to judge what Montag does, and what he could have done instead. At breakfast Mildred says she feels like she has a hangover: “Who was here?” Montag answers “A few people,” and when she hopes she “didn’t do anything foolish at the party,” he says, “No.” Then the toaster hands him bread, and he holds it “feeling grateful.” In the afternoon he tries: “You took all the pills in your bottle last night.” She says, “I wouldn’t do a thing like that. Why would I do a thing like that?” He says, “All right if you say so,” and she goes back to her script. The student writes a judgment, with evidence, in complete sentences, and answers the strongest case for the other side. It takes up one part of the last written question: letting it go may be exactly what “the others” do, or it may be the only kind thing left. Do not say whether Mildred is lying or truly does not remember; the reading shows her denial, not what is behind it.

One reading

Yes. She has nearly died, she wakes up sick, and nothing he says will give her back the night. He tries once, plainly, and she will not have it. Pushing harder would only hurt her.

• You took all the pills in your bottle last night.
• I wouldn’t do a thing like that. Why would I do a thing like that?

Another reading

No. Letting it go is what the men with the machines did: one more case, and then the next. If nobody says what happened, nobody will help her. Even his gratitude for a slice of toast looks like relief at not having to talk.

• All right if you say so
• He held it in his hand, feeling grateful.

Listen for

• Takes a side and supports it with moments from both the breakfast and the afternoon.
• Says what Montag could have done instead, and what the page suggests would have happened.
• States the strongest case for the other side and answers it, in complete sentences.
• Does not claim to know whether Mildred is lying or has forgotten.

If stuck

• What does Montag say at breakfast when Mildred asks who was there?
• What does he say in the afternoon, and how does she answer?
• Is it ever kinder to let someone believe something that is not true?

A strong answer A strong response takes a position and tests it. A student might argue he was right: he does say it plainly, “You took all the pills in your bottle last night,” and she answers “Why would I do a thing like that?”, so pressing on would only hurt a woman who has just come back from the edge. Another might argue he was wrong: his “A few people” and “All right if you say so” put him beside the men who get “nine or ten a night”, and his gratitude for the toast looks like relief. A careful answer may notice that he does try once, which none of the others do, and may ask whether trying once and stopping is closer to Clarisse or to the operators.

What it asks This is the last question the student meets, and it gathers the earlier ones: what, if anything, the men with the machines did wrong, whether he treats anyone like a tissue, who is lonelier in his house, why a dandelion shook him, why he went near the Hound, and whether he was right to let the pills go. Now the student weighs Clarisse’s words. In the rain she tells him, “You’re not like the others. … When I talk, you look at me,” and that being a fireman “just doesn’t seem right for you, somehow.” He feels “his body divide itself into a hotness and a coldness”, sends her off to her appointment, and then, alone, tilts his head back and opens his mouth to the rain. Later, at the firehouse, the Hound growls at his touch, and Beatty asks if he has “a guilty conscience about something,” and laughs. The student writes a judgment with evidence, in complete sentences, and answers the strongest objection. Do not say that someone set the Hound against Montag, that Beatty knows about the grille, that Clarisse and Montag are in love, or where Clarisse goes next; the reading stops at Beatty’s laugh.

One reading

She sees him truly. He looks at her when she talks; no one else does. Her words split him in two, which they could not do if they were wrong. And once she is gone, he tries the rain.

• When I talk, you look at me.
• And then, very slowly, as he walked, he tilted his head back in the rain, for just a few moments, and opened his mouth…

Another reading

She sees someone who isn’t there. She admits she forgets he is a fireman. The real Montag is the man who sends her off, who jokes that she needs her psychiatrist, and who, the night before, took a pill to sleep.

• Sometimes I even forget you’re a fireman.
• You’d better run on to your appointment

Listen for

• Takes a side and gives at least two reasons from different parts of the reading.
• Uses the split, “a hotness and a coldness”, as evidence and says which side it supports.
• States the strongest objection and answers it.
• Writes in complete sentences and does not claim what Beatty knows or why the Hound growled.

If stuck

• What does Clarisse say Montag does that the others do not?
• What does Montag do right after she runs off?
• Can someone see a thing in you that is only half there?

A strong answer A strong response takes a position and tests it. A student might argue she sees him truly: Clarisse says, “When I talk, you look at me,” her words make him feel “his body divide itself”, and alone he opens his mouth to the rain she told him about. Another might argue she sees someone who isn’t there: she says “Sometimes I even forget you’re a fireman,” and the man she praises sends her off with “You’d better run on to your appointment” and the night before let a sleep-lozenge dissolve on his tongue. A careful answer may notice that the split cuts both ways: a man who was only a fireman would not divide in two, but a man who was only what she sees would not send her away, and the Hound and Beatty seem to notice the same split from the other side.