Part Two, Reading 3 · The Sieve and the Sand

Fahrenheit 451

Pathfinders · 7th–9th

Copywork

Their faces grew haunted with silence. They leaned forward at the sound of Montag’s swallowing his final bite of food. They listened to his feverish breathing. The three empty walls of the room were like the pale brows of sleeping giants now, empty of dreams. Montag felt that if you touched these three staring brows you would feel a fine salt sweat on your finger-tips.

He searched the house and found the books where Mildred had stacked them behind the refrigerator. Some were missing and he knew that she had started on her own slow process of dispersing the dynamite in her house, stick by stick. But he was not angry now, only exhausted and bewildered with himself. He carried the books into the backyard and hid them in the bushes near the alley fence. For tonight only, he thought, in case she decides to do any more burning.

Read both passages aloud. Which quiet is harder to bear, the full parlour or the empty house?

For the educator Two passages; copy them as shown. The first comes after Montag has turned the walls off and stands staring at the women. It opens with a short sentence that gives silence the power to haunt. The second sentence has a small point of grammar worth stopping on: “Montag’s swallowing,” with an apostrophe, because the swallowing is his; the women hear the sound, not the man. The second and third sentences both begin “They,” and the third is less than half as long as the second; have the student hear the room going quieter. The fourth is a simile, “like the pale brows of sleeping giants,” with a phrase after the comma, “empty of dreams,” that says what kind of giants. The fifth slips into “you”: “if you touched these three staring brows you would feel,” so the reader is pulled into the room. Point out that this edition writes “finger-tips” with a hyphen. The second passage is the end of the night, after the women have gone. Three of its five sentences begin with “He” or “But he,” and after the giants and the salt sweat the writing has gone plain; have the student hear the change. The second sentence carries a metaphor all the way through: the books are “dynamite,” and Mildred is getting rid of it “stick by stick,” set off by a comma. The third turns on “not angry now, only exhausted,” and holds the vocabulary word “bewildered”; the second holds “dispersing.” The last sentence breaks into Montag’s thought with “he thought,” set off by commas, and has no quotation marks; ask the student how they can tell it is a thought. For imitation, have the student read a passage twice, set it aside, rebuild it from memory, and then compare. The talk prompt has more than one answer. Some students will choose the parlour, where three women hear one man swallow and the walls seem to sweat. Others will choose the end, where the house is empty, Mildred is out of sight, and Montag hides books from her. Some will notice that the first silence is full of people waiting for something to break, and the second comes after it has. Let them find this for themselves.

Discussion

Narration Tell the reading back in order, from the women coming through the front door to Montag calling “Mildred?” at the dark bedroom. Then pick the moment the party falls apart, and point to the words that do it.

1. When the women arrive, each greeting gets an echo: “Nice.” “Fine.” “Swell!” What is all that echoing for?Tone

2. Pete told Mrs. Phelps what to do if he is killed: “don’t cry, but get married again, and don’t think of me.” What kind of love asks for that?Theme

3. After “Let’s talk,” Montag asks Mrs. Phelps about her sons and daughters. She has none, and she reminds him of it. So why does he ask?Inference

4. Mildred makes up a story on the spot: once a year, a fireman may bring “one book home.” Who is she looking after?Character

5. Mildred calls “Dover Beach” “that real funny one.” In this room, on this night, which line is the least funny?Author's choice

Make a Connection Think of a song, a story or a line that once hit you harder than you expected. Did you want to hear it again, or keep away from it?

Vocabulary

simultaneously On one wall a woman smiled and drank orange juice simultaneously.At the same moment. The woman on the wall smiles and drinks at once, and Montag cannot see how anyone does both.

unconcealed The three women turned slowly and looked with unconcealed irritation and then dislike at Montag.Not hidden; out in the open. The women do not even try to hide how annoyed they are when Montag turns the walls off.

tittered Mrs. Bowles tittered.Gave a short, silly or nervous little laugh. Mrs. Bowles titters right after comparing raising a family to washing clothes.

ruinous “Caesarians or not, children are ruinous; you’re out of your mind,” said Mrs. Phelps.Causing ruin; wrecking a life, often by costing too much. Mrs. Phelps says having a family would wreck hers.

melancholy But now I only hear Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, Retreating, to the breath Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear And naked shingles of the world.A deep, quiet sadness that lasts. In the poem, the sea of faith goes out with a slow, sad roar.

certitude Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;Being completely sure of something. The poem says the world offers no certitude, nothing a person can be fully sure of.

bewildered They sat, not touching her, bewildered by her display.Confused and lost, not knowing what to make of something. The other women cannot understand why Mrs. Phelps is crying.

dispersing Some were missing and he knew that she had started on her own slow process of dispersing the dynamite in her house, stick by stick.Scattering something, or getting rid of it bit by bit. Montag sees that Mildred has begun to get rid of the hidden books, a few at a time.

Critical thinking

1. Montag looks at the women the way he once looked at saints in a strange church. The saints “meant nothing to him.” Why do the women’s faces mean nothing to him now?

2. Faber asks Montag, “What good is this, what’ll you prove?” By the end of the night, what has Montag proved, and to whom?

3. Mrs. Phelps cries at “Dover Beach” and cannot say why. Did Montag do her a kindness or a harm by reading it to her?