Discussion Question: Biblical Allusions

The following text is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.


Why does Montag memorize the Old Testament's Ecclesiastes and the New Testament's Revelation? How do the final two paragraphs of the novel allude to both biblical books?

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This question is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Discussion Question: Does Beatty sound familiar?

The following text is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.

How does the destruction of books lead to more happiness and equality, according to Beatty? Does his lecture to Montag on the rights of man sound like any rhetoric employed today?



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This question is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Discussion Question: The Role of Firemen

The following text is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.


Beatty justifies the new role of firemen by claiming to be "custodians of [society's] peace of mind, the focus of [the] understandable and right dread of being inferior." What does he mean by this, and is there any sense that he might be right?

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This question is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Discussion Question: Montag's Choice

The following text is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.


Unlike Mrs. Hudson, Montag chooses not to die in his house with his books. Instead he burns them, asserting even that "it was good to burn" and that "fire was best for everything!" Are you surprised that he fails to follow in her footsteps?



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This question is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Discussion Question: Two sides of Captain Beatty

The following text is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.


It may surprise the reader to learn that Beatty is quite well-read. How can Beatty's knowledge of and hatred for books be reconciled?


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This question is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Discussion Question: Reaction to Dover Beach

The following text is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Among the most significant of the many literary allusions in Fahrenheit 451 occurs when Montag reads Matthew Arnold's poem "Dover Beach." What is the response of Mildred's friends, and why does Montag kick them out of his house?

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This question is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Discussion Question: Good Advice?

The following text is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.

"Don't ask to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library," Faber tells Montag. "Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were headed for shore." How good is this advice?

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This question is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Discussion Question: The Role of Rocking Chairs

The following text is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Clarisse describes a past that Montag has never known: one with front porches, gardens, and rocking chairs. What do these items have in common and how might their removal have encouraged Montag's repressive society?

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This question is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Discussion Question: Have we stopped reading?

The following text is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Montag comes to learn that "firemen are rarely necessary" because "the public stopped reading of its own accord." Bradbury wrote his novel in 1953: To what extent has his prophecy come true today?

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This question is excerpted from the Big Read's Reader's Guide on Fahrenheit 451, reprinted courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.