Study Help
Essay Questions
1. Trace the steps that lead to Montag's decision to preserve books rather than destroy them.
2. Discuss the idea of conformity versus individuality as presented in Fahrenheit 451.
3. Choose one important character in the novel and write a character analysis that includes appearance, actions, ideas, manner, reactions of others to the character, and feelings of the character throughout the novel. Do the character's feelings or ideals change? Why is this character important to the novel? How well does this character fit into a utopian and dystopian society?
4. Compare and contrast the characters of Mildred and Clarisse. How is one a threat to the stability of the ideas presented in Fahrenheit 451 and the other an ideal example of a Fahrenheit 451 character? How have each of these characters been influenced?
5. What roles do Clarisse, the Unidentified Old Woman, Faber, and Beatty play in reeducating Guy Montag? How does each character influence Montag's change? How do these characters question his beliefs? How does he answer their questions?
6. Explain how the titles to the three parts of the book are significant to the general action that occurs within each part.
7. What messages or themes is Ray Bradbury trying to impart on his audience? What things in society is he commenting on? Could this type of society really exist? Why or why not?
8. In comparing and contrasting the film and book of Fahrenheit 451, point out three similarities and three differences between the book and film. Then explain why, you believe, changes were made in the film.
9. Write an essay detailing the ideological issues involved in censorship.
10. Discuss the dual image of fire in the novel.
11. Examine the psychological complexity of Captain Beatty. Account for his knowledge of books, while also accounting for his desire to burn them.
12. Explain why no female characters are alive at the end of the novel. Why did both female characters die in the novel, but in the film, why does Clarisse, as a human book living in the woods, survive and greet Montag?