So, if you haven’t been in class lately (shame, shame), I’ve found and been utilizing a free audiobook of Fahrenheit 451 narrated by none other than Ray Bradbury himself. We’ve been focusing on Montag’s character transformation, how it’s becoming more complete, how his uses of fire have changed since his childhood flashback, and how his character transformation is an empowering message to us as readers.
Let’s start with the first one here. Put this in your notebook (in your own way) if you haven’t been around for the classroom discussions:
Montag’s Character Transformation
Throughout the novel Montag hears multiple voices in his head, mostly Captain Beatty’s and Clarisse’s. However, here at the end of the novel he hears his own. He’s quite literally becoming de-institutionalized as his thoughts become his own (empowering stuff, eh?).
Also, we’ve frequently discussed Innocence versus Experience as a theme and how one can reclaim his or her own innocence through thoughtfulness and not conforming. In class, we’ve paired this theme with another theme: Fire. As we’ve paired it, we’ve looked at how fire is used at each stage.
Montag’s flashback to childhood and when he was innocent showed us that the Innocent individual uses fire for illumination, to guide the way through the dark. However, as an Experienced man, Montag’s use of fire is for destructive purposes.
That leaves us with who Montag is now: the Enlightened man. How does the Enlightened man use fire?
Well, listen to the audiobook and you tell me: http://mravella.weebly.com/audiobook2.html
You can find it under the first two listening portions of “Burning Bright.”
Ask yourself: How does the de-institutionalized man, the Enlightened man, use fire? How is it different from his previous uses as the symbolic representation of Innocence and Experience? How is this transformation empowering to us as readers since I’ve frequently asked you to be a Montag in your own world?
If you answer these questions on a sheet of paper with full sentences, I’ll give you partial credit for missed exit slips.
Also…Vocabulary Quiz on Monday!!! Here’s the words:
Perspective: someone’s point of view
Institutionalized: to adopt an institutions ways of thinking and doing as your own
Bias: prejudice or opinion
Hearth: the fireplace of a home, thought of as a symbol of the home and the life of the family who live in it
Subjective Reality: understanding of truth from a personal perspective
Objective Reality: the state of truth outside one’s feelings, thoughts, or bias
Sieve: a strainer used to separate different things
Enlightenment: the act of obtaining greater knowledge or understanding
Institution: a grouping with a social purpose that governs the behavior of individuals in that group
History of the Salamander: was once believed to live in fire without being burnt by it
History of the Phoenix: mythological fire bird that symbolizes rebirth
