Journal Entry 1

In the beginning of the book, two characters have been introduced so far.  Their names are Guy Montag and Clarisse McClellan.  Guy Montag is a thirty year old fireman whose job is to burn books instead of the usual firefighter duty.  Clarisse McClellan is a strange seventeen year old who is Guy Montag’s new neighbor.  As Montag was walking Clarisse home the first day they met Clarisse said “Is it true that long ago firemen put fires out instead of going to start them (Bradbury, 8)?” Montag then stated that houses have always been fireproof.  Clarisse then says “Strange.  I heard once that a long time ago houses used to burn by accident and they needed firemen to stop the flames (Bradbury, 8).”  Montag then laughed.  Clarisse asked Montag many other questions that Montag found very strange.  When Clarisse asked Montag if he read any of the books he burned he laughed and said “That’s against the law (Bradbury, 8)!”  It’s weird to me how books are illegal to read in this book.  How are the books harmful? I find it really strange in this book that the firemen’s duty is to start fires instead of put them out.  They do the complete opposite of their duty.  I also find it strange that this book is taken place so far in the future that they have no record of what the firefighter’s real duties were.  I’m guessing that as the book goes on Montag will find truth in what Clarisse told him about what the firefighter’s real duties were in the past.

Journal Entry 2

One day Montag met Clarisse walking in the rain in the middle of the sidewalk as he left his apartment.  She had her head tilted back catching the rain drops.  She is so different than anyone that Montag has ever met, other than the old man he met in the park a year ago. Clarisse then made Montag upset by testing out the dandelion trick.  She rubbed the last spotted dandelion from spring that she found under her chin.  Her chin turned yellow underneath so that meant she was in love.  When she tried it on Montag it did not turn yellow.  This implied that he was not in love.  He denied that the dandelion worked and got upset.  Clarisse then told Montag about the psychiatrist that she goes to.  He says that she’s a regular onion because she keeps him busy peeling away the layers.  After Montag denies the fact that Clarisse needs a psychiatrist she continues with the thoughts of her psychiatrist.  She says “The psychiatrist wants to know why I go out and hike around in the forests and watch the birds and collect butterflies.  I’ll show you my collection someday (Bradbury, 23).”  A lot of the stuff that Clarisse does is strange to other people when it’s actually normal in our time frame.  It’s crazy that she needs a psychiatrist for some of the things that we do normally.  She then goes on to question Montag about his job as a fireman.  She states how he’s different then most firemen because he listens to the things she says and tries them.  She says “You’re one of the few who put up with me (Bradbury, 23).”  People in this time frame that the book takes place in is always in a fast pace it seems like.  They never have time to really look into detail at the things around them.  For example, on page nine Clarisse told Montag about the dew on the ground every morning.  He then suddenly couldn’t remember if he had known this or not, and it made him quite irritable.  Clarisse is very observant and notices the simple things that everyone else ignores.  After being asked question after question by Clarisse, Montag simply says “You’d better run on to your appointment (Bradbury, 24).”  After she did as she was told he tilted his head back in the rain, for just a few moments, and opened his mouth to catch the rain drops falling just as she did.  He seems to be very curious in the things that she does since he always tries the things that she recommends or just does.

Journal Entry 3

“The Mechanical Hound slept but did not sleep, lived but did not live in its gently humming, gently vibrating, softly illuminated kennel back in a dark corner of the firehouse (Bradbury, 24).”  This is an example of the technology that the future upheld in this book.  The Hound is located inside the firehouse.  It is programmed to capture moving critters in a time frame of three seconds.  It would then grip its prey with its gentle paws while a four-inch hollow steel needle plunged down from the proboscis of the Hound to inject massive jolts of morphine or procaine into the victim.  The pawn was then tossed in the incinerator.  The Hound evidently does not like Montag.  When Montag told the Captain this the Captain said “Come off it.  It doesn’t like or dislike.  It just ‘functions.’  It’s like a lesson in ballistics.  It has a trajectory we decide on for it.  It follows through.  It targets itself, homes itself, and cuts off.  It’s only copper wire, storage batteries, and electricity (Bradbury, 26).”  This Hound shows just how advanced the futures technology is.  There is no need for any type of victim traps when you could just have a Hound made.  What amazed me was how fast the hound could pounce on its prey.  Three seconds is pretty impressive.

Journal Entry 4

“Enough of that!” said Captain Beatty.  “Where are they (Bradbury, 36)?”  This is what Captain Beatty (the firemen’s captain), asked a lady who he accused of having books before he slapped her in her face.  She replied saying “You know where they are or you wouldn’t be here (Bradbury, 36).”  This part of the book astonished me.  It struck me on how crazy the future was as well as the people.  It’s crazy that a woman got assaulted just because she was accused of having books when it wasn’t even her who had the books.  It was her neighbor.  On page 36 it says that the firemen then began swinging silver hatchets at doors that were, after all, unlocked, tumbling through like boys all rollick and shout. “Hey!”  It’s crazy that the firemen have the right to break into people’s home just to set the books on fire, followed by everything else catching on fire. I can’t imagine what life would be like if books were illegal.  People would never be able to read about what happened in history.  Books are a way to educate people and it would be unreal if they weren’t allowed.

Journal Entry 5

“The first time we ever met, where was it, and when (Bradbury, 43)?” asked Montag.  “I don’t know (Bradbury, 43),” Mildred (Montag’s wife) said.  This part of the books made me realize how fast these people’s lives are in the future.  To not know where you met your husband or wife is insane to me.  That’s suppose to be something that you remember forever.  It then bothered Montag that he even could not remember.  It wasn’t like they had been married for a very long time.  They had only been married for ten years.  To Mildred that was such a long time, but to Montag it wasn’t. To him it mattered where they met, but to Mildred it did not.  I think that Montag is starting to realize the fast paste of his lifestyle and the important events that he has just looked over.

Journal Entry 6

In this part of the book I really started to notice how sympathetic Montag is starting to act.  Montag has just witnessed a lady who chose to stay in her apartment with the burning books rather than leave with Montag.  This incident really opened up Montag’s eyes to see that there must be something worth reading in these books for a lady to give up her life for them.  This part of the book also shows how different Montag is than his wife.  His wife showed no sympathy for this lady.  Her response was “She’s nothing to me; she shouldn’t have had books.  It was her responsibility, she should’ve thought of that.  I hate her.  She’s got you going and next thing you know we’ll be out, no house, no job, nothing (Bradbury, 51).”  Mildred (Montag’s wife) was being very inconsiderate when she said this.  Montag’s response was “You weren’t there, you didn’t see,” he said.  “There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there.  You don’t stay for nothing (Bradbury, 51).”  This statement also shows just how different Montag is from everyone else.  In my opinion Clarisse was the reason for him opening up like he is starting to.  Montag continued saying “It’s not just the woman that died. Last night I thought about all the kerosene I’ve used in the past ten years.  And I thought about books.  And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of the books.  A man had to think them up.  A man had to take a long time to put them down on paper.  And I’d never even though that thought before (Bradbury, 52).”  I’m glad that Montag is starting to realize just how much hard work these authors have put into the books that he has been burning for the past ten years.  I am hoping that as the book progresses that he will turn these thoughts into actions and actually do something about it.



Journal Entry 7

As Montag watched Beatty leave and drive down the street he noticed the houses with their flat fronts.  He then began to remember what Clarisse told him about what her uncle said about the flat fronted houses.  She said “No front porches.  My uncle says there used to be front porches.  And people sat there sometimes at night, talking when they wanted to talk, rocking, and not talking when they didn’t want to talk.  Sometimes they just sat there and thought about things, turned things over.  My uncle says the architects got rid of the front porches because they didn’t look well.  But my uncle says that was merely rationalizing it; the real reason, hidden underneath, might be they didn’t want people sitting like that, doing nothing, rocking, talking; that was the wrong kind of social life.  People talked too much.  And they had time to think.  So they ran off with the porches (Bradbury, 63).”  To me this is the reason why people miss the important events and details in life.  This is the reason why everyone is to themselves.  They don’t socialize like we do in our time frame.  Clarisse goes on to say that they also got rid of gardens because people sat around in them and the rocking chairs because they were too comfortable.  In this book, the government seems to really over analyze things to where it is hard to make sense of.  The changes that they made do not make any sense at all.

Journal Entry 8

As I continue reading Montag starts showing his curious side.  He stole a Bible from one of the houses that they were called to burn down.  The house, in which, the lady gave up her life to stay with her books.  Montag is fighting his conscience in this situation.  He knows it’s wrong to have the book in his possession but he figures if a lady gave up her life for her books, then there must be something worth reading inside.  I have just recently read that he has obtained many books over the pass year from fires.  Mildred was appalled when she found out about all the books he had been collecting over the pass year.  He begged and pleaded for her not to burn them.  He said “If you love me at all you’ll put up with this, twenty-four, forty-eight hours, that’s all I ask, then it’ll be over, I promise, I swear!  And if there is something here, just one little thing out of a whole mess of things, maybe we can pass it on to someone else (Bradbury, 66, 67).”  I’m quiet glad that Montag has turned out to be such an independent character so far.  At first he started out just like all of the others until he met Clarisse.  She opened him up to help see the details that no one else notices.  She also left him thoughtful and full of questions that he now wants to figure out on his own.  I am hoping that he will find something very interesting in these books that will help get the great word of books out to people across the country.  I also hope that Mildred keeps the books a secret since she is completely opposing the books.



Journal Entry 9

Montag has just met with the man he met in the park a year ago.  His name is Faber. Faber is a very old and fragile man with white hair and faded eyes.  He is a retired English Professor who favors books very much.  Montag goes to Faber because he wanted Faber to teach him about the books.  They then start tossing up plans to bring books back.  Faber didn’t seem to want to get involved at first until Montag started to bully him by ripping page after page out of the bible he stole until Faber gave in.  Montag then asked “Can you help me in any way tonight, with the Fire Captain (Bradbury, 89)?”  Montag is referring to the fact that he has to face the Fire Captain tonight and return the stolen book from the recent fire they started since the Fire Captain knew that he stole it.  Faber then responded by giving Montag a device that would go into Montag’s ear that allowed them both to speak and hear each other.  Faber then said “Go to the firehouse when it’s time.  I’ll give you things to say.  We’ll give him a good show (Bradbury, 91).”  Faber has turned out to be a really nice old man.  It excites me that Montag is going out of his comfort zone by trying to figure out more about the books.  I really hope that he and Faber can make a difference.



Journal Entry 10

I believe that one of Montag’s biggest mistake occurred in these next few pages.  Mildred had two of her friends over the night he went to Faber’s house.  When Montag got home he decided to read Mildred’s two friends a piece poetry out of one of the books he had stolen in the past year.  Mildred is appalled by his actions and tries to cover him up by saying “Ladies, once a year every fireman’s allowed to bring one book  home, from the old days, to show his family how silly it all was, how crazy.  Guy’s surprise tonight  is to read you one sample to show how mixed-up things were, so none of us will ever have to bother our little old heads about that junk again, isn’t that right, darling (Bradbury, 99)?”  Montag then clutched the book with his fists and responded with a yes.  The piece of poetry made Mrs. Phelps, one of Mildred’s friends, cry.  This left Mrs. Bowles, the other friend, disgusted with Montag.  Her response was “Silly words, silly words, silly awful hurting words.  Why do people want to hurt people? Not enough hurt in the world, you got to tease people with stuff like that (Bradbury, 101)!”  Both of Mildred’s friends left immediately.  Montag should have never revealed the secret of the books he had to Mildred’s friends if he wasn’t sure on whether he could trust them.  I’m thinking that they will turn him in since they were so upset about the poetry.



Journal Entry 11

The book so far has started to get real intense.  Montag has now gone back to the firehouse still with the device in his ear with Faber on the other end.   The Firemen, Captain Beatty, and him all sat down and played poker.  Captain Beatty started asking Montag real suspicious questions about books.  Faber tells Montag just to not answer the questions.  They are interrupted by an alarm-report.  Captain Beatty gets up and grabs the piece of paper with the typed address of the directions and puts it in his pocket.  When they arrived to their designation Montag says “Why, we’ve stopped in front of my house (Bradbury 110).”  It was true, the address led to Montag’s house.  Captain Beatty has discovered that Montag has hidden books in his possession and they have went to his house to burn them.  This part didn’t really surprise me.  I think that this was the result of his mistake by reading that poem to Mildred’s two friends.  It was real ignorant of him.

Journal Entry 12

As soon as they approached the house, Mildred quickly comes out with her suitcase and gets into a taxi and leaves.  I have now learnt that Captain Beatty sent the Mechanical Hound to investigate Montag’s house.  That is how he knew of the books.  Soon after that, Mildred’s two friends also reported the book that Montag possessed.  Montag’s own wife, Mildred, even reported him after her friends did.  This is a shame that Montag’s own wife would do such a thing.  Montag has to burn all the books along with his house by himself with a flamethrower.  These were commands by Captain Beatty.  This part disgusted me because making Montag flame throw his own house seemed a little overboard.  Captain Beatty turned from a friend to being real mean.  Once he did as he was told Captain Beatty notices Montag listening to something.  It was the device in which allowed him to listen to Faber.  The device then fell out of Montag’s ear when Captain Beatty hit him in the head.  Captain Beatty picked it up, put it in his pocket and said “Well-so there’s more here than I thought.  I saw you tilt your head, listening.  First I thought you had a Seashell.  But when you turned clever later, I wondered. We’ll trace this and drop it on your friend (Bradbury, 118).”  This made Montag really mad.  Captain Beatty then went on and one and soon enough he flame threw and killed Captain Beatty.  I didn’t really think Montag was crazy enough to really do it but he did.  He then knocks out the other firemen and flame throws the mechanical dog after it pounces on him and injects Montag’s leg with anesthetic.  After this he goes to the back yard where he hid the books and discovers that Mildred missed four books.  He takes them and hobbles on down the street.  I’m proud of Montag for sticking up for his beliefs in the book.  Even though what he did was outrageous he was doing it for all the right reasons in his mind.  



Journal Entry 13

Montag is now on the run.  He is running towards the river.  As he is heading there he hears a dreadful announcement come on to his seashell.  The announcement said “Police suggest entire population in the Elm Terrace area do as follows: Everyone in every house in every street open a front or rear door or look from the windows.  The fugitive cannot escape if every one in the next minute look from his house.  Ready (Bradbury, 138)!”  The countdown then began from ten down.  He made it to the river just as the announcer made it to ten and everyone opened their doors.  He was very lucky.  He then jumped into the river so the Hound would loose his scent and went with the current, avoiding the search lights of the police helicopters.  Montag is now in big trouble.  I am hoping that he will escape and never get caught.

Journal Entry 14

When he got to the shore he discovered a railroad track.  The track led him to five men sitting at a fire.  They already knew who Montag was because they had been watching the news on the portable TV.  As the men watched the TV it showed the camera zooming in on a man who was just clearly walking down the street.  The men on TV accused the innocent man for being Montag.  They clearly knew that it was not Montag but they wanted to keep a good story going until they had found Montag.  The Hound then pounced on the man and the announcer on the dark screen said, “The search is over, Montag is dead; a crime against society has been avenged (Bradbury 149).”  It amazes me that the news cast accused an innocent man for Montag and let the Hound kill him.  I am still glad that the search is over now and Montag is free.

Journal Entry 15

As the men talked they all ended up having a big piece of literature contained inside of them.  They could all remember the books they have read and recite them.  For Montag it was the Book of Ecclesiastes.  When Montag asked the guys if they really thought people would listen to the stories about the books, Granger (one of the guys), said “If not, we’ll just have to wait.  We’ll pass the books on to our children, but word of mouth, and let our children wait, in turn, on the other people.  A lot will be lost that way, of course.  But you can’t make people listen.  They have to come ‘round in their own time, wondering what happened and why the world blew up under them.  It can’t last (Bradbury, 153).”  This was their plan.  It was to pass down their knowledge of reading to their children and hopefully the knowledge from the books would not die out.  As Granger gives words of encouragement to Montag, Montag shouted “Look!”  The war had began and ended in that instant.  Jets had flashed over the city and dropped their bombs down upon it.  Montag then thought of his wife and suddenly remembered where he had met her.  It was in Chicago.  He then kept picturing his wife as she was about to meet her death.  After everything had settled down Granger said “We’ll have a bite.  Then we’ll turn around and walk upstream.  They’ll be needing us up that way (Bradbury, 163).”  I predict that they will inform all of the survivors in the city about books.  I then think that they will create a city based on reading books with the survivors.  Maybe that will then begin a spark to spread the word about books.