Fahrenheit 451

Montag, disbelieving, gazes at Clarisse’s abandoned house as his neighbors come forth from their homes, eager “to watch the carnival set up” (70). Beatty realizes that Clarisse must’ve influenced Montag and scolds him for it. Mildred dashes from their apartment with a suitcase. She clambers into a taxi, which tears off down the street. It dawns on Montag that Mildred must’ve been the one to sound the alarm. Montag hears Faber’s voice through the earpiece, urging Montag to update him on what’s happening, as Beatty orders Montag to burn down his own home with the flamethrower. He warns him not to try and escape because “the Hound’s somewhere about the neighborhood” (71). Montag has no choice but to burn down his entire home, forced to work alone under the watchful supervision of Beatty and his fellow firefighters, Stoneman, and Black.

Beatty places Montag under arrest after the house is turned to rubble. The crowd disperses, and Beatty confirms Montag’s suspicion that it was Mildred who turned him in. Montag listens to Faber as the professor pleads with him to try and escape. Beatty strikes Montag, and the earpiece falls out of his ear. Beatty suspects that Montag was listening to something and retrieves the device from the lawn. He hears Faber’s desperate pleas before turning the earpiece off and gloating to Montag that his friends’ house will be their next port of call.

Beatty mocks Montag, quoting more literature at him, but Montag responds by turning his flamethrower on Beatty—incinerating the man and turning him into “a jumping, sprawling, gibbering manikin” (73). He threatens Stoneman and Black with a similar treatment before knocking them unconscious. The Mechanical Hound appears and attacks Montag, injecting him in the leg with its anesthetic proboscis. Montag manages to fight the Hound off, dispatching it with his flamethrower.

Montag escapes down a dark alley, his leg numb from the drug. He retrieves four of the books that he’d hidden in the garden as the authorities give chase, sirens sounding across the city. Montag stumbles and falls to the ground, forcing himself back to his feet before running off the effects of the anesthetic. Montag searches his own pockets and discovers that he still has the money that he intends for Faber as well as an ordinary seashell (standard listening device). He tunes into a police alert and learns that a city-wide manhunt is underway. Montag continues on foot and arrives at a gas station. He realizes that “he must be clean and presentable” (76) if he’s to have any chance of reaching his next location, before pondering precisely where that might be. It dawns on Montag that Faber’s house is not too far away, and the professor is the only person he knows who could offer him a reprieve.

The gas station has a washroom, and Montag wipes all the soot and dust from his hands and face. Through the wall, he hears a report on the radio claiming that “war has been declared” (77). Montag continues his journey and eventually arrives at the edge of a wide road. He notices the glare from a pair of car headlights further down the street. Montag attempts to cross, but the vehicle chases him. Montag thinks it’s the police and panics; he trips, which inadvertently saves his life as the car swerves past. He sees that the vehicle’s full of children. Montag wonders if these kids were responsible for the death of Clarisse.

Montag sneaks into Mr. Black’s home, his colleague from the fire department. He carefully plants his remaining books in the kitchen before stealthily leaving the property and calling the alarm from a nearby phone booth. The plan he’d concocted with Faber works perfectly, as from a safe distance, he listens to the sounds of the “fire sirens start up and run, and the Salamanders coming, coming to burn Mr. Black’s house” (79).

Montag arrives at Faber’s and explains all that has happened. Montag gives Faber the money and asks him to use it for their cause once he (Montag), is gone. Faber advises Montag to “head for the river” (80) and find “the old railroad lines going out into the country” (80). Faber tells him to keep going until he reaches a camp populated by former academics and intellectuals who are hiding from the authorities. Faber suggests Montag contact him in St Louis, for Faber intends to flee the city by bus. He means to rendezvous with a printer who might be of use. Faber switches on the TV to see if there are any news updates from the police. They discover that a second Mechanical Hound is ready to join the hunt and that a live camera crew will follow its progress in a helicopter. Montag advises Faber on how to rid his apartment of Montag’s scent so that they can throw the Hound off the trail. Faber packs some old and dirty clothes into a suitcase which he gives to Montag. The two say their farewells, and Montag leaves the apartment.

Montag runs toward the river, stopping to catch his breath from time to time. He’s able to watch the Hound’s pursuit by peering in through “dimly lit windows of wakened houses” (83). People are viewing the chase on their parlor walls. Montag sees the Hound pause at Faber’s house, hesitating for a moment before turning away and running on. Montag continues toward the river. He hears a police announcement on his seashell radio, ordering residents, on the count of ten, to look out of their windows and open their doors so that they can spot Montag. Montag reaches the river just in time, as the voice hits ten. He plunges into the murky waters before tearing off his clothes and quickly changing into Faber’s set from the suitcase. Montag watches his clothes disappear downriver, taking his scent with them. He allows the river's current to take him as he drifts “into darkness” (85). Montag’s able to avoid the whirring helicopters high above as the searchlights turn away and move back inland. There’s no sign of the Hound either.

Eventually, he runs into land. Montag’s hesitant to leave the safety of the river, and the intoxicating smell of hay and the sights and sounds of nature trigger a childhood memory of a trip to a farm when he was a young child. He fantasizes about sleeping in the rafters of a loft, where he watches a beautiful girl sit “in an unlit window” (86) of a nearby farmhouse as she braids her hair. The girl reminds him of Clarisse, and he daydreams about waking to find fresh milk and fruit at the bottom of the stairs.

The sound of a wild animal in the thicket interrupts his fantasy. Montag fears the Hound has come for him, but it turns out to be just a deer. Montag leaves the river and finds the railroad track. As he follows it, he gets a strong sense that this is a place that Clarisse also walked. Montag arrives at a campfire with five men around it. He can’t hear what they’re saying, but the tone of their voices suggests they’re cultured people. One of the men notices him lurking in the shadows and instructs Montag to come out and join them.

Montag walks toward them and notices their presentable appearance, despite sleeping rough: “the faces around him were bearded, but the beards were clean, neat, and their hands were clean” (89). One of the men introduces himself as Granger and gives Montag a bottle of clear liquid to drink. He tells him that the fluid will help throw off the Hound’s scent by altering “the chemical index” (89) of Montag’s sweat. Montag is startled to discover the men know his name, and Granger explains they’ve been following the chase on “a portable TV” (89).

Granger turns the TV on and tells Montag the “chase is still running” (89), but the focus has shifted back to the city. The police know Montag has evaded capture, but they’ll still need a quick and successful conclusion; otherwise, it will affect the TV ratings. Granger tells Montag to watch as the police choose a scapegoat to take the hit for his crimes. The camera zooms in on an empty street, “building the scene” (90). A man turns onto the road; he’s smoking a cigarette. The TV announcer cries out that they’ve found Montag. The street is illuminated by the circling helicopter as the Mechanical Hound pounces on the innocent man. The announcer declares an end to the search, and that “Montag is dead” (90). Granger turns the TV off and points out that the man’s face was never clearly visible on the camera: “they scrambled it just enough to let the imagination take over” (91).

Granger introduces Montag to his four friends; intellectuals and academics who’ve had to go into hiding for committing crimes against the government. Montag learns that the men have photographic memories and are part of an extensive network of people who have honed a technique that enables them to memorize whole sections of books deemed essential. Montag has already consigned chapters of the Book of Ecclesiastes to memory, and Granger makes it clear how important he could be to their plans. Montag learns the group has evaded capture by destroying the books after they’ve memorized them, so there’s no evidence of their crimes. They don’t want to start a revolution but instead pass knowledge on to future generations, which could be useful if society breaks free from authoritarianism. Montag realizes the group’s plan is better than the one he concocted with Faber and helps them put out the fire before they set off together along the railroad tracks.

As they walk, Montag studies the men’s faces, looking for the spark of life he thought he’d seen around the campfire. He’s disappointed to discover that away from the flame, the men appear much like any other. One of them, reading Montag’s thoughts, tells him not to “judge a book by its cover” (94).

Jet planes thunder by high over their heads, and Montag confides in the group: His wife (Mildred) is still back in the city, but he does not miss her and does not care whether she dies. Granger recounts a story from his childhood about the death of his grandfather, a man who “did a million things in his lifetime” (94). Granger tells Montag that it was not his grandfather he missed, but “the things he did” (94). He was unique, but he would never again have an impact on the world. Granger believes “everybody must leave something behind” (95) to be remembered by when they die; any thoughtful act, regardless of how big or small, is significant.

Suddenly, war breaks out as the jet planes drop their bombs on the city, which is instantly obliterated. The shockwaves from the blasts knock the men to the ground, and Montag silently reaches out to his friends, Clarisse, and Faber. He pleads with them to run before remembering that Clarisse is already dead and that for Faber, there can surely be no escape. His mind turns to Mildred, and Montag pictures her final moments, gazing at a video screen, oblivious to her fate. Montag remembers that it was in Chicago that he first met his wife a long time ago. The shockwaves subside, and Montag realizes that, despite the blast, he can still recall sections of the Book of Ecclesiastes. He recites them softly. The men rise slowly to their feet and prepare a simple breakfast. As they eat, Granger compares humanity to a phoenix and its constant cycle of destruction. He points out that humanity has the advantage of knowing all the mistakes we’ve already made and suggests they “build a mirror factory first” (99), so they can take a hard look at themselves. The men turn toward the destroyed city and its survivors, and Montag recalls snippets from the Book of Revelation as the group begins its journey.