Fahrenheit 451

Written by Kristi Hiner

Narrated by Tim Wheeler

The CliffsNotes study guide on Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 supplements the original literary work, giving you background information about the author, an introduction to the work, a graphical character map, critical commentaries, expanded glossaries, and a comprehensive index, all for you to use as an educational tool that will allow you to better understand the work. This study guide was written with the assumption that you have read Fahrenheit 451. Reading a literary work doesn’t mean that you immediately grasp the major themes and devices used by the author; this study guide will help supplement your reading to be sure you get all you can from Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. CliffsNotes Review tests your comprehension of the original text and reinforces learning with questions and answers, practice projects, and more. For further information on Ray Bradbury and Fahrenheit 451, check out the CliffsNotes Resource Center at www.cliffsnotes.com.

IN THIS AUDIOBOOK

• Learn about the Life and Background of Ray Bradbury
• Hear an Introduction to Fahrenheit 451
• Explore themes, character development, and recurring images in the Critical Commentaries
• Learn new words from the Glossary at the end of each Chapter
• Examine in-depth Character Analyses
• Acquire an understanding of Paradise Fahrenheit 451 with Critical Essays
• Reinforce what you learn to further your study online at www.cliffsnotes.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Mar 16, 2011
• ISBN: 9781611067163

Kristi Hiner

Kristi Hiner is an English teacher at Wooster High School in Wooster, Ohio, where she also serves as the school newspaper advisor. A graduate of Ohio University, she is currently working on her Master’s degree.

Reviews for Fahrenheit 451

[slmr4242 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I just re-read this book recently (the audiobook version read by Mr. B himself), and I have to say that Ray Bradbury is a genius. I know that this book is a classic, but it is so much more than just something that can be chalked up to "classic" status.

He is a poet in his language. I could re-read the book again just based on the beauty of these phrases. I think this book is chillingly contemporary as well - I can't tell how many times I sat and thought of the parallels to iPods, big screen TVs, people I've heard judging their politics by presentation and looks...all the manifestations of Big Brother who is doing the greatest song and dance number on the American population that I've ever heard of. If you haven't read it lately, do. I plan on making this book part of my regular reading list.

[Noah Sharp · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Fire is cool and all but if you need to make an entire book about burning things and how it works that’s a little weird and creepy

[cornerdemon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read "Farenheit 451" of my own initiative in college, just because I heard it was a book for book lovers. And it is. Sometimes there are classics that are torturous to read, where you dread every page, and when you're done, you have a hard time giving them credit for being "classics". But this one is nothing like that.Farenheit is beautiful. It is elegant, and wonderful, and the ideas in the book are so splendid! They lie thick as mud, and you find yourself thinking about them again and again in the days after putting the book back on your shelf. Bradbury paints such REAL characters. They have doubts and fears, and don't just stand in for a stereotype or a cardboard symbol. I like especially the portrait of the marriage between Montag and his wife. I like the way he calls her Millie, and how it bothers him when he can't remember where they met. I think this is what gives the book its humanity, is the dysfunction between these two people, and Montag's awakening to how unhappy he is with it.This book is intense. I recommend it to anyone who loves to read, who adores the written word. I believe this is a book that should be on everyone's shelf and that it should be there proudly. This book is a classic for a reason!

[juva_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A story set in the near future where no one reads books anymore and firemen start fires. Montag has been a fireman for ten years and has never questioned his sacred duty to burn books. At the same time, there is a growing fascination with these strange taboo objects. He begins collecting them from the homes he burns. The more he holds them, the more modern life with it's garish televisions occupying all the walls in his parlor seem hollow. What does it mean to write a book? And why is reading one forbidden?A short novel full of meaning and terrifying portent. It's message is needed now more than ever.

[hagelstein_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In the future firemen set fires - to burn books. Their original purpose is unknown, except as rumor. Originality, or even independent thought, is strongly discouraged. People are kept entertained by mindless shows on giant screens in their parlors, to keep them from thinking.Guy Montag is dumbly happy as a fireman until he meets his young neighbor, Clarisse. She observes things he's forgotten how to see, and points out that he doesn't seem right as a fireman. He begins to realize she's correct; that books, contemplation and thought might matter, and the "gibbering pack of tree-apes that said nothing, nothing, nothing and said it loud, loud, loud" on the walls of his house and other houses were a mere distraction from the truth.Bradbury was eerily prescient in his depiction of the entertainment culture and how it can cocoon people, the lack of quiet in the average life, the dearth of originality, the push for more mindless workers at the expense of the arts. Fahrenheit 451 was a book way ahead of its time and still has something important to say.

[beebowallace · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book ages so well. Just as relevant as it ever was ... which is concerning ...

[wonderlandgrrl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Classic chilling futuristic tale about censorship, society and a "world without books"...not surprisingly it tends to get "banded" and censored by the people it warns society about

[samjehanzeb · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ray Bradburys Roman Fahrenheit 451 ist einer dieser weltbekannten Science Fiction Klassiker von dem alle Nase lang behauptet wird, er sei einer der größten der Literaturgeschichte. Wer kennt nicht die unheimliche Geschichte der Bücherverbrennung und ihre Bedeutung? Selbst in der Schule wird dieser Roman gerne auf die Lehrliste gesetzt und es ist durchaus zu verstehen, warum man dieses Buch als so wichtig ansieht. Die Aussage ist wichtig, die Botschaft und die unausgesprochene Warnung ist es, auch wenn das im Roman gar nicht so deutlich gemacht wird, wie ich es nach all den Lobeshymnen zu Fahrenheit 451 erwartet habe.In dem Roman wird eine – für den Autor futuristische – totalitäre Gesellschaft am Rande eines bevorstehenden Krieges gezeichnet, in der der Besitz von Büchern ein streng geahndetes Verbrechen ist. Darum fürchten sich die Menschen in der Regel vor den Firemen. Die Firemen selbst wissen auch nicht mehr, dass ihre Vorgänger eigentlich Feuer bekämpft haben. Ihre gesamte Geschichte wurde umgeschrieben. Im Angesicht des drohenden Krieges glaubt die Regierung das Denken der Menschen sei schlecht und gefährlich – und Bücher regen zum Denken an. Also, weg damit! Das wichtigste Ziel dieser Gesellschaft ist es glücklich zu sein, sorglos. Daher wurden z.B. auch Beerdigungen abgeschafft, alles Unangenehme wird professionell und legal aus den alltäglichen Gedanken verdrängt. Ist man mit der Arbeit fertig hechtet man nach Hause, um sich von Wänden füllenden Fernsehern unterhalten zu lassen. Triviale (Fernseh-)Unterhaltung ist gut, Wissen und Ideen schlecht. Trotz dem Ansinnen der Regierung begehen die Menschen aber doch vermehrt Selbstmord. So oft, dass es schon eine eigene Instanz gibt, die zu solchen Fällen ausrückt. Auch Guys Frau Mildred gehört zu diesen lethargischen, vollkommen trivialisierten Menschen, die versuchen sich selbst zu töten und hinterher alles mit einer Maske der Verleugnung herunterspielen. Guy Montag ahnt, dass in seiner Welt etwas nicht stimmt, dass ihr etwas fehlt. Der Antwort auf seine Fragen kommt er aber erst näher, als er seine seltsame Nachbarin Clarisse trifft, die ihn mit philosophischen Gedanken und einem Interesse an den scheinbar banalsten Dingen aus der bisher geordneten Bahn wirft.Für mich war dieses Buch leider trotzdem ein Fehlgriff, was den Unterhaltungswert angeht. Mir waren die Charaktere egal, der Weltenbau viel zu blass und die technischen Entwicklungen aus heutiger Sicht verständlicherweise ziemlich altbacken. Guy Montag konnte mich mit seinen oft völlig unbedachten Aktionen nicht überzeugen und wirkt töricht bis fahrlässig. Vielleicht sollten seine idiotischen Handlungen die anerzogene Stupidität der Gesellschaft demonstrieren, möglich wäre es, aber irgendwie kann ich es mir nur sehr schwer vorstellen. Entweder man weiß, dass eine Sache tödliche Gefahr bedeutet oder man weiß es nicht. Wenn man es weiß, und das wird hier so geschildert, dann rennt man nicht auf die Straße und macht wiederholt ein so lautes Aufsehen darum, bis man praktisch unter einem Leuchtpfeil mit der Aufschrift „killt mich!“ steht. Noch dazu scheint Bradbury keine gute Meinung von Comics gehabt zu haben, denn die sind in Fahrenheit 451 weiterhin erlaubt.Bücher sind unser kulturelles Erbe. Sie reflektieren unsere Gedanken, Sehnsüchte und Ängste, sammeln unser hart erarbeitetes Wissen und bieten oft seelischen Beistand in vielen verschiedenen Facetten. Wir reisen mit Ihnen an entfernte Orte, sogar in die Gedanken anderer Gehirne. Vom Standpunkt einer Leseratte aus betrachtet ist das einzig nennenswerte in diesem Roman die schreckliche Vorstellung, man dürfte sich nicht mehr mit einem Buch auseinander setzen, ja es nicht einmal mehr besitzen und lesen. Darüber hinaus war der Roman leider sehr träge, bot wenig Neues und besonders das letzte Drittel zog sich zäh dahin, nur um dann in einem überhasteten und unbefriedigenden Ende zu gipfeln.

[Stavious Crowe · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Liberals stink to high heaven. Great book by even a better writer than you'll ever be.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In his forward, Bradbury comments that we won't need "firemen" to burn books if society persists in "wide-screen basketball gaming or MTVing itself into a stupor." If people stop reading, why bother burning books? What would happen if reading were prohibited? If you had to memorize a work of literature in order to "save" it ... which work would you choose? The date read is when our book group discussed this work, but I first read this work in the early 1970s (I think).

[dbsovereign · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Helps remind us all that we need to constantly be questioning authority. Also, makes a case for throwing out your TV...(and reading more).

[booksfordinner · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Yeah, ya know... I had never read this before, strange, since it is a classic and I'm a fantasy/sci-fi fan... but I just couldn't make this happen. It was just too dated... plus, I am really not a fan of the whole 'hip-jazzy-beat' kind of writing with the short staccato riffs and all the trying to be artsy, etc... not my cup of tea. Almost disappointed in myself for not liking it more.

[shanaqui_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fahrenheit 451 is an interesting, depressing picture of a somewhat dystopian world. It has become, to many readers, a book about censorship, and I think that message is relevant. It doesn't matter what an author intends, once the book is out there in the world -- the important thing is what people find in it. (There's some merit in reading it the way Bradbury intended it to be read, of course -- some merit in seeing it the way he does, and seeing what messages he intended -- but this doesn't supersede, necessarily, what he didn't intend to write. Death of the author, and all that.)

His own message, that tv rots the brain and ruins everything is... only true in excess. I watched plenty of tv as a kid; I don't watch much at all now. I'd rather read the book than watch the series, most of the time. But there's some good stuff on the tv, in the same way that there's only a certain amount of the available reading material that's good. Consuming tv and consuming written literature aren't mutually exclusive, any more than reading comics means you can't read War and Peace.

Still, there's a truth in it.

I think my favourite part of Fahrenheit 451 is the end, the way in which everyone has their own book to save, and does so.

[kassilem · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I never had to read this book for high school but I knew a lot of people who did have to. When I heard what it was about I thought 'I don't think I'd mind reading that', but it's been a distant thought for years. Well when I saw this on audio book in my library, I decided now was as good a time as any. I'm glad I finally picked it up. It was a very interesting book; short but worth the time of reading it, or in my case listening. I particularly enjoyed listening. The narrator did a fantastic job with inflections and dialogue and colored the whole book for me. And the plot and story seems very relevant to me to today's society. We haven't quite banned books, but there is definitely a lot of censorship in the world. This was written fifty years ago, but a lot of what Bradbury writes about is actually pretty close to what we do have; wall televisions, possibility of robot dogs, etc. Almost the book was too short for me. I would have loved a more fleshed out story. But the shortness of the story adds to its charm. It makes it that glimpse of an event in Montag's life where life begins to seem mad. This is a classic for a reason. I enjoyed it and recommend the book to any and everyone. Preferably on your own time, because you will take out more from the book if you are not being forced to read it. :)

[greymowser · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

His books were big when I was in college. Having met the man and not liking him I was astonished that his writing is so thorough and tight. This book is my favorite of his. The burning of books hits deep in the soul.

[artistlibrarian · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I finally got around to this classic young adult novel. I figured since I'm in the young adult literature class for my MLIS, I might as well catch up. I never read the book because I was dryly bored by all of Ray Bradbury's work. I just can't seem to feel any passion for science fiction.Not that Fahrenheit 451 is scifi. There is a strong presence of metaphor in this book; too heavy a presence for my reading delight, though the idea is cute. Firemen ignites fires to destroy knowledge aka power. 1984 with an arson's twist. But the conclusion was so obvious from the start that I thought, why read what's in between?Written during an era of Cold War fear, I can see the appeal of his plot. But I wish Bradbury had either revved up the scifi and gave me an all out apocalypse or gave up on the robotic dogs and let the political hounds do more communist hunting.

[eight · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Save me a lot of time, haha. Thanks a bunch.

[eadieb-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sci-fi Classic novel of censorship and defiance in an insane world. Books were for burning along with the houses that hid them. Guy Montag was a fireman and his job was to start the fires. The book was frightening to me as my house is full of books and would definitely be burned if that were the law today! Scary thing is that offensive ideas are still being protested today instead of allowing others to have their own beliefs. Recommended!

[killerx-2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Doesn't hold up over time. Dull.

[nu5bibliophile · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the concept and I can see how different it might've been when it was first published. The writing is solid and I love how it forces readers to think how a society would be if people do not stand up for what is right and good.

[james_knupp · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Unlike most American youth, I was never given Fahrenheit 451 to read in school. While I knew the basic premise and the classic interpretation of the book as one of anti-censorship, beyond that I knew very little. So I was quite happy to see how well the book holds up over 60 years after it was first published.Bradbury's sense of foresight is quite clear in Fahrenheit 451. His prediction of the expansion of reality TV and mass media broadly were spot on. He managed to almost exactly predict bluetooth technology and earbuds. And he seems to have well predicted the United States being engaged in seemingly endless, ill-defined wars, though the scope of those wars he severely misjudged.Being a brand new reader to the book, and possibly being older than the usual first time reader, I did have the benefit of having read some of Bradbury's own thoughts on interpretations of the book, and so instead of being hammered with the idea that the book is only about censorship and government censorship, I went into it more ready to see Bradbury's self stated purpose for the book: a warning against the continued expansion and dumbing down of media until the point where we would self censor because anything else would be terrifying. I believe that this is a more pertinent message for today's times. The invention of the internet has made true censorship nearly an impossible task. Anything will live on forever once it has made it online. But while the internet and a massive expansion of media has made it possible to get any information at any time and should result in an explosion of learning and understanding, instead we've seen ignorance blossom. People are carving out their own little pockets to stay comfortable in, afraid to have their core held views and beliefs truly challenged. People self censor their news, choosing only those outlets that they most agree with to present as facts.While Bradbury was afraid of media losing all deeper meaning to avoid offending, the reality has become that media has lost all meaning because anyone can choose whatever media will fit their self decided meaning. In this, Fahrenheit 451 still holds relevant today.

[ghr4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a classic dystopian novel of a future world again on the cusp of catastrophic war, where all books have been banned and summarily burned by the firemen, where interpersonal relationships have become virtually nonexistent, and the simple pleasures of life have all but disappeared as the basic human social structure has devolved into a robotic stupor. At its core, however, It is indeed a loving ode to books and all they represent - life, knowledge, hope, humanity.Bradbury paints a bleak portrait of this apocalyptic world with but a handful of clues, largely leaving it the reader to sketchily piece together the details of how mankind arrived at this point. Much like the protagonist, Montag the fireman, along with the rest of society, in the absence of books or other such documentation, all are at a loss to understand completely what exactly happened to reach this point. But some of the details of this future world are prescient: the literal wall-to-wall video bombardment - drivel for the short-attention-span masses - a la YouTube, TikTok, and all the rest. These parlor walls and vacant parlor families filling the void of lost personal relationships.Bradbury populates the novel with rather flat, archetypal characters but somehow it works in the context of this allegory; the message and the moral are still effectively conveyed in quite thrilling and thought-provoking fashion.

[steve02476 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A lovely book. Maybe I should reread it every few years.

[kslade-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great dystopian novel about people memorizing books before they were burned.

[jixian-427770 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As indecorous as it sounds, I vehemently struggle to express the voraciousness with which I devoured Bradbury's prose. Each character is deeply human, bleeding with their own personal identity shaped by nature and nurture. Every paragraph is its own novel to dissect thanks to Bradbury's intensely figurative prose, though it stays faithfully rooted in the reality of the bleak world of Fahrenheit 451. There is no amount of rereads that could possibly unearth the depth with which this novel explores its themes, rich in speculation of what could be and (more importantly) what is already upon us, as well as the humanity we stand to lose in the attempt to drown out the suffering inherent in both life and society. 10/10

[rajivc_18 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book by Ray Bradbury is spectacular. I confess that I could not put it down until I finished it. The scenario is bleak and can apply to the world we are living in. Through the ages, tyrants have feared intellectuals. Some have burned books. All of them want to control people. This is the scenario in which the book has been set. It applied to America then. It applies to many countries today. There is madness to the writing. The sentences flow and pull you in until you are sucked into a world that can easily come true. This is a superb book. It is masterful and serves as a warning to us all.

[ghost_boy-691444 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I usually don't like dystopian fiction mainly because I am lost and bored after the first few chapters. However, with Fahrenheit 451 I never found myself bored. I think what intrigued me most about this novel besides others was what the subject was about censorship and the every-day-man more than politics and fear.

The main reason I loved this book and the main reason I read this book was for the fact it was about censorship, book banning, and book burning. In college, I did a huge project on the topic leading to my professor recommending this book to me. Took me a few years to remember about reading the book though. I'm glad I picked this up. Books that reference Gulliver's Travels as controversial and more than just a kids book (which isn't not) is a win in my opinion.

The other thing I loved about this book is you could argue that Bradbury is predicting the future. More and more classic books are getting less read and TV is taking over our lives. So many people today talk about a TV show to the point you don't watch it your considered abnormal. People get so invested with the characters the cry over a fictional death, post about it on Facebook, and think it makes them feel any better. To me that's the same thing as Mildred sitting on her butt and talking to the TV with the TV talking to her.

The other thing that floored me with this book is the things he thought of that became inventions many years later. The TV's they had were flat screen TV's that hung on the walls, which are still a new invention. The other thing he talked about were the earbuds. He never called them earbuds, but that’s what they were. Again not invented until after this book was published and after I was born.

There really isn't anything I disliked about this book. To me it's the perfect sci-fi. It's short, easy to read, and it doesn't get boring at the end. I can also see why so many people read it in high school and think we should keep reaching this book to kids, especially in today's world were TV and Netflix are become an addiction. Why read the book when it's a movie or TV show, I feel like most people think these days. I know there's a movie based on this book, but now I feel like it's wrong to watch a movie based on this book.

Read this book before someone like Beatty burns it and tries to kill you.

[mkfs-354306 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I had long remembered Fahrenheit 451 as a dystopian novel, in which a lone protagonist fights an overbearing and undefeatable authority (as in 1984).

What I had forgotten, until a recent re-read, was how much of an anti-consumer novel it is. This sentiment is not as overt as in, say, Jennifer Government, and is manifested only in what the population tends to do with their time instead of reading. They watch television, "the gibbering pack of tree-apes that said nothing, nothing, nothing and said it loud, loud, loud". They block out their environment and each other with earphones. Their subways are bombarded with advertisements. If video games and smartphones had existed in the '50s, there is no doubt that Bradbury would have included them.

The hated alternative, for which people are ostracized by society, is taking the time to think, to reflect, to appreciate nature, or to engage in conversation. All things which benefit an individual, but not a government or a business. Files are kept even on people who take a solitary walk during the quiet of the twilight hours: these people are obviously nonconformists, and the police reason that they can easily be used as scapegoats in the event that a crime cannot be solved.


There is also an undercurrent of youth-run-amok, a concern that more directly drives other novels (A Clockwork Orange, obviously). "My uncle says his grandfather remembered when children didn't kill each other", says the teenage Clarissa, "Everyone I know is either shouting or dancing around like wild or beating up one another." Faber thinks the problem is more timeless: "Those who don't build must burn. It's as old as history and juvenile delinquents." As Montag makes his escape, a group of teenagers out for a joyride try to run him down.


The book has a few things to say about writing as well. "We stand against the small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought", insists Fire Captain Beatty. You know. Authors.

Faber denies the political charge of books, observing that books are merely a symptom of a way of life -- an artistic, academic way of life -- that the government has decided to suppress. In my youth, this was easily dismissed as a totalitarian society that could only happen somewhere else. The anti-intellectualism encouraged by the recent Bush administration gave me pause, this time around.

Faber also provides a poignant view on what distinguishes good literature from bad:
The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies.

Bradbury's novel of a dark and anti-intellectual future holds up well, even 60 years later. It is too much of a fable to be viewed as prophetic, and too optimistic to be considered a wakeup call. As with all of Bradbury's writing, there are some nice lines and some great imagery. If the characters had been well-drawn, if the plot had seemed less forced, if he had, as it were, "touched life more often" -- this could have been a novel of immense power.

[sriddell_8 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My own personal definition of a classic: Still relevant decades or centuries later.

Originally published in 1953, Fahrenheit 451 is a true classic. In the book, the date is the mid-2020's. I'm sure that time felt surreal when this was written, but now right around the corner.

Guy Montag is a fireman. But firemen no longer put fires out. Instead they start them - specifically they burn books. Not just banned books, but any and all books. The story follow's Guy's awakening from mind-numb fireman to a thinking human being. But its really an allegory of the hollowness of life without the wisdom we gain from books.

There were some very accurate projections in this book as well.
- People spend their time watching lots of TV. The screens are so big they cover the wall. In fact the entire wall IS a TV - and in Guy's house the TV covers three solid walls. (I don't know of anyone who has a full TV-wall, but I know people who'd get one if it was available.)

- There is an in-ear device called a seashell. People can listen to their TVs through these seashells. (It was an interesting experience listening to the audio of this book through my AirPods!)

- When someone knocks on Guy's door, a voice announces to his wife "Mrs. Montag, Mrs. Montag. Someone is at the front door." (I think of my Ring front door bell - and my husband has (annoyingly) connected it to Alexa. So now in conjunction with the ring noise, Alexa pipes in with "Someone is at the front door")

I listened to this on audio. Most audio narrators are excellent, but this book was narrated by Tim Robbins. And I say "narrated" but it felt more like he was the voice actor. So much of the book is dialog - either between characters or internal thoughts. He was able to give each character enough color to make each one easily distinguishable. It was a wonderful audio experience. My favorite was Milly Montag, a vapid, whining character who came fully to life as narrated by Tim Robbins.

[ubiquitousuk-784690 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The story takes place in a dystopian America whose society has turned it back on books, employing "firemen" to oversee their destruction. It's an interesting collision of Huxley and Orwell: people are too absorbed by baser forms of entertainment to much care for books, but the state burns them anyway, just for good measure. This contrivance certainly makes for a good elevator-pitch and left me excited to read the book. I couldn't help but feel, though, that the 152 page length was a bit of an unhappy middle ground: too long to get quickly to the point, but too short to fully develop the potential of the main idea. In particular, I was struck that almost all of the characters besides the main protagonist, Montag, fade into insignificance by the book's end, and yet it didn't feel like we had long enough with Montag himself to connect with the character, his backstory, or his motives.