Part #5: Pages 130-158

summary:

The Captain hands Montag the fire hose and instructs him to burn his own house down. Montag does as he is told, and lights his house on fire, along with all of the books. The Captain then informs Montag that he is under arrest, and as he goes to restrain him, he find the small communication chip inside Montag’s ear. He tells Montag that they will find whoever is on the other end the the chip and burn his house down, then arrest him. Aware of the danger he has put Faber in, Montag acts rashly and turns the flame hose on the Captain, killing him. He kills the other firefighters there, and quickly burns the mechanical Hound, a violent killing machine. Montag runs away to Faber’s house. Together, they make a plan. They pack Montag clothes without his scent, and they destroy any marks that Montag made in Faber’s house. They turn on the news long enough to discover that Montag is wanted, and that they are sending a new hound on his trail. Montag quickly leave Faber’s house, and he runs away.

text-to-text connection:

Both Jonas and Montag enter the climax of their stories when they preform a dangerous act that defies the government. Jonas steals his foster-brother, Gabe, in order to protect him from death. Montag kills Captain Beatty, in order to protect his life and Faber’s life. After their act of defiance, both characters begin running. The difference between the two characters is their end goal. Montag wants to stop all the books from being burnt, he wants to save many more lives not just one. Jonas, on the other hand, just wants to save Gabe’s life, he doesn’t want to change the society in which he lives in.

text-to-reader connection:

The mechanical hound sent to find Montag represents the constant threat of conformity, which is always looming over High Schoolers. We are always battling our own mechanical hounds, for some its losing weight, or doing drugs in order to fit in. The burning of Montag’s house and the fight between him and the Captain represents something similar. It is the fight to keep your identity, or more so the success in keeping your identity. Montag chose his books and knowledge rather than the comfort of his home, his sacrifice shows that there is always an exchange. Being yourself means giving up popularity, or perhaps losing the people you thought were your friends. After burning the Captain, Montag justifies his actions (to an extent) by saying, “burn them, or they’ll burn you” (Bradbury 117).