Fahrenheit 451 Study Guide

Guy Montag is a "Fireman" who creates fires rather than extinguishing them, by burning books and the homes where books are found; he is clearly fascinated with his job. He is enthralled by the way the fire eats the books that he and his colleagues are sent, in the middle of the night, to destroy. Literature is so loathed by Montag's society that these squads of "Firemen" exist for the sole purpose of ridding the world of them. They are not only despised but illegal to own. Those owning books are promptly sent to the "asylum" or jailed and their stash of literature and their homes are quickly and completely incinerated by the Firemen. (read more)