Fahrenheit 451... hm.

[tzikeh]

We've been using Fahrenheit 451 as our "prop" book in my Teaching Literature to Adolescents class. I'm assuming most of you know the basic story--it's The Future, a fireman's job is now to burn books, not put out fires, the written word had been eradicated from society years and years before (sometime after the nuclear wars in the 1990s. *g*). Everything is communicated now through the spoken word, or through pictures (e.g., a salamander and a phoenix mark the uniforms for firemen). Montag (a fireman) has been slowly stealing books during fire-settings, and hiding them in his home. Later in the book, he chooses to read them, which is a serious crime, which leads to the rest of the story.

So--

How does Montag know how to read?

Is this going to be one of those "Nobody heard Kane say 'Rosebud'" things that fucks up the work forever?

Comments

[zulu]

I didn't think that the written word itself had been eradicated completely, but that it was used for, like, factual correspondence or something, just not fiction/poetry/history. But that may well have been an assumption! It's been a long time since I read the story.

[jackiekjono.livejournal.com]

I have exactly the same memory.

[ramblinsuze.livejournal.com]

I just read it a few months ago and that was my impression, too.

[hubbit.livejournal.com]

My wife is the most obsessive Bradbury fan who ever lived. Soon as I read this, I called her cell phone.

Me: In Fahrenheit 451, how does Montag know how to read?
Telcontar: ...He's a fireman.
Me: Yes, but reading is illegal.
Telcontar: HE LEARNED HOW. I don't know how, but obviously he did.

I got nothin'.... :D

[grace-om.livejournal.com]

My recollection was that he could only read a little bit at first (I assumed he had to know enough to recognize what he was supposed to be against...), but taught himself by practicing.

[feochadn.livejournal.com]

That was my understanding of it, too.

[aerye.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Now that's going to bother me forever.

Although - I have to say I've always had the impression that the written word had been eradicated during his lifetime, and so he had been taught to read when he was young, but then they did away with books and so his skills atrophied. But that's a vague impression thing - it's been years since I read the book.

[lanning.livejournal.com]

*handwave* These aren't the plot holes you're looking for. ;)

I always imagined that Montag had been taught to read as a child, whether covertly or before it was banned. He would only have a child's reading ability, so it would take him a while to learn to read fluently. Of course, none of that is in the book. I just have a bad habit of plugging these holes as I go along. :)

[bentleywg.livejournal.com]

I haven't read it in many many years, but I remember getting an impression of training manuals. (I've seen the movie even longer ago than I've read the book, so I might be conflating impressions.)