Monday, October 10, 2011

Per. 4 Liveblog-Fahrenheit 451 pgs. 1-40

122 comments:

  1. Why do you think that Montag keeps referring back to the old man in the park? I think that the man gave him books that he keeps in his vents.

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  2. Where did Clarisse go to when Montag couldn't find her?

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  3. What happened to Clarisse? Why did she disappear?

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  4. Who do you think made the change for the positions of firemen to burn books instead of help people in a fire? Why did the government make that a law? Do you think it will be changed by the end of the book?

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  5. @class
    Why doesn't Montag's wife remember the reason why she tried to commit suicide in the first place and now denies it?

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  6. Why do you think that the Mechanical Hound does not take a liking to Montag?

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  7. Why does Clarisse always talk about her uncle? Does he have books or special knowledge about the world before it was this way?

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  8. Rachel-
    I don't think the law against burning books will be changed. I believe that somewhere along the line there was a dictator that came in and told the people books were bad. That is probably where the burning started.

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  9. @paige that makes sense, he refers to the vent a lot and near the end of the section he begins to talk about guilt so it could be a book or some other banned object

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  10. @Rachel
    I believe the government may have made the law to burn the books because they are trying to censor what the public learns and they are trying to control how society works.

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  11. Jianna-
    When the paramedics came in and removed all of the poison in his wife, they drugged her so she lost her memory and was knocked out.

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  12. Why did the lady light the books on fire before the fireman did?

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  13. Has Clarisse disappeared/died because of her knowledge of the way the world was or even because of her "different" way of seeing things?

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  14. @Jianna
    I think she doesn't remember it because she tries to block it out since she has issues with it.

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  15. Colleen-
    Yeah, it especially comes up when he keeps talking about how he read one line of a book. I think it is ironic that he happens to read "Once Upon a Time" and then he remembers it. Now, looking at it, everyone knows that. But for that to be the one quote he remembers, I think its kinda funny.

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  16. @Rachel
    I believe that the government just wants control. The government wants to be superior to it's citizens, and to make sure they never have the upper hand, they take away books. Without books, the people don't know how to think any differently so they can't act out. In the end of the book I do think that the law will be changed because somehow the government will be overthrown because the people will start to think and learn for themselves.

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  17. gabriella- it could also be to keep the government in control of what everyone thinks and knows. Like in a war governments sometimes censor what information comes in and out of the country.

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  18. When the fire chief said the book characters were not real do you think the government banned books to control peoples imagination?

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  19. @Sam G
    The lady may have lit the books on fire before the fireman did to prove they are not as powerful as they like to think. She may have also wanted to burn them herself vs. letting the government take total control over her life.

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  20. Why did Beatty do the job herself? What was she trying to prove?

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  21. Melissa-
    I think that Montag is the only one up late at night because of his firefighting job. I think that Clarisse's family stays up late maybe because it is illegal to discuss what they talk about so they do it in private. Currently, firefighters work strange hours so maybe that hasn't changed.

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  22. @Lauren
    I think she intentionaly left becasue she was tired of the world not accepting her the way Montag did.

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  23. @Rachel
    It was mentioned in the book that the houses are also fire proof. Therefore, this invention probably caused the career change for firemen from preventing fires to creating them.

    What do you think made the houses fireproof?

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  24. drew- i thought all firemen were men

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  25. @Sam
    I think that the government did take away books to control peoples imagination, but they did it for power. The government wants to stay in power and to stay superior to the citizens they control.

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  26. @class
    Do you think that the beast will later represent something more than a viscous animal?

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  27. Montag seemed to feel more guilty about burining the books after Clarisse asked if he ever read the books he burned. (Anne)

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  28. Why did Captain Beatty say that "these books don't agree with each other?"

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  29. @Jianna
    I believe the wife dosn't remember the pills and what happened, because she said she felt like she had a hangover an couldn't remember, so maybe when to many pills are taken, an after effect could be lost of memory, or confusion.
    Jayla H

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  30. @class
    What is the relationship between Montag and his wife? It seems like they are almost roomates, not husband and wife, like the parents were in Harrison Bergeron?

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  31. Jack B-
    The government control is like that in the series Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. The people are brainwashed when they turn 16 and live in a haze. They go through surgery so their brain is changed. If you question someone before they chagned, they didn't think they were happen but they had never been questioned before. I think that is what is happening to Montag.

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  32. How come the Captain didn't belive Montag when he told him the hound didn't like him?

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  33. anna z- I think they mention a plastic sheet of some sort when the firemen are approaching the old lady's house so maybe they just cover the outside of the house with plastic?

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  34. @Lauren that could be true but who would have told someone about her ideas?

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  35. @Anne
    I agree that Montag feels guilty after Clarisse asks if he reads the books. At the next fire they light he doesn't help as much, this may be because he was thinking about Clarisse and felt bad for the lady.

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  36. By saying the houses were fireproof, they meant that the houses can't catch on fire due to maintenance issues. However, now they can only be caught on fire intentionally; which now represents the burning of books.

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  37. @Sam
    Yes I would say that the government is trying to control people, because for what other reason would there be the machine that brain-washed Montag's wife.

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  38. Trevor-
    Like we've been discussing, the literature may be a motivator for social change so the government banned the books to avoid change.

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  39. @Jianna
    Could this also mean the houses won't be damaged when the fires are lit?

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  40. @mmoritz
    I meant the mechanical hound.

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  41. Does anyone feel that Montag will either leave or do something involving his wife because he wants kids?

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  42. gabriella- so do the houses stay standing after the books inside are burned? only the objects inside the houses would be burned then-not the house.

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  43. Gaby-
    The houses are clearly damaged. They talk about it going up in flames, if it didn't burn or didn't damage, the flames wouldn't be there.

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  44. Some people in the book would rather burn in the house with their books. Why do you think that is?

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  45. Montag started to be very defensive, probably because he didn't want to question how things had always been. For example he became very defensive that he loved his wife when Clarisse started to play a childs game when you rub the dandilion on your chin to see if your in love.

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  46. In the firemen's rules, it states that they must report back to the firehouse immediately. Why? What do they believe will happen if they do not return immediately?

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  47. I think that as soon as he was going to burn down the books, he wanted to read a page or a line to see what they truly are. But it was too late. Do you think he will come across a book later on in the story and meet a dilema whether or not to pick it up?

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  48. What does it mean when the old lady says, "That would be Mrs. Blake, my neighbor" in response to seeing the note about inspecting her house. How would the neighbor know if the books are in the attic?

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  49. @Gabriella
    I don't think so because they have to remove the people from the house, I also think that it was implied that after those books were burned, the people didn't have a place to live.

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  50. Garret-
    I think taht Montag will change his ways. Maybe his wife will come with him but yes, I agree, something will defientely change for him by the end of the book.

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  51. @Colleen I think they made a paint or adhesive spray of sort that fireproofs the house.

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  52. drew- Maybe they are afraid of the firemen stealing books from the fires and reading them.

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  53. Drew F-
    The firefighters are probably required to return as quickly as they can to keep them from being tempted to read. If they aren't in a hurry, they might be more likely to read.

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  54. It was strange that Clarisse was considered "unsocial" in school because she actually tried to talk to other students and ask questions in class. The school day they had also seemed very strange that they had PE class and they watched TV all day. (Anne)

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  55. Natalie-
    The government is preventing literature from creating a social challenge.

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  56. @jianna - i think they might send the people to an insane asylum or hospital because they believe books are bad and those that read them are insane, also it is mentioned that the police come and take someone away from their house when books are found there

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  57. Why do they consider Benjamin Franklin "The First Fireman" in the book?

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  58. I think this book strongly relates to "The Pedestrian" because the government is trying to keep the people in order and not have more strength or intelligence.

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  59. @drew
    I also agree with Colleen. I think that they want to keep them from their own curiosity.

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  60. Anne-
    I totally agree. It all depends on their definition of social.

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  61. I think that some people wanted to be burned along with their books because they do not enjoy the control of the government anymore and they want to read and have imaginations, but the government does not allow it. They would rather die than be under the complete control of the government. In this case, even their thoughts and what they are allowed to learn is being controlled and limited.

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  62. Are we like the people in the book were we don't always question what the government says? And like how today we rebel against governments so why did these people not fight back?

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  63. Jianna, maybe the beast will represent later in the book the relationship between the government and the people. Because the captain quotes, " it doesn’t think anything we don’t want it to", an the people, they can’t think, or believe anything the government doesn’t want them to or control. So the beast represents the people, programmed and controlled.
    Jayla H.

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  64. When Montag stole the book from the house they were burning, was that because he started to become curious about what was in the books or had he stolen them before? If it was the first time he stole a book was it because Clarisse made him interested? (Anne)

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  65. Rachel-
    I think so too. They're also by the same author. But both books talk about a change in culture, showing how the older people like some things that the younger people consider absurd.

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  66. Books like this scare me because will our world really collapse into this situation where we can't read books anymore? Since we have grown up in this ideal electronic world where everyone, now a days, has a cell phone, we don't see the change moving very fast. In the next ten years, what will America come up with?

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  67. @sam
    I think they do not rebel because the generation was trained to obey they law as kids so they could never imagine rebeling

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  68. @Lauren
    I think that they refer to Benjamin Franklin as "The First Fireman" because, they don't have books to read history anymore. Thus, when people teach something others will believe it because they have nothing else to go off of.

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  69. Do you thing someone made the mechanical hound not like Montag as much. You would need to change the setting to made it not like something or someone. Did someone know Montag took the book so they changed the settings on the mechanical hound?

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  70. @jayla (anonymous)
    I agree, when a government censors what information people get they can control what people think and how they act, like the mechanical hound. However, the hound could also represent the government because it is there to control the firemen and keep them doing what the government wants.

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  71. Why does Montag's wife not remember taking all the sleeping pills?

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  72. @Sam G
    I agree, society today is similar to the people in the book when they don't question the government. People don't really stop and think about how much government control there is they just go on with their usual routines.

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  73. Sam- Not entirely. We are not completely controlled by the government. I mean sure, they have a great influence over what we do, but they do not rule us or our thoughts completely. We are allowed to question the governments involvement and their rules. These people have no say in government affairs.

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  74. @Inner Circle
    I don't think that Montag told his wife that she tried to kill herself because he didn't want her to re-recognize her pain again, so that she wouldn't want to do it again.

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  75. People seem like they are starting to loose conection to one another. It seem like Montag and his wife don't talk very much anymore. I assume thats happening in most houses too because at school they don't talk and they have started to put empty line in tv shows so you can be part of the show, so its seems like they are starting to get virtual friends.

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  76. Colleen-
    I don't think the dog is there so much to keep them in line but just as a threat in case something that required desperate action was needed.

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  77. It seems like so much has happened in the society that the people think that this (burning books, destroying ideas, encouraging people to not be different or think on their own) is the norm, so very few people, if anyone, question the intense government control in their lives.

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  78. @drew
    In our government we have also gone through times when the government controlled what we said and published so that we could not hurt the U.S. war effort and in many countries today governments control what their people know of the world so that they do not know what is happening and so it is harder for them to revolt.

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  79. Gaby-
    I disagree. I think today people to question the government a lot. The news is there to question them and people have social media, and blogging where they can question the government in a moment. The actions of the government and out there, analyzed at every angle.

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  80. I quick question but what era or time period are we looking at in the book? I think the author is trying to hint he predicts a war in the future because of the plane over head.

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  81. @Jianna
    That's probably true - but how do people like Clarrise's uncle remember the way things used to be then if they don't teach history anymore?

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  82. @Anne
    It seems like Montag recently realized the mechanical hound doesn't like him as much, this may be because the chief is becoming suspicious of Montag hiding guilt. The chief may have reprogrammed the hound. Montag's guilt may be from listening to Clarisse or from reading the few lines of a book saying "Once upon a time".

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  83. Why did he mention the dog? Is there someone in the station who is trying to mess with him, or is there just a flaw in the system?

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  84. @lauren
    Maybe her uncles parents and grandparents made sure that he knew what life was like before books were banned and history stopped being taught. Also, someone questioned whether her uncle had books or not and that may be the way he know so much.

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  85. Tram-
    I think the people are addicted to the books. Have you ever started reading and not been able to stop? They probably think that.

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  86. Unfortunately I can start to see this happening in society today. Montag notices the over watching of tv. Today we watch obsessive amounts of television, and it is "dumbing" down our society. I also am starting to see more government control, as far as business and tax purposes as well as censorship. Do you think that one day government control will get this bad?

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  87. @Inner Circle
    If you haven't read a book in your life, and you finally get a chance to read one, the amount of knowledge taken in would encourage a desire for more of the knowledge and words,or the books can be used as a way to "escape" from the society they live in

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  88. @inner circle
    Maybe there is some sort of black market for books so that people can purchase banned books without the government knowing.

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  89. @Colleen
    I agree, her uncle may have books and that may be the reason Clarisse is gone. She could've told her family about Montag and they may have banned her from talking to him because they are worried he will somehow find out.

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  90. Why do they even have the mechanical hound?

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  91. Tram-
    It also could be like that hoarders show where the crew shows up to crazy house and they have 1,000 baby dolls.

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  92. @gabriella
    Maybe they saw her talking to him late at night and were worried he would report them as suspicious.

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  93. Class-
    I'm confused on the point of their uniform. Does he wear something that starts a fire? Or does he grab something that isn't always with him?

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  94. If all books are banned technically, how do the firemen have rule books? (mentioned at the bottom of page 34) Is it possibly because the rule books don't encourage people to think on their own or realize the way things used to be?

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  95. I think they people enjoy reading books so much and try to because they are illegal. I think if they were legal it would not be a big issue. Like now a days when something becomes illegal people want it more, rather than when its legal

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  96. Paige-
    I completely agree. It is like your parents telling you not to do something, and then after them telling you that, you are tempted to do it. The Government has taken them away, so people are very curious as to why it has banned them. So they begin to read to find out WHY.

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  97. @Sam
    I think they have the hounds for entertainment, the people also lack power and by having a hound they can assert their power somehow.

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  98. How would any of you describe the relationship of Montag and Clarisse? He seems fond of her, curious, confused about her. But he also sees her as more mature, and older then her age, but also sees her innocent youthful acts. He even several times describes her as beautiful?

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  99. Jack-
    I thought that possibly someone was trying to hurt him because of the dog and because his wife almost died from an overdose of sleeping pills when she denied ever taking one, or an entire bottle.
    Mitchell F

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  100. Lauren-
    I think they have an exception because they are firemen and the government allows it.

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  101. @paige
    It seems dangerous to wear a fire-starting suit in a fiery environment, so I think they would probably wear a fireproof suit and carry matches or something along with the kerosene.

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  102. @Rachel
    I would predict that it's in the future because the technology is pretty advanced and when Clarisse tells Montag that Firemen would used to stop fires instead of start them, the reader may infer that it is a futuristic novel.

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  103. @Paige
    Can you please clarify your question about the uniforms? I don't exactly understand.

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  104. @jayla
    I think Montag enjoys being with her and she brings happiness to his life.

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  105. @Jianna
    This book may have been written to be a motivator for social change so this wouldn't happen in our government. Bradbury may have wanted to warn society because he started to see technology becoming a major part of lifestyle even if he wrote the book in the '50s.

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  106. It seems like many people in society are not happy. When Mildred overdosed and the ambulance came he asked why they weren't real medics. They said it was becasue many people overdosed all the time so they didn't need a trained professional. Even when they were leaving, they were leaving because they had to go help someone else had overdosed.

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  107. Colleen- It says, on the first page, that he was holding a brass nozzle that was spitting kerosene. I believe this is saying that he has a sort of flamethrower that sprays kerosene over everything.

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  108. Anna-
    But how far into the future?

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  109. Colleen-
    Thanks for explaining that.

    Jayla-
    Montag and Clarisse's relationship is probably complicated. I think later in the book he will feel obligated to turn her in but I think he will grow to love her like a daughter, not anything more. But, taking into account that this book is banned, their relationship might grow into something more.

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  110. @class
    Why does Clarisse say she's ancient, also she refers to how children her age are scary and kill each other?

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  111. Final thoughts? Please shut down your computers, but DO NOT get up to put them away. I will tell you when you can do that. Good Job! :)

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  112. Why do you think the children are killing eachother?

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  113. What other changes have there been in the story that haven't happened yet, present day? Mechanical dog, firemen that creates fires on books, and that's about it.

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  114. @Garrett
    I disagree, just because the government banned reading it doesn't necessarily mean people want to read more. They may be like old people today, not quite able to adjust to the "new lifestyle" and new technology. It seems like most of the time the books they burn belong to old people.

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  115. kaela-
    maybe that is all they feel they can do because the government controls them so much-its their way of rebelling.

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  116. Jianna-
    I just feel like there is major symbolism in their suit or maybe amazing powers built into it. I heard the part about the salamander but I'm just fuzzy on it.

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  117. Kaela-
    I think children are killing each other because they might be better than them or have something they don't and the government is trying to make it equal. I think they have resorted to violence to get even with them.

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  118. I think this book is going to end up teaching us how important books are.
    Mitchell F

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  119. Garrett,
    I don't think making books the books illegal will result in less problems. To that government, less books means less ideas and opinions, so more control. People aren't reading for joy, because they don't even understand books can bring joy, they only know they are illegal, and i can only think curiosity would make someone want to read a book.

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  120. People seemed very disconnected to society, drivers wouldn't know what grass was unless you showed them a green blur and they had to stretch out billboards so driver could actually see them as they drove by.

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  121. I think that it is definitely possible that the government took control and banned the books. The thought of a dictator though is questionable. If it was a dictator who created these rules, other restrictions would probably be in place and shown more. The thought of one man, one group, one government taking so much control and changing everybody's thinking is however not new to us. The fatal events of WWII showed that one man can change the entire world. Have we learned from the events of our past though? Is it now impossible for one man to change the world? We learn from a young age that we can do anything, to shot for the stars, and that we can make a difference. Is a young dictator just now listening to his or hers parents words of encouragement? Our world can be turned upside down in an instant. If we don't prepare ourselves, we could be questioning our happiness one day just like Montag.

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