Fahrenheit 451: Montag’s Escape and the Book People
Montag’s Escape and the Book People
Once out of the city, Montag meets up with one of the many groups of exiles forced to flee to the countryside and find refuge with them. Faber plans to catch the early morning bus to St. Louis to get in touch with an old printer friend.
The Manhunt for Montag
While the two men make their plans, the television announces that a massive manhunt has been organized to track down Montag. Faber and Montag discover that a new Mechanical Hound has been introduced to the search and that the networks intend to participate by televising the chase.
With the news that a second Mechanical Hound was brought to the area, Faber and Montag must take careful, precautionary steps to avoid capture. Montag instructs Faber to burn in the incinerator everything that he (Montag) has touched and then rub everything else down with alcohol. He also suggests that Faber cover the scent with moth spray and then hose off the sidewalk and turn on the lawn sprinklers. In this way, they can confuse the Mechanical Hound’s sense of smell and cause it to lose Montag’s trail into Faber’s house; Faber will remain safe while Montag lures the Hound to the river. Before he leaves, he takes a cardboard suitcase filled with some of Faber’s old clothes, as well as a bottle of whiskey. Montag makes a run for the river, knowing that the Mechanical Hound is still on his trail as helicopters gather and hover overhead.
Montag finally hobbles to the safety of the river undetected, where he douses himself in whiskey and dresses in Faber’s clothes. After discarding the suitcase, he plunges into the river and is swept away. While he travels downstream, the Mechanical Hound loses his scent at the river’s edge. Undaunted, however, the police refuse to be denied the capture.
The Deception
The police can’t allow the public to know of their failure to snare Montag, so they enact a hoax: An innocent man is chosen as a victim for the TV cameras. The populace is deceived into thinking that Montag is dead because their wall televisions depict the murder of the suspect Montag. (Note that the population has never seen the real Montag.)
While the chase continues elsewhere, Montag floats in the river toward the far shore and safety. In just a few short days, Montag has become a rebel and an outlaw.
Meeting the Book People
As if seeing the world and nature for the first time, Montag continues his journey on land. Half an hour later, he sees a fire in the black distance where he stumbles upon a group of outcasts.
The leader of these outcasts is Granger, a former author and intellectual. Curiously, Granger seems to have expected Montag and reveals his goodwill by offering him a vial filled with something that alters Montag’s perspiration; after Montag drinks the fluid, the Mechanical Hound can no longer track him.
Granger explains to Montag the nature of the commune and how each member chooses a book and memorizes it. After the entire book has been memorized, he burns it to prevent the individual from being arrested by the authorities. From that time on, the story is transmitted verbally from one generation to another.
Montag confesses to Granger that he once memorized some of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Granger tells him that a man named Harris knows the verses from memory, but if anything ever happens to Harris, Montag will become the book.
The Importance of Preservation
When Montag admits the grand failure of his plan to plant books in firemen’s houses, Granger replies that the plan may have worked had it been carried out on a national scale. Granger feels, however, that the commune’s way of giving life to books through their embodiment in people is the best way to combat the government’s censorship.
Because of war (that could begin at any minute), the commune is forced to move south, farther down the river, away from the city that is a sure target of attack. Jets shriek overhead continually, heading for battle. Although Montag thinks briefly of Millie and of his former life, he is forced back to reality when, in an abrupt finale, the city is destroyed.
Shaken by the destruction of the city, Granger, Montag, and the rest of the commune are compelled to return to the city and lend what help they can.