The Mechanical Hound: A Brief Summary

The novel begins by depicting what a “fireman” in this dystopian society is: a person who burns houses with books. One day on the way home from work, he meets Clarisse McClellan. Montag is rattled by Clarisse and her parting question: Was he happy? However, he is distracted when he discovers his wife had overdosed on sleeping tablets. When he meets Clarisse again, he finds himself behaving differently, starting with tasting the rain as Clarisse suggested. The Mechanical Hound is then introduced as it described as alive, but not truly. When Montag begins to wonder and question Beatty about the books, a report was rung in. The old woman, who was reported, stands in her house, surrounded by books. When the firemen are about to ignite the house,
the woman refuses to leave her books, so she is burned with them. Montag takes a sick day after Clarisse dies. Beatty visits Montag as to warn him not to go against the system. After his departure, Montag reveals his secret library to Mildred. When Mildred freaks out, Montag resolves to meet with Faber, an old English professor. Faber gives him a mimic of the Seashell thimble, except Faber can hear and speak to Montag. The next day, Montag goes to work as normal. However, Mildred had rung the alarm on their own home. Montag sets fire to his own house, and is about to get arrested. Beatty snatches the communication device between Montag and Faber, mocking Montag. Suddenly, Montag turns the flamethrower on Beatty and escapes. He meets with the outlaws who live outside of the city and it’s laws, and together they try to make it to Chicago.
Characters:
Guy Montag: He is the main character of the story.
Throughout the novel, he is conflicted between his duty as a fireman and if being a fireman is morally sound. He eventually makes his way out, leaving a hunk of burning city behind, in attempt to introduce books into the mainstream again.
Mildred Montag: This is Guy Montag’s wife. She strongly believes in the system, and thinks that the TV wall living room is her family. Also, she shows a heavy reliance on entertainment, and does not care that she cannot remember how she and Montag met.
Captain Beatty: He is the captain of the firemen, and he ironically is very well-read. He knows about Montag’s secret library and tries to stop Montag.
Faber: He is an old English professor who helps Montag develop and show him the right way to take the firemen structure down and escape to the
outlaws.
Clarisse McClellan: She is the main reason why Montag has gone against the system. She teaches him to enjoy life and find his happiness. She is young and deemed “antisocial” by the society and “insane” by herself.
Themes: Distraction vs.
Happiness: The people in this society are actually unhappy, but are under the illusion that they are truly happy. This is illustrated by the callousness displayed by the two men who came to rescue Mildred. Additionally, everyone is completely engrossed in “Seashell ear thimbles” (Bradbury, 22) and “wall-TV” (Bradbury, 24). These distract from the growing war that flashes in out of the thimbles (Bradbury, 36).
Conformity vs. Individuality: In this society, if one does not conform, they are labelled as “insane” or “antisocial” (Bradbury, 13). Montag, throughout the book, struggles to come to terms with the realization that his society is inherently flawed. He ends up “conforming” to the other side, ‘Say yes’ His mouth moved like Faber’s:’Yes’”(Bradbury, 96). He is inexperienced with feeling, and thinking for himself, therefore listening to Faber. This is because when he attempted to do something by himself, he quotes poetry at Mildred’s friends, eventually revealing himself to the fire captain (Bradbury, 99).
Symbols: Fire: In the beginning, fire is a means of destruction. However, as the novel progresses, Montag realizes that it can be used for good and not evil. When he sits with the outlaws, outside of the city, fire represents warmth and comfort, something akin to
rebirth.
Twin beds: Two beds in Mildred and Guy’s bedroom symbolizes the loveless and meaningless marriage they have grown used to. Mirrors: Montag compares Clarisse to a mirror. This is important in terms of relationships between the characters because Montag is able to understand his purpose with the help of her. Montag works with fire, which consumes, but mirrors reflect one’s soul.
Quotations:
“His anger did not even touch them...We get these cases nine or ten a night”(Bradbury, 19). This is related to the theme of distraction vs happiness. This means that these attempted suicides, something rather stigmatized in our society, happen so regularly, that someone merely invented a device to save them and no one cares.
“‘I don’t want to change sides and just be told what to do. There’s no reason to change if I do that” (Bradbury, 95) Montag is trying to change sides, except he is reluctant to “take them on faith” (Bradbury, 95) because that’s what led to their downfall.
“There was a silly damn bird called a phoenix...he burnt himself up as he sprang out of the ashes. And it looks like we’re doing the same thing, over and over, but we’ve got one damn thing the phoenix never had. We know the damn stilly things we just did” (Bradbury, 165). The intellectuals, or outlaws, are tired of making the same mistakes over again. However, this time, he wants to be like the phoenix in the sense of rebirth, but different in the sense of not repeating old follies by applying what they learned in the society.