This section of Fahrenheit 451 contains the climax and its resolution in the narrative as Guy Montag finally revolts against his stultifying society.
In Part 3, "Burning Bright," Montag is surprised that a call to which he has been assigned is his own home, from which Mildred with a face "numb and featureless" flees with a suitcase. As usual, Beatty teases Montag about responsibility and consequences attached to his recitation of poetry, saying that the beauty of fire is that "it destroys responsibility and consequences."Further, he orders Montag to burn his own house, and afterwards, he will be under arrest. All this time Faber calls to him over the two-way radio, asking what is happening and pleading with him to save the books. Then, the green bullet falls from Montag's ear and Beatty discovers it.
After burning his house, Montag stands with the flame thrower still in his hands. Beatty berates Montag further, asking him just where the books have taken him now. Then, after quoting from Julius Caesar, Beatty mocks Montag "Go ahead now, you second-hand literateur, pull the trigger!" And, as Beatty walks forward, telling Montag to turn over the flame thrower, Montag instead turns the flame thrower upon Beatty, setting him ablaze, shrieking and writhing.
Having knocked out the other firemen, Montag is attacked by the Mechanical Hound which shoots the procaine needle into his leg, causing Montag to lose feeling in the leg. Nevertheless, he runs and retrieves four remaining books, sobbing at his losses and his unintended murder of Beatty. Suddenly, a thought takes hold of him: "Beatty wanted to die." But, this thought is temporarily pushed aside as Montag must flee the scene because he has listened to the Police Alert on him. But, where? The only one he can trust is Faber; besides, without knowing it, Montag has been heading toward the professor's home. Before he goes too far, Montag realizes that must clean up, so he steps into a restroom at a gas station. While inside, he hears on the police radio that war has been declared; then, he thinks he hears a police beetle rushing toward him at tremendous speed. Running as hard as he can, Montag slips and falls, and the beetle swerves, just missing him. The beetle heads back, but by this time Montag is gone.
Montag plants the books in the kitchen of another fireman named Black, in retaliation for his burning of other people's houses. Afterwards, Montag hurries to the home of Faber, who is glad to know that Montag is alive. Montag tells him that Beatty had heard Faber's voice, but he has killed Beatty. Montag expresses his astonishment at all he has done, but Faber tells him that he has done what was necessary. Montag adds,
"I could feel it for a long time, I was saving something up, I went around doing one thing and feeling another. God, it was all there. It's a wonder it didn't show on me, like fat. And now here I am, messing up your life. They might follow me here."
"I feel alive for the first time in years," Faber counters.
Faber takes Montag into a room where he shows him what is being broadcast: a Mechanical Hound is being flown to the scene of the burning. Because Montag knows the infallibility of the Hound, he wonders if he will have time for a speech before being killed. "What could he say in a single word, a few words, that would sear all their faces and wake them up?" he wonders.Turning to Faber, Montag tells him to clean up his scent after he departs and to fill a suitcase full of his dirtiest clothes, to hold his smell there even if he is gone.
Montag rushes to the river. He sees the Mechanical Hound hovering near Faber's house, until it finally turns and goes on. But, he hears the police telling people to watch out their windows for Montag. So, he hurries on and as he reaches the river, he douses himself with the whiskey and puts on some of Faber's clothes.
He felt as if he had left a stage behind and many actors....After a long time of floating on the land and a short time of floating in the river, he knew why he must never burn again in his life.
As he floats, Montag understands that the burning must stop. He relishes the sights and dry smell of hay because in the night he can enjoy the warmth of a barn and the dream of fresh milk, and a few apples and pears. But, when he steps out of the water, Montag is taken by surprise at the appearance of what he thinks is the Hound. However, it is only a deer. Filling his lungs with the smells of a real world of leaves and animals, Montag finds the railroad tracks about which Faber has told him. And, there is a fire, a strange fire that warms, not burns; around this fire there are hands and voices. Then, one of the voices calls to Montag, inviting him into their circle. Montag thanks them, and he inquires how they know his name. The man named Granger reveals a television operated by batteries, and they watch as police are putting an end to the chase as they have the Hound sniffing for a scapegoat "to end things with a bang." Soon, a solitary man walking is found; he is seized by the Hound, and the screen blackens. Then an announcer says, "Montag is dead."
Granger asks Montag if he wants to join them; Montag explains that he knows some of Ecclesiastes and a little of Revelation in the Bible. Turning, Granger introduces Montag to other literary works in the forms of people in order to keep the knowledge intact. "...we're the odd minority crying in the wilderness."
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