F451 Timeline

  • Montag meets Clarisse

    After walking out of the subway, Guy Montag, a fireman, meets a girl name Clarisse. They both walk back to their houses, while Clarisse begins to spark ideas in Montag's mind about the past.
  • Attempted Suicide

    Montag returns to his house to find his wife, Mildred, in a coma, due to a massive intake of sleeping pills. Montag calls a pair of hospital workers to save her. Ultimately, he is disgusted by the event and Mildred denies the events of what had occured the night before.
  • The Next Day

    Montag leaves his house and runs into Clarisse. They continue to discuss everyday aspects of Clarisse's life, including her pyschiatrist. She tells Montag that she is seeing a pyschiatrist because of her lack of socialness.
  • Period: to

    The Mechanical Hound and the Following Week

    Montag arrives at the fire station and is threatened by the mechanical hound. Montag reports the incident to Captain Beatty, who tells Montag that he will have the incident sorted out. Over the next week, Montag's live revolves around his conversations with Clarisse and his conversations with Beatty, until, Clarisse disappears.
  • The Burning

    A few days after Clarisse disappears, Montag and the firemen head out to a house for a book burning. During the event, Montag takes a book and puts it in his coat, as the woman decides to kill herself and burn all her books, without any aid from the firemen. The firemen are all silent on the way back to the station.
  • Period: to

    The Night After

    Montag returns home and hides the book. He asks Milded where they first met, but neither of them can remember. Mildred tells Montag that Clarisse was killed in a hit and run and her family moved. Montag goes to his bed and wakes up the next morning, felling sick, due to the circumstances of the night before.
  • Montag and Books

    After Beatty leves, Montag shows Mildred his collection of 20 books that he had stolen. Mildred attempts to burn the books, but Montag asks her to help him read the books and understand why they are so dangerous. He begins to read a book as the door is knocked on, but Montag refuses to answer and just reads.
  • Beatty and Books

    Beatty visits Montag and tells him a story on how books began to disappear from society in favor of electronics and moving pictures. He also tells Montag that the books were beginning to offend people, thus burning was the best option to stop such an ordeal. During this, Mildred begins to straighten up Montag's bedroom, almost finding the book that Montag stole. Beatty tells Montag that he should return to the station tonight and tells Montag that if he took a book, it needs to burn in 48 hours
  • Faber

    Having difficulty reading a novel, Montag contacts an English professor, Faber, to help him understand the books. However, when Montag contacts Faber on the phone, Faber does not respond. Thus, Montag sets out to find Faber.
  • Montag and Faber

    Montag arrives at Faber's house and shows him his book, a copy of the Bible (quite possible the last surviving copy). Faber tells Montag that books showed the flaws in society, its weaknesses. Montag comes up with a plan to burn the houses of firemen across the country, and Faber plans to take one of Montag's books to an old printer he knows. He also gives Montag a Seashell (wireless radio) like device that Faber uses to communicate with Montag. Montag returns to his house.
  • The Poem

    Montag returns to find Clarisse and a coupleof her friends in the TV parlor. Montag attempts to read a poem to the three women, which causes one woman to cry and another to become enraged. Both women storm out. Montag leaves, as Mildred is furious with him.
  • Return to Firehouse 451

    Montag returns to the firehouse, and finds Beatty. Beatty throws Montag off with several different literary references and quotes. Ultimately, the voice of Faber, through the radio, keeps Montag going. Eventually, Montag and Beatty hear the fire alarm and head off.
  • "We've stopped in front of my house"

  • Montag's House

    As Mildred leaves Montag's house, hysterical, Beatty tells Montag about his knowledge of Montag's stolen books and has Montag burn his house down. During the burning, Montag incinerates Beatty, a few firemen, and the Mechanical Hound. Knowing of nowhere else to go, Montag rushes to Faber's house.
  • Escape to Faber

    Montag arrives at Faber's house in time for Faber to tell Montag of his bus trip to see an old printer. Both exchange goodbyes as a mechanical hound arrives to hunt Montag, in a televised event, that everyone is watching. Montag escapes in a pair of Beatty's old clothes to the river.
  • The Books in the Head

    Montag tells the men that he memorized bits and pieces of the Bible in his head. The men tell Montag about how they are part of a network of men who have memorized parts of (if not) whole books. The men tell Montag that he is a backup copy of the Bible as they continue down the tracks.
  • The Nuclear Blast

    The men watch as a war on the country is completed in twenty seconds. Montag screams for Mildred, Faber, and Clarisse. Despite that, he realized that Faber is safe and Clarisse is dead. The men tell Montag not to think about his wife, as she made little contribution to the world.
  • The Men on the Railroad Tracks

    Away from society, Montag meets a group of homeless men living by the railroad tracks. They all watch the Mechanical Hound kill a random man, presuming him to be Montag. They welcome him back from the dead, and reveal themselves to be former writers, teachers, and admirers of books.
  • Phoenix

    The men eat breakfast, as Montag finally remembers where he and Mildred met, Chicago. One of the men compares the bomb to the myth of a phoenix. They decide that when they arrive at the city, they will set up a mirror factory to take a good long look at each other. They head for the city to begin rebuilding society, as Montag begins to remember more of the Bible.
  • Period: to

    The Escape

    Montag escapes from the city to the river, eventually ending up by the old railroad. The Mechanical Hound has left and Montag is safe.