this part of the novel is titled The Hearth and the salamander pretty cryptic right our protagonist 30 year old guy Montag can shed some light on this he's the main character of the novel and a slowly Awakening hero we're about to enter his home in America's Midwest in the distant future the word Hearth means fireplace which is usually the center of a home making it warm and cozy but there's nothing cozy about guys home with Mildred his wife she's a doozy more on her later a salamander is a type of amphibian that as Legend has it can survive fire but this is more folklore than fact so please don't go throwing salamanders in fires in Fahrenheit 451 fire trucks are called salamanders and firemen have salamander logos on their uniforms that's what guy does for a living he's a fireman but not the kind of firemen you're probably familiar with guy loves watching things burn he starts fires by burning books with a hose that spouts kerosene not water believe it or not that's his job guy even wears a helmet with the number 451 on it that's the temperature at which paper burns even as he burns precious works of literature our hero is always smiling in fact guy hardly ever stops smiling that's because he hasn't started thinking yet not much of a traditional hero is he one day after work Guy meets someone who will change his life seventeen-year-old Clarice McClellan it's an odd meeting as if she's been waiting for him Clarice makes a strong impression on guy with her piercing observations about the world around them she seems to think too much which in their society makes her different and different is dangerous as they part ways she asks guy if he's happy it should be an easy question but he can't answer her it's only a short chat but Guy Can't Stop wondering about her it's not a romance it's an Awakening our hero returns home to find out that his wife Mildred or Millie has taken an overdose of pills he finds her unconscious still listening to the radio he calls for two men to come and pump her stomach saving her life they're not doctors they're technicians who routinely do nine or ten house calls like this every night what a sick Society the next morning Millie denies it ever happened all she wants to talk about is television all she thinks about is television who needs marriage when you can watch screens all day have you checked your screen time lately when guy runs into Clarisse again her uniqueness shines like a beacon she's so unique that she's been forced to see a psychiatrist her symptoms are hanging out in forests watching birds and catching butterflies they say she's crazy or is she the most sensible character we've met so far on his next shift guy has a run-in with the firehouse's resident mechanical Hound this thing is absolutely terrifying and it seems to hate guy these eight-legged robot dogs were originally designed to rescue people but now their deadly government enforces when guy touches it on the muzzle it growls menacingly forcing guy to jump back this isn't the first time it's threatened him guy tells his boss about the Hound why would it hate him his boss Captain Beatty is suspicious too but he's also suspicious of guy what if the Hound has a reason to suspect guy this Hound is designed to hunt and kill traitors what has it sniffed out in guy one day Clarice is gone guy doesn't see her again but their intriguing conversations linger in his mind he's beginning to question things what happens to the people whose books he burns why is owning books such a crime he asks his boss and finds out the owners of books are locked away in psychiatric facilities or the asylum they think that owning books makes you insane Captain Beatty tells him any man's insane who thinks he can fool the government and us that's an interesting definition of insanity guy wonders whether things have always been this way has history been Rewritten or something actually it has when the firehouse alarm goes off guy confronts a job that changes him forever he must burn a library of books belonging to an old woman she chooses to burn with them this hits guy hard he needs to know what's in all these books that makes them worth dying for back at home guy tries to talk to Millie but she's not interested this makes him realize the emptiness of their lives all they have is televisions how important is screen entertainment to you would you trade a real conversation for an episode of your favorite Netflix show guy mentions Clarisse to Mildred it turns out that Clarice has died wait what sadly Clarisse was run over by a car a few days ago Millie knew about it but forgot to mention it to guy feels sick he asks Mildred if he could leave his job as a fireman nice try they need to save up for more TV screens so back to work the world has shifted and guy isn't the same he's even got a hidden book he stole one from the old lady's house hmm looks like our hero is headed for hot water Captain Beatty is concerned about guy and preempts his plan to call in sick since burning the old lady guys showing symptoms of independent thought and emotion we can't have that so Captain Beatty shows up at guy's house for a chat Captain Beatty tells guy all about the long history of book burning the need to get rid of alternative ways of thinking the devastating power of the written word it's a mind-boggling lecture in the end Captain Beatty really believes that a good world is one where the Mind drinks less and less apparently burning books leads to peace of mind is ignorance Bliss Beatty even tells guy about Clarice McClellan he thinks she was a time bomb destined for destruction and even better off dead now that's chilling how can it be better to die than to think poor Clarice now that she's gone guy can't go back to the way he was after Captain Beatty leaves guy comes clean to Mildred about all his hidden books he's collected around 20 and hidden them in the air conditioning duct Millie doesn't take it well it's as if he's dropped mice at her feet is there any way she could change her mind about books it would be funny if it wasn't so sad guy wants Mildred to think about the mess the world is in she could join him in his quest the moment has arrived but wait a minute there's a knock on their door Captain beaty's back guy tells Mildred not to answer the door and she becomes frightened what if the authorities come and burn them both along with the books then something beautiful happens at last guy reads Mildred a line from Gulliver's Travels a famous and very forbidden novel by a man named Jonathan Swift could this be their first step towards freedom or has Guy sealed their Doom [Music] we hope you enjoyed this schooling online production for more easy lessons check out our other videos