Fahrenheit 451 - Simplified Version for ESL Students

PART ONE: THE HEARTH AND THE SALAMANDER

“If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.” - JUAN RAMÓN JIMÉNEZ

IT FEELS GOOD TO BURN THINGS. Montag enjoys watching items catch fire and turn black. He holds a brass nozzle, like a python, and uses it to spray kerosene, a flammable liquid, onto the world. With excitement, he feels like a conductor leading a grand orchestra of flames. He wears a special helmet marked with the number 451 and watches as a house bursts into flames, lighting up the evening sky with reds and yellows. Montag feels powerful and happy with the fiery scene in front of him.

As he walks home, he enjoys the night. He feels a strange pull towards the corner near his house. Each night, he senses someone waiting there, as if the air is different. He slows down, curious. Finally, he turns the corner and sees a girl, Clarisse McClellan, moving gracefully through the leaves. She seems almost magical in the moonlight, with a kind and curious look on her face.

“Hi! You must be the fireman,” she says with surprise.

Montag feels different, more human, when he talks to her. "What’s your name?" he asks.

“Clarisse. And you are Guy Montag.
"You are my new neighbor," she replies.

They walk home together, and she asks him why he is not like other firemen. Most people are afraid of firemen because they burn books. But she isn’t afraid of him.