Part Two Barry 2010

An allusion is a reference to a mythological, Biblical, literary, or historical person, place, or thing or any reference to another work of literature.

Allusions are usually brief and passing. Allusions can enrich our reading of one text by

causing us to think about another text.

The quotes we wrote about today are allusions. They are references in Fahrenheit 451 to the writings of James Boswell and to the Bible.

Often allusions are less obvious, and are not actually quotes.

On page 38 of the novel, Beatty is yelling at the woman who chose to burn with her books. He says,

“Where’s your common sense? None of these books agree with each other. You’ve been locked up here for years with a regular damned Tower of Babel. Snap out of it!”

His mention of the Tower of Babel is an allusion to a story in the Bible.

In the Old Testament book of Genesis, everyone spoke one language.

The people built a huge tower, trying to get to heaven.

God realized they needed to be restrained from accomplishing so much.

He confused, or mixed up, their language so that everyone spoke different languages.

Mention of the Tower of Babel now means confusion and corruption of language, the disagreement between different languages, or the inability to communicate.

What do you think Beatty meant by saying this to the woman?

A flashback is a scene that interrupts the action of a work to show a previous event.

Flashbacks often serve to illuminate the current action by showing an event from the past.

Usually, flashbacks represent a character’s memories of some past event.

Can you find the flashback on page 78?“Once as a child he had sat upon a yellow dune by the sea in

the middle of the blue and hot summer day, trying to fill a sieve with sand, because a cruel cousin had said, “Fill this sieve and you’ll get a dime!” And the faster he poured, the faster it sifted through with a hot whispering. His hands were tired, the sand was boiling, the sieve was empty. Seated there in the midst of July, without a sound, he felt the tears move down his cheeks.”

Read the next paragraph on page 78. How is the idea of the sand and the sieve

relevant to Montag’s current experiences? In other words, what reminds him of his experience with the sand and the sieve in the past?

Look through last night’s reading and find another flashback.

Why does Montag flash back to the afternoon he spoke with the old man in the park?