1. Write one or more questions that you have. Don't just say "I don't get it." Ask a specific question about what is happening in the story.
The only question that comes to mind is rather trivial, but I shall say it anyway. At the beginning of the book, the way it describes the Hound's way of tracing things is that there is a touch sensor that'll scan the composition of the object it touches. Now, all of a sudden it can smell as well, and it seems to have a mind of it's own. It's become far more like a living being than it was in the beginning.
2. How has Montag changed from the beginning of the novel to this part? In writing about this you might want to notice that the environment has changed from the city to nature. Is this a coincidence or is the author trying to say something by contrasting the city to nature in relation to the ways Montag has changed.
In the beginning, Montag was a pyromaniac and, in some ways, an arsonist. His one pleasure was in destroying things. However, either out of curiosity or out of morality, he occasionally saved a book or two from the raging flames. As soon as he saw that woman who was willing to die with her books, however, something in his mind sparked. What is so important about these books that someone was willing to die, not to save them, but to die WITH them? Alas, what powers do these books hold, if that is the case? And thus, Montag began to delve into the mysteries of literature. At first, he could not understand, and to this day I have the sneaking suspicion that is still the case. But, with Faber's help, he was able to unravel the importance of the books, if not the meaning of the words within. So Montag began to fight for these books. He may not have understood them, but he did not need to to know what was right. As time passed, he found importance in something more than literature, as well. His fond memories of Clarisse made him begin to think of the world around him. How nobody had the time to stop and smell the flowers. How everybody was far too much in a hurry to stop, and learn to appreciate peace, quiet, and the beautiful night sky.
Speaking of which, there is another little dilemma on my mind. I wish not to speak of it, but I will tell you this much:
1) If anyone remembers my little rant on my mental vs. physical age here, this is very much like it. As a corollary, I was looking through my pictures of the 8th grade retreat, and I have noticed something: The reason I considered those days the 3 best of my life (despite being dreadfully sick 2/3rds of the time,) was because I finally saw the way I believed the world should be, reincarnated into a small patch of land.
Now, I'm beginning to see how disgusting the world is in contrast.
2) I've noticed a lot of irony in all the mishaps of my life. For example, my two biggest... Obsessions, for lack of a better word (Oh, it was a cruel or an ignorant mind that made the English language so large, yet so limited.) at the moment are The Lost World, and gambling my soul away on the casino in Gaia Online. (Phantom Brave is another obsession of mine, as well, but that does not count, as that obsession is rather engraved into my very personality ;))
The most current mishap today has truly brought new meaning to the theory of the "Gambler's Ruin." I assure you, though, this mishap has nothing to do with gambling.
3) I was browsing the VMK forums this weekend, and I noticed a thread asking everyone what they wanted their last words to be. As morbid of a subject it was, everyone made light of it. I did, as well, posting my favorite quote from an unknown author:
"I am a nobody, and nobody is perfect. Therefore, I am perfect."
That night, though, I began to actually think about it. I began to realize it was not a matter of what I wanted to say, but where I wanted to be. I concluded that, if I were to die, which I eventually shall, as all other humans, there would be no place better than atop a grassy hill with a beautiful view of the land, and an even more beautiful view of the crescent moon and the starry sky it swims in.
4) On a completely unrelated subject, my trusty but oh so obsolete 1.3 Megapixel camera, which I am so very accustomed to taking nature photos with, has shown exactly HOW obsolete it was today. As I was taking out the trash tonight, I noticed that there was an almost-full moon, and the cloud cover over it was thin enough so you can still see it, but thick enough where it amplified the moon's silver aura and gave it this mysterious feel, as if staring at it through a veil of mist.
Upon snapping my photo, it looked no different from my picture of the sun being turned red by a cloud of smoke. Although that picture was beautiful, I already have one. I really wanted to capture the moon. Instead I got the sun.
Alas. Photography is not the biggest hobby of mine, but I am beginning to waver on whether I should spend some money on a nice camera. The only downside is that that'd be adding another thing to the already miles-long list of things I am saving up for, and it'd be the most expensive so far. It would truly place me in a state of sheer financial error.
EDIT: Confound it, I am really out of order today. I almost forgot to place a title on this blog entry (>O_o)>
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1 comment:
Justin,
Ah Justin, how I love debating with you. But before I get into that, I would like to respond to something that you said that was completely unrelated to our debate.
I agree wholeheartedly with everything that you said and I think that is a truly wonderful quote you dug up there. I frequently will spend the waiting minutes in a movie theater, before the previews, and just watch the people. I like to go to places like Garnet St. (a street very near my house) simply to watch the people. Whenever I go to a restaurant, the first think that I do is eavesdrop on all of the conversations around me and watch all of the people who enter and exit. Afterwards, you don’t remember the faces, just a blur of people who all have lives that are not at all connected to mine and who I will most likely never see again. I love to see how they react to the other people in the restaurant, the waiters and the food they have ordered.
I also agree that you can learn a lot from that. The point I was making about books is that you can learn a lot about human nature that you will never see. For example, I will never see a war first hand, but I know a lot about how one would feel because I have read countless books with wars in them. Even though 99.99 percent of the things that I read are fantasy, you can learn a lot about people from them because the author tries to emulate really characters. That was all I meant. I completely agree with all else that you have to say and loved the quote.
And now, on to other matters…
I am glad that you were able to concede the point about the printing press because I don’t think that I would have illustrated the idea any further.
I think that even if you do have the consent of author for the books online, they are decreasing their own chances of being published. A publishing company won’t publish something that is floating around on the Internet for free; they’d be losing a lot of money! And it is still something like piracy because, though the author has given consent, they aren’t making any money. Besides, I am something of a purist and love the old fashion covers (I am sure they will go out of fashion any time now) and love having the books on my shelves all lined up. It’s a weakness of mine.
You say that manners are relaxed on the Internet. I agree with that! However, I don’t think it’s a good idea. I think that some things people say on the Internet shouldn’t be said at all. I don’t think that is a loosening of manners; I think that it is the loss of them all together! People will say anything.
Yes, a “webcam” is more involving than the telephone, but still, does it not seem impersonal? You are saying, I think, that you don’t want to leave your house to talk to people, that your friends are not important enough to see in person. Soon, no one will have to venture outside of their rooms. I could just talk to my father and mother via a “webcam”, I would never have to go to school, I can just watch the professor on a “webcam”. I wont have to ever actually meet my friends, I can just talk to them through the “webcam”. I could see this happening. What will happen to our society when all human interaction is cut off?
To the shortening of words, I think that it is true, our language has to progress. I think that the taxi comment was brilliant and I never knew that. But words have been shortened, and shortened, and shortened until there is hardly anything left of them! I think that we are losing whole words. I have to explain simple, six-letter words to most of the people my age because they don’t know them. They should. They are simple words, and yet they are too preoccupied with LOL and TTFN to learn real, meaningful words. What will be left of our civilization? People are going to first start talking like that, and then writing like that. Papers in schools will be accepted (over the Internet, of course) in chat speak. Books will be written in this fake language, classics shortened and simplified. It’s already happening. Someone wrote a short version of Paradise Lost, I believe. We read that article, The Pleasures of the Text. That’s really sad, so much is being lost.
I just think that it is sort of odd that people post their problems in a public place where anyone can read them and comment on their lives. My life is not an open book. There are such things as secrets in my life. I just object to “blogs” because I object to technology in general and I hate this loss of real writing. People on the “blogs” are only writing the bare minimum and we have lost all of the hard copies. I just hate stuff like that. I think that I should have, perhaps, been born in 1850, as I just seem to hate change in general.
I think that we basically agree that the Internet is a great tool that is used for all the wrong things. Instead of promoting individuality, it is taking it away, telling people what to think and making it easier for everyone to just be the same. I think that it is only as we have entered this age of the Internet that the general public has rejected people who try to be different.
This is really a great debate!
Kit
By the way, I have been meaning to ask you, what does your little sign off thing (Mundus Mea Ostrea Est) mean?
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