Fahrenheit 451: Burning Bright

The third section of Fahrenheit 451 is the last section of the novel. A lot of things happen in this section. When the firemen reach Montag's house, Mildred runs out with a suitcase to a taxi. Montag assumes that she called in the report. Beatty makes Montag torch his own house. He does it. While torching his house, Montag feels good. He likes to set things on fire, and it seems like he does not even care that it is his own house.

After torching his house, Beatty tries to lecture him some more. Montag becomes very angry, so he torches Beatty and kills him. The mechanical dog then injects Montag with some anesthetic which causes his leg to go numb. Montag runs to his backyard and grabs his books. He takes them to another fireman's house and calls the fire department to burn that house. He then flees.

Montag returns to Faber's house one last time. Faber tells him to run to the country where some other hobo intellectuals live. He tells Montag to meet him in St. Louis sometime in the future. Montag then tells Faber how to cover up his smell so that the mechanical dog will not stop at his house. Before leaving, Montag takes a suitcase full of some of Faber's old clothes.

Montag tracks how far the dog is behind him by looking in through people's houses at their TVs. He sees that the dog paused at Faber's house but did not go in. Montag was about to reach a river when he saw that the television told everyone to open their doors and look for Montag on the count of ten. Montag manages to reach the river before the countdown is up, and he manages to stay clear of the helicopter lights.

Montag floats down the river for awhile; he washes away any scent that the mechanical dog could pick up. He goes ashore and notices that he is in the country now. It is beautiful and foreign to him. Montag soon meets three hobos sitting around a fire. One of the men's name is Granger. Granger says they have been watching the chase on their little TV. He says that they have been expecting him. The men watch as the helicopter goes in the opposite direction of where Montag is. The helicopter finds a scapegoat for Montag and kills him instead.

The hobos explain how they each have a certain literary masterpiece memorized. They say they will help others when they are ready to be helped. The men watch as some jets bomb the city. They think now that the survivors may need some help. They leave their hinding place to go to the city to help the survivors rebuild their society.