Blog 6: Significant Passage

*Please choose one passage from the novel that is significant to you. Why is this passage meaningful? Please type it into one of your entries and comment on what you think about the passage.

Beatty, smelling of the wind through which he had rushed, was at Montag’s elbow. “All right, Montag.”
The men ran like cripples in their clumsy boots, as quietly as spiders.
At last Montag raised his eyes and turned.
Beatty was watching his face.
“Something the matter Montag?”
“Why” said Montag slowly, “we’ve stopped in front of my house.” (pg.110)

This passage is significant and meaningful for me, mainly for two reasons. Firstly, I like the thrilling tension coming from this passage. Secondly, this passage connects me with Montag.

The passage is full of tension and suspense, which made me like it. This particular situation is the peak of the rising action, where it is right before the climax. When I was reading this, I was so focused into it because even I, as the reader, felt tense and nervous. I read this book twice, and when I read it the second time, I tried to read it in Montag’s point of view. I tried empathic reading. Reading this passage in Montag’s point of view built up great suspense and I loved that suspense. At the moment I realized that the place that Captain Beatty brought me, or actually Montag, was my own house, I shouted “Oh my gosh!” I totally lost a word to say and I was absolutely shocked. Although the feelings that I had were not positive, I enjoyed the tension that was built and the surprise that I got. I love novels that are full of suspense and twists.

Other than how I liked it, this passage made me reminisce of the past. This situation is a happening where a character is shocked and surprised after feeling guilty. I underwent a similar situation in the past, and I could totally sympathize with Montag while reading this passage. This happened when I was in the seventh grade. It was the night before Christmas break, so all of my peers in the dorm decided to sleepover in my room. Of course, we were breaking the rule, but we wanted to have fun and a memorable night before the holiday. We were playing and talking loudly until around 11:40 P.M. Suddenly, a door knocked saying “Open the door guys.” At first, we all thought someone from another room was trying to mess with us, so we ignored it; however, it turned out that it was our dorm parent, Mrs. Van Wyk. We obviously got caught, but fortunately, there was no punishment, at least we thought so. However, some time during the third quarter, many of the guys were called up to our dorm parent’s office. We had no idea why we were called, but when I arrived into their apartment, I had the exactly same feeling as Montag did from the passage above. I thought, “Why, the people here are the guys who slept over in my room last semester.” When I read this passage from the book, I could totally understand how Montag felt. Because of such memorable connection I made, this passage was meaningful to me.