In many ways, Montag is a blank slate who picks up bits of knowledge from Clarisse, Faber, and finally Granger. Bradbury chuckles about this coincidence in his afterword to Fahrenheit 451. Faber is the name of a pencil manufacturing company. Bradbury also chuckles about this in his afterword. In many ways, Faber, the instructing professor, is like a pencil, writing on Montag s notepad.
Fire is an artificial substitute for the reality of truth, which can only be found in books.
Beatty dedicates his life to burning when he can t find satisfaction in the books he reads. The Hound is a computerized animal used by the government to punish its enemies, such as Montag. Though Montag torches the first Hound, a second one is brought in to track him. The Hound represents the strong hand of dictatorship. It is the enforcer of government policy.