Original artwork, not a still
Fahrenheit 451 • 1953
Monday burn Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner, burn 'em to ashes, then burn the ashes.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The joke is the schedule: great literature as a weekday chore, with ashes burned again to be sure. It makes the censorship look like office routine. The names are real writers, Millay, Whitman and Faulkner, picked for their alliteration with the days, and fans quote it as a taste of Bradbury's dark humour.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Fahrenheit 451Show the scene
Captain Beatty says this in his long speech to Montag in Part One, "The Hearth and the Salamander", when he visits Montag at home after the book-burning. He is explaining the weekly routine of what the firemen are for: a poet or novelist for each day, burned and then burned again. Later, at the firehouse, Beatty admits he was once an enthusiastic reader himself. Bradbury wrote the original novella in the basement of UCLA's Powell Library.
Sources (1)
- Fahrenheit 451 (Wikipedia)Plot summary, Part 1; Writing and developmentReference checked
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