Obtain, read aloud, and study the poem "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold. Why, do you think, did it make Mrs. Phelps cry? What about the poem is relevant to the themes and narrative of the novel?

Examine the summary and the quotes for situations, belief systems, technologies - anything that has an echo in contemporary culture and society. Discuss how those echoes form a connection between the book's warnings about what society might become and what contemporary society has become.

Examine the Biblical "Book of Ecclesiastes". What resonances can you find between the teachings it contains and the themes/narrative lines of the narrative? Why do you think the author chose this particular book to excerpt in his novel?

Do you agree with Montag's suggestion that Captain Beatty wanted to die? If yes, why do you think that was the case? If no, why...