Montag escapes to safety but is "murdered" on television

Summary

The Hound and the helicopters are unable to locate Montag now that he is in the water. Unwilling to admit its own failure, the government comes up with a hoax. When a man is killed, it is announced, complete with pictures, that Montag has been captured and executed. In truth, Montag is floating downstream and thinking about his childhood.

Montag comes ashore at the edge of a forest. He walks along a railroad track until he comes across a group of people around a fire. They are watching the "capture" of Montag on television. They welcome him into their midst and introduce themselves; it is obvious that they are exiled intellectuals. The leader, a man called Granger, says he was once an author; the others are all scholars or well-educated men. Montag feels inferior, but they welcome him as an equal and offer him protection. Montag is given a potion that will change his chemical composition; therefore, the Hound will never be able to find Montag by his scent.

The exiles tell Montag about their plan; each of them is memorizing a book before burning it. By committing the book to memory, it can live on. They believe that in the future, sometime after the imminent war, their oral tradition will once again find its way back onto paper and books will be printed again. In the meantime, they must study and learn their assigned texts. Montag's assignment is to memorize the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes.

Notes

Through good planning and sheer determination, Montag manages to allude the Hound and the helicopters. He finally leaves the river and comes ashore by a forest. He follows railroad tracks and locates a group of exiled intellectuals. They are listening to a news report on television. The government, not wanting to admit defeat, announces that Montag has been captured and killed.

Montag is astounded at the intelligence of the exiles and believes he is way out of his league. The intellectuals, however, greet him warmly and treat him as an equal; they also give him a potion to change his chemical composition so that the Hound can never locate his scent. The old Montag is now gone forever, both physically and emotionally.

Montag is surprised to learn that the exiles have already begun their own revolution. Each of them is committing a book to memory before burning it. Montag is assigned Ecclesiastes, a book from the Old Testament of the Bible. The plan is for everyone to write the memorized book down again after the impending war is over. They feel confident that books will be published again in the future. Montag is relieved to have a safe haven and know that he and Faber are not alone in their fight.

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