Beatty refers to the Tower of Babel when arguing with a woman whose books they are going to burn. He is trying to explain to her that books are confusing, like the Tower of Babel. These two compare because Babel means “a confused noise” according to oxford dictionaries. Beatty alludes to the Tower of Babel to convince this woman that she is confused by her own mistakes; which would be reading.

Like Icarus, Montag became cocky with what he was doing. He got a little too hungry for knowledge or reading books. As a result of his careless mistakes, he is caught by Beatty. This allusion compares Montag to Icarus to show how he, in a way, played with fire and then got burnt. They both overdid what they were doing and had to face consequences for