In this new post-apocalyptic world, the only knowledge of the past is stored in people's memories. As Montag joins this new group of wise outcasts, he is shocked to learn that they also burn books. However, the difference is that they burn the books after reading them and committing every word to memory. Instead of carrying around the books that could incriminate them, they become the books instead. In this new society, it's not the people that matter but the books they remember: most people aren't known by their names but by what they remember. This way of life prevents anyone from becoming arrogant and doing something stupid. The most important thing they need to remember is that they're "nothing more than dust jackets for books, of no significance otherwise." (page 153) Symbol - Phoenix …show more content…
Every few hundred years, the phoenix burnt himself up and emerged from the ashes as a baby bird again; the phoenix symbolizes humanity. Every few years, some country declares war and the whole world metaphorically burns itself up. Thousands of people are killed and civilization is destroyed. But after the war ends, everything is peaceful and the countries begin rebuilding everything again, rising out of the ashes like a phoenix. Despite knowing the horrible things that happen during wars, people still crave power enough to make other people fight for it. Granger said that the difference between humans and phoenixes is that "we know the damn silly thing we just did" (page 163). However, that doesn't stop humanity from making the same exact mistake over and over