Suspense

        In the book Fahrenheit 451, a point at which there is a considerable amount of suspense is when the main character, Guy Montag, is sitting in his bed, with a book under his pillow, and his wife is trying to get at his pillow to fluff it, while Montag's boss, Beatty, is sitting right in the room talking to him. To understand this, one needs to know that it is illegal to have books in this books universe, and Montag's job is to burn books when they are found. Now, Montag is sitting in his bed with the book under the pillow, and Mildred (his wife) is trying to get at the pillow beneath him to "fluff" the pillow. She keeps trying, even though Montag is telling her to leave as he is speaking with his boss, when she reaches under the pillow, and feels the edge of a book. This section of the book is almost slowed down as Montag sits speaking with Beatty, listening to him talk about the fact that they allow the firefighters to have the books for a single day, then if the firefighter hasn't gotten rid of it yet, they will get rid of it for them. During this portion of the story, the author speaks of every possible feature during the drawn out process.

        The point of view is telling only what Guy Montag thinks, not what Mildred or Beatty thinks, which means that the author does not know what anyone except for the protagonist is thinking. Also, the fact that the setting of this portion is in all in Montag's room, only really taking a few seconds, but seeming to take far longer than what is perceived also sort of makes the reader keep thinking that something is going to happen, even if nothing truly does happen. The mood which was created during this part is also dark. Montag has just aided the fire team in burning a house full of books (the house which he attained the bible he currently has hidden under his pillow) and a women who refused to leave the house when the poured kerosene all over the house and books, which inevitably cost her her own life. This makes Montag feel sick, and he begins to question alot of things, especially what is in the books which would make someone want to die when they could no longer have them.