I suppose that Bradbury chose the title for a chapter " The Hearth and The Salamander" because it was foreshadowing the conflict that would occur throughout the novel. The connection that he wanted to create was a dominant image of the life of Montage. Some assumptions that the reader can make after reading the lines " It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changing" would be by telling the readers that the Guy Montage (protagonist) was happy that the books could vanish into thin air and how the books can easily be gone. I think he had chosen to characterize a fire hose as a " Great Python" because the fire hose had been chosen to eliminate books. This imagery can be positive if you are referring it to Montage because he was happy to be eliminating books that they really didn't need in the world. The symbolic importance of the number 451 that was inscribed in Montage's fire helmet...