Faber is waiting for the war that has been impending since the beginning of the story. Several times, Bradbury mentions the jets roaring overhead as the country prepares for war. When Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Bowles, friends of Millie's, are visiting, Mrs. Phelps says her husband was called up by the Army for a quick war; she says he'll be home by next week. Faber knows however, and Montag comes to realize, that any way that occurs now will be a devastating war. It will be a nuclear war with catastrophic results. It is this very catastrophe that Faber is counting on, as is Granger. They both express the idea that perhaps, like the legendary phoenix that burns itself up every thousand years only to rise again from the ashes, the city and the civilization will be able to rise from the ashes of this war and rebuild itself. The hope is that this time, when civilization is built, it will learn from the past mistakes and not make them again. Faber hopes that people will remember and understand the importance of books and of learning. He hopes that they won't become the society that they are at the time; one caught up in instant gratification, pleasure, and bland political correctness.
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