In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, what does it mean when it says on page 38, "the poison working up his wrists and into his elbows"? What is the...

In the text I have, this passage falls on page 41.

"So it was the hand that started it all . . . His hands had been infected, and soon it would be his arms. He could feel the poison working up his wrists and into his elbows and his shoulders, and then the jump-over from shoulder blade to shoulder blade like a spark leaping a gap. His hands were ravenous. And his eyes were beginning to feel hunger, as if they must look at something, anything, everything" (41).

Montag has just returned home from helping to burn down a woman's home. Actually, she ignites the house and herself at the same time, which traumatizes Montag. But before the old woman does that, Montag steals a book from her home and he blames it on his hand. He arrives home in the dark, and like a child who impatiently wants to open his gift, Montag imagines the metaphorical "poison" moving through his veins. This poison could represent the curiosity and desire Montag has to learn about what books have to offer.

The passage also uses the word "hunger" to describe how passionately Montag's eyes want to read. So, the poison could be the "hunger" or desire to do something wrong. However, since reading books is illegal, then this curiosity and desire to read would be like a poison that can infect him with a figurative disease. That disease would then be a deeper knowledge and understanding of the world around him. Montag's society, though, does not want him to understand the world around him; it wants him to remain distracted and have fun.