Death In Fahrenheit 451 Essay

Culture, with true consistency, has been continuously evolving throughout human history. Government, technology, and religion have all transitioned in some way over the course of our history, but a strange trend has appeared over the last two centuries. This trend has relatively nothing to do with the development of a specific value in society, but rather it points out the alarming rate at which society has been developing over the last two hundred years. To put this trend in perspective; the industrial revolution, which was the process of mechanizing industry in favor of increasing the output of consumer products, while at the same time catalyzing the process of urbanization, only took place two-hundred years ago - arguably. And in this short

These poor social habits can best be exemplified when the topic of death is introduced to the characters. Early on in the book, Mildred attempts to commit suicide, she survives the ordeal and is apparently unaware of what happened; “[Montag] Last night … Do you remember? … [Mildred] Feel like I’ve got a hangover. God I’m hungry. Who was here?” (Bradbury 16). It is clear that Mildred, the protagonist's wife, has no apparent fear of death, nor did she even investigate the cause of her suicide attempt. The disregard of human life, is indeed morbid, but its inclusion serves as one of the most important themes of the novel. In what way, could Bradbury's own society have been facing death? While examining suicide rates in the mid-twentieth century, and disturbing trend was established. In the year 1950, suicide rates for men, between the ages of fifty-five and seventy-five, were “significantly higher” in comparison to the years to come. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC). Since Fahrenheit 451 was published in 1953, a trend may have very taken root from the increase of male suicide rates in his time, but perhaps even a greater trend was taking shape during Bradbury's