Our society is doomed. Everyday we become more and more similar to the society within Fahrenheit 451 as we become less and less patient and more and more conform becoming what we think society wants us to be rather than what we ourselves want to be.
Have you ever wanted something so bad and you just had to have it right now, you couldn’t wait any longer? This means you have felt instant gratification the need to have something right now no waiting. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury the society is full of people who constantly have instant gratification. Not with just material object everything in general on the highways they drive at extremely high speeds simply because they can’t be bothered to wait. On page 6 Clarisse says to Montag “ My
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Individuality is the quality or character of a particular person or thing that distinguishes them from others of the same kind. In other words individuality is being different and in Fahrenheit having individuality is not necessarily a good thing like it is in our society. On page 58 it says "We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against. So! A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon." it's saying that people who are different are dangerous because they don’t think like everyone else and books help enable people to be different so by taking away books they lessen the chance of people being different because they take away that aspect of creative thinking. My last quote comes from Clarisse on page 31 “I’m antisocial, they say. I don’t mix. It’s so strange. I’m very social indeed. It all depends on what you mean by social, doesn’t it? Social to me means talking to you about things like this.” This quote shows how conformity in Fahrenheit 451 makes it so that if you’re not exactly what society wants you to be you’re unsocial, weird, an
Fahrenheit 451 is a novel written by Ray Bradbury about a restrained society where a man named Gay Montag questioned the way the world was made. This book makes one question themselves, how close are we? When reading this novel one wouldn't want to believe how similar today's society and the books society truly are to a novel written in 1953. The reason today’s society and the books society are so applicable to each other because of the marriage and technology even though realization will be the cause of unhappiness in his/her life.
Countless themes were present in the book Fahrenheit 451. One of the more prominent, however, is the theme of conformity. There are several examples of this in the novel, such as the government changing history so that people don’t question the firefighters and go against the flow. Also, all throughout the book, the government is causing people to think the same way and conform to the way the government wants them to be through the television and seashell radio. Another example is conformity being forced on the citizens by the mechanical hound and the severe punishments for not following the rules.
Beatty compares Montag to the story of Icarus to show Montag’s character Development. “Old Montag wanted to fly near the sun and now that he’s burnt his damn wings, he wonders why. Didn’t I hint enough when I sent the Hound around your place?” (p. 113)
Have you ever been so involved with a book that you feel like you personally know each and every character? That when the book comes to an end you feel like a chapter of your life has just closed? What if you could never have that feeling ever again? Would it make you do things you could have never imagined, like breaking the law? Well this is an everyday problem for the people in the future in Ray Bradbury’s book Fahrenheit 451, when most books are deemed illegal, unless the government says otherwise.
Trying to force one's identity on them, turns the light of the world into complete darkness. The burning of the Old Woman and her books intensifies passion and the death of individuality in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. She rebelled against society and stood for what she believed in. The horrific sight completely changed Montag's perspective on life. Shock filled everyone’s bodies exemplifying the importance of her actions and the impact she was beginning to make.
The story of Fahrenheit 451 and the way that its society has developed into one that focuses on pleasure and minimizes pain reveals a striking fact. That is that a society built the idea of minimizing pain and focusing on pleasure is self-destructive and can not last. It lacks the core foundation of a modern society, which is emotion and literature. It will eventually destroy itself and all of the people with it.
In Ray Bradbury’s book Farenheit 451, it is illegal to own books, and society deems people who “think” and “question” unfit and those people are wanted by the government. In the novel, Bradbury ironically pictures firemen as a group of men who create fires, and the people who “think” and “question” are killed. In this book themes of conformity verses individuality, importance of remembering and understanding history, and freedom of speech and the consequences of losing it. These three thematic ideas are major factors that contributed to how the society’s everyday life is executed.
”(Bradbury 57). In other words, he believes that if controversial or uncomfortable issues are eliminated from society, in turn, the public will be happy. The world of Fahrenheit 451 reflects this greatly, in which many people are unhappy, but choose to sweep their troubles under the rug rather than face them head on. They use gadgets like TV parlor rooms, Seashell ear thimbles, and payed actors to drown out their sorrows. Driving down the road at 95 mph they don't only speed towards their destinations, but away from their distress.
In the paragraph, Beatty explains why they don’t allow people to read books. In the world Montag is living in the government doesn’t allow people to have their own thoughts or opinions. They are worried that if they read books they will have different opinions causing them to fight with one another or the government. The government is limiting their knowledge so everyone will be “happy”. However, no one is truly happy because they believe the same thing as everyone else.
It’s so strange. I’m very social indeed. It all depends on what you mean by social doesn’t it?” (Bradbury p.22). That was a quote from Clarisse, and it just goes to show that if you do not do what everyone else does, you get labeled as something you might not necessarily
John Dos Passos once said, “Individuality is freedom lived.” The root of individuality lies in freedom. Without freedom, there is an inability to think for oneself and share one’s ideas. In a society where this freedom is lacking, people will not think for themselves and submit to whatever rule is enforced over them. In Fahrenheit 451, the government attempts to control freedom as a means towards reaching a perfect society.
In conclusion, conformity may dominate society, but there is always the chance to be yourself. Don't let others choose who they want you to be. Be yourself, choose your own decisions and have your own desires. In Fahrenheit 451 conformity and individuality are seen as problems that everyone has, which is true. Everyone suffers every day to fit in or not being accepted for being different.
The nature of conformity and individualism in Fahrenheit 451 is different compared to each other. Conformity is how everyone is in the novel while individualism is only shown outside of society. The true nature of conformity is that everyone is created equally while individualism shows what a real person is. In the novel, Montag was a character that was affected by conformity and individualism since he was once conformed in society, but then soon became an individual himself. Conformity and Individualism are polar opposites and that everyone should be unique in their own way.
Captain Beatty compares a book to a “loaded gun”, the government sees books as a weapon because books contain ideas and knowledge, they inform and lead to a comprehension of life, a comprehension which can be a huge threat to the control the government has on society. It’s much easier to control a society that’s dumb and ignorant. With the ideas and knowledge people get from books, they would be able to see what the government is truly doing to the world around them. Books promote individuality and go against conformity. The people who
In today’s society, people achieve happiness through interaction with others, but in Ray Bradbury’s dystopian Novel, Fahrenheit 451, his characters believe that they need technology to enjoy their lives. People’s main priority is to be happy and have a successful life. They don’t want to have to worry about anything and just enjoy themselves. “‘You must understand that our civilization is so vast that we can’t have our minorities upset and stirred. Ask yourself, what do we want in this country, above all?