Individuality In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451 Essay

Expressing yourself has always been a struggle. You’re constantly fighting to be yourself among a crowd of people that don’t want you too. Mainstream media has set ideals for both men and women alike so it’s hard not to be what they want. We see pictures of women with flat stomachs and men with piles of muscles and assume that’s what we need to be like in order to gain the acceptance of the people around us. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury seems to clearly express the idea that a selfish society can lead to the oppression of individuality.

Fahrenheit 451 has a unique universe in which while going through a war people are too caught up in how they look instead of personal gain. The anti-intellectuals have the same mindsets

Perfectly sculpted bodies and smiles whiter than fresh snow. She, and many others like her, have stopped being able to express their own individuality. Instead they try so hard to conform to society’s expectations. A scene where this can be seen can be found on page 46. “ And suddenly she was so strange he couldn’t believe he knew her at all. He was in someone else’s house, like those other jokes people told of the gentleman, drunk, coming home late late at night, unlocking the wrong door, entering a wrong room, and bedding with a stranger and getting up early and going to work and neither of them the wiser.” In this scene I think this is the first time Montag has really seen his wife. They’ve spent years together but they’ve become so engrossed in themselves that they haven’t paid attention to each other. And now that he sees her he doesnt recognize her. Further proving that the people in this society would much rather put up walls so they can’t see outside themselves than express their personalities. These people that refuse to see the world around them can also be described as

Throughout the story more and more is revealed about Sabre and how he views the society they live in. An example of this can be found on page 110. “‘But remember that the captain belongs to the most dangerous enemy to the truth and freedom, the solid unmoving cattle of the majority.’” In this scene Sabre is talking into Montags ea, arguing everything Beatty has said. This quotes gives us a closer look as to what an intellectual in their society thinks of the anti-intellectuals.. Everyone is stuck in one place and they can see one thing. Their individuality has seemed to disappear instead being replaced by one mindset. Like a herd of