The Importance Of Materialism In Fahrenheit 451

The book, Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury brought to light some scary yet plausible ideas on the future of the world. In the novel, firemen are ordered to burn books and the public is brainwashed into worrying more about materialistic happiness than taking the time to think. The epigraph at the beginning of the book reads, “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.” This quote is Ray’s way of drawing attention to the simple fact that although society will do its best to conform people to their liking, people must always challenge to question and rebel against the norm. One way this epigraph ties well with the book would be the ongoing challenging of the society that the main character, Montag, does all throughout the book. A prime example of this being the time when Montag had a lengthy and thought-provoking conversation with his wife, Mildred, on pages 146-151. In these pages, the characters clash on the ideas and morals of whether it’s okay or not to ignore the thoughts that Montag continues to have about books. A good quote exhibiting Montag’s confliction and his willingness to challenge in the conversation would be from pages 146 and 147 where he says, “No, I don’t want to, this time. I want to hold onto this funny thing. God, it’s gotten big on me. I don’t know what it is. I’m so da**ed unhappy, I’m so mad, and I don’t know why…” he further goes on to say “…I’ve been saving up a lot of things, and don’t know what. I might even start reading