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Analysis of individuality in fahrenheit 451
Analysis of individuality in fahrenheit 451
Analysis of individuality in fahrenheit 451
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In a future totalitarian society, all books have been outlawed by the government, fearing an independent-thinking public. Fahrenheit 451 is a futuristic novel, telling the story of a time where books and independent thinking are outlawed. In a time so unenlightened, where those who want to better themselves by thinking, are outlawed and killed. Guy Montag is a senior firefighter who is much respected by his superiors and is in line for a promotion. He does not question what he does or why he does it until he meets Clarisse.
Within the first book of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the fireman Guy Montag had changed to a societal outcast through questioning the conformity ingrained into his mind. After burning a woman for refusing to leave behind her books, Montag talked with his wife Mildred about why she would essentially commit suicide for books. In this epiphany, he realizes “‘There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house” to which Mildred then replies “She was simple-minded.” (48). Because Montag burned this woman, unlike the rest of society shown in the microcosm of his wife, he begins to question the illegality of books instead of adamantly questioning the criminal.
Ray Bradbury 's novel Fahrenheit 451 delineates a society where books and quality information are censored while useless media is consumed daily by the citizens. Through the use of the character Mildred as a foil to contrast the distinct coming of age journey of the protagonist Guy Montag, Bradbury highlights the dangers of ignorance in a totalitarian society as well as the importance of critical thinking. From the beginning of the story, the author automatically epitomizes Mildred as a direct embodiment of the rest of the society: she overdoses, consumes a vast amount of mindless television, and is oblivious to the despotic and manipulative government. Bradbury utilizes Mildred as a symbol of ignorance to emphasize how a population will be devoid of the ability to think critically while living in a totalitarian society. Before Montag meets Clarisse, he is
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.
Social rebellion has been a large part of today's modern culture, as children we tend to veer off into our own direction and into our own destiny. In the Novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the society we know and understand today is gone and in its place is a futuristic society of book burnings and false freedom. The main character Guy Montag undergoes a life changing reprogramming of how he thinks and acts after finding the true meaning of freedom. The novel begins with Montag doing his normal routine working as a fireman.
The people in this society do not thinking independently. The government in this society uses distractions, such as technology, to replace the fact that the people's individuality is being taken from them. In Fahrenheit 451, books are outlawed and are replaced by technology. Guy Montag is one of the fireman who burns the books. As the story develops he discovers the issues with the government.
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.
Although there will be people who would want a world where no one is better than anyone else, I believe that it is impossible to have complete conformity among the populace because of the fact that we as people need to change all the time. Nobody is able to just keep the same routine for too long before they decide to move on. In Ray Bradbury’s book, Fahrenheit 451, he talks about a world where everyone yields to conformity, and there are bound to be people who think differently than the government wants them to. The government makes a point to say that if someone steps out of line, there will be serious if not deadly consequences. There are also people who do exactly as the government wants them to.
“Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth” (John F. Kennedy). This quote by former president John F. Kennedy explains how conformity can hurt a society over all. In Fahrenheit 451, the society concedes into the bizarre laws of the land implemented by the government, without a care in the world. They see the laws pushed upon them as normal, and don’t question them because nobody else does. In “Harrison Bergeron” the society sees individuals with artificial handicaps to be ordinary, and orderly.
In Ray Bradbury’s dystopian Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag experiences a paradigm shift as he transforms from a disoriented fireman to a learner who wants to gain knowledge through literature. Montag struggles with his newfound fascination with what was once trivial items because of his inability to ask questions under the bonds of conformity. However, the society prohibits people from reading for fear that they would express individuality and perhaps even rebel once they gain knowledge. Through the use of characterization and diction, the Bradbury demonstrates Montag’s desire for individuality and the society’s command of conformity in order to build a suspenseful mood, which keeps the reader’s interest. First, through the use of characterization,
“A time to keep silent and time to speak,” is a quote from the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury 158). Based upon the novel, when should one take a stand and when ought to submit to society? Set in the distant future, Fahrenheit 451 introduces a public that conforms to burning books, with the intention for thoughts to be more limited and less likely to go against the government. Even so, there are still some who decide to be individualist and enlighten themselves in secret.
In the novel Fahrenheit 451 conformity and individuality is something to talk about. Conformity and individuality are very important themes in Fahrenheit 451 and in modern life. The novel demonstrates how individuality is very rare. Is about modern America. Without individuality today, everyone would not be different and would follow someone else trends and everything about them.
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.
“A time to keep silent and a time to speak,” (158) is a quote from the book Fahrenheit 451. This novel is all about how people conform to a society that burns books. They do so because they make people “think” thoughts that the government doesn’t want them to. Though there are some who are not conformed and read books to enlighten themselves to the ways of the past, that changes the way they see the present. Mildred, Faber, and Clarisse are characters that represent different aspects of conformity or nonconformity in the Fahrenheit 451 society.
Do you choose to conform? or is it something you do without even thinking about it? Conformity is a theme consistently found throughout Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. In Fahrenheit 451 Bradbury illustrates how conformity is not always a choice and not conforming is a choice through the characters Montag, Faber and Mildred. Some people spend their entire life conforming to society, and can not imagine what being an independant thinker is.
