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Conformity In 451, By Ray Bradbury

563 Words3 Pages

Don’t judge a book by its cover, which is the cliche saying. Reading a book and retaining the knowledge given is important for any society. When one reads, they retain knowledge from the book, newspaper, or article that can be crucial to a society’s success. There are many ways one can retain knowledge. The most crucial thing for a society’s survival is reading. When there is more knowledge within a society, there is a better understanding of life; the people within the society can understand each other without mishaps. Considering today’s society, the news presents different stories and tragedies each day. While some may not recognize, they still are reading the report off the screen. Some even go as far as using it as a teaching mechanism …show more content…

If people were to not have any knowledge of the Supreme Court system or political standing points, the government is considered “in rule.” In “heit 451,” by Ray Bradbury, society is portrayed as a conformity. They are not allowed to read or even have books in hand, and if caught with one, their house will be set in flames. The main character Guy Montag does not follow this conformity, though he is curious about the books and the knowledge they hold. When Montag is on the run as a fugitive, he meets a group of intelligent men within the woods; each of them which had memorized a book. The men’s mission after the war and destruction of the city was to pass on knowledge to others. Since the men had memorized the books, they would keep the knowledge in their minds forever. Even if the book was burned, they would still have a copy in their mind. Ultimately, the idea behind the books that were to be spread was to improve the way one was living and show them a different point of view towards their beliefs. Society as a whole in “Volume 451”, showed the dangers of a society that did not read books nor have knowledge. The firemen did not perform tasks regular firemen would in today's society; they were to burn the houses of anyone who possessed a book. Considering the consequences, people like Mildred Montag followed the strict rules. Scared of neglect from the society, Mildred and her friends kept to

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Imagine a world where books are illegal and firemen start fires instead of putting them out. A fireman named Montag lives in this world. Montag originally agreed with the laws against books but eventually broke them himself. Mildred eventually becomes sick of having the books in her house and breaking the law so she turns in an alarm against him. Montag then runs away and find the “book people” and live with them in the free community.

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In the book Fahrenheit 451, a central idea is commonly repeated and shown: Don’t let societal expectations conform to who you are. The main character, Guy, and his Wife, Mildred are the perfect examples of this, Guy shows nonconformity whilst Mildred shows conformity. Author, Ray Bradbury places the reader in a dystopian world where books are banned. As we follow the main character, we watch as he begins to gain cognizance of the government's corrupt ways. As it is illegal to own and read books, Guy decided not to follow these rules, as shown on page 96 where he is reading a poem “The Sea of Faith” on a train.

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Tessa LaForge Mrs. Zvanut Honors English II 21 May, 2024 Conformity for comfort: Conformity in Fahrenheit 451. Fahrenheit 451, a novel written by Ray Bradbury, takes place in a future society where books are not allowed and if you are caught with them they are burnt by firemen. Firemen in this society do not save things from fire, they cause fires.

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In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury illustrates how Dystopia enforces the laws by terror, as opposed to virtue, in the character of Faber. Faber, Montag’s consul and aid, greatly treasures books, but possesses none for fear of being “burnt for [his] trouble,” and thus “could [not] possibly listen to [Montag]” (Bradbury 85). Intimidation from government policy (calling for arson on buildings containing books) prevents Faber from rebelling himself. Thus, Bradbury delineates Faber’s cowardice by showing his conformity in spite of his inward questioning, fabricating a picture of fragile dystopian ideals prone to falsification. Bradbury utilizes The Firemen as an illustration of the Dystopia’s method of preserving its frail felicity.

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"No one has time anymore for anyone else" (Bradbury 23). In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, Clarisse complains about the neglect people have for others. The story is set in a future where critical thinking is suppressed and people are expected to only worry about themselves. These expectations have created the foundation of this civilization. A disconnection from reality has been fostered through the repression of literature and the shallowness of relationships due to attention spans directed to technology.

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“Fahrenheit 451” states, “He explores the historical climate that helped create Fahrenheit 451 and its protest against mindless conformity and censorship”(150). Ray Bradbury explores many aspects of an unprivileged life and it came to show in his novels and works. He was born on August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois, but did not live here for his whole childhood because his family was forced to move many times due to the Great Depression and he lived in such great poverty. Bradbury ended up in Los Angeles, California in 1934, where he began his writing career of over fifty novels and close to 600 short stories, in the forties and continued into the early eighties. He wrote many science fiction novels that dealt with a theme of fear and good

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Webster’s Dictionary defines individuality as “the quality that makes one person or thing different from all others”, and conformity as “behavior that is the same as the behavior of most other people in a society”. John F. Kennedy says, “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” Oftentimes, much like in Kennedy’s case, individualism is praised over conformity, labeling the former good or courageous and the latter bad or lazy, because individuality fuels change, whereas conformity prompts a societal stasis. However, it needs to be taken into account that humans are, in Aristotle’s words, social animals and thus, in societies as complex and intricate as ours, stasis suggests stability, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

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Through reading we expose ourselves to new things, new information, new ways to solve problems, and new ways to achieve things. Before we take action on anything, we seek reading for help, guidance, reviews, and feedback. When we read we gain experience from other people, and we don’t need to repeat the same mistake. With this gained experience people will create solutions towards a better understanding of the world and better future developed actions. Also, reading increases the understanding of the rules of life, in order for people to adapt, adopt and accommodate into the society better.

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“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.

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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.

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