Conformity In Fahrenheit 451

A society is created through civilizations; civilizations are created through a number of things, most importantly a shared sense of identity in their culture. Therefore, uniformity is a built-in foundation for societies. When someone doesn’t fit into this shared identity, they are looked down upon – considered “non-conformists.” This sets the basis for the idea that conformity in a society overpowers peoples’ sense of individualism. This claim has a cause and effect to it. Conformity keeps peace, so as a result individualism is suppressed. The quotes my partner and I chose for the mashup reflect both of these sides. The cause is evident in the passages taken out of Medea and Fahrenheit 451. In Medea, the main part of the quote is “that a foreigner should conform, adapt to his society.” Someone that is different from the norm could

A similar idea is found in Beatty’s description of Clarisse in Fahrenheit 451: “She didn’t want to know how a thing was done, but why. That can be embarrassing…. The poor girl’s better off dead.” The society in this particular novel doesn’t truly care about anything around them and “normal” people don’t take the time to investigate their situation. Clarisse was different in which she did want to investigate – a quality of hers that didn’t fit with the people around her. This is, again, implying that if she were to just act like everyone else, society would be better off and more peaceful. This quote manages to also represent the idea of suppressing individualism since her thought process is considered embarrassing for being different. Another quote in this novel holds the statement: “Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal.” This is important towards the effect mainly because no one ends up an individual, but it can also relate to the cause since it later addresses in the quote that different ideas are