Conformity In Fahrenheit 451, By Ray Bradbury

In a world where everyone is the same, it takes courage to stand out a be different. Some have the will to stand out like Clairesse and some fall into the chains of conformity like Mildred from the book Fahrenheit 451 written By Ray Bradbury. The book centers around a society that no longer reads books and firemen start fires to burn the books left in the world.Clairesse is a free willed teenager who is unlike everybody else. We figure this out when she meets our protagonist Guy Montag and tells him that she likes to take walks and admire the outside world which is not normal in this society. In which the opposite of that is Montag’s wife Mildred who is your typical person in this society who loves their entertainment and has no diversity in character. She also cares about little in life but loves her “family”. These two characters show the opposite sides of society, the conformist side and non-conformist side ,which help reveal why conformity can be harmful.

While speaking to Montag ,Clairesse says that she “rarely watches the parlor walls or go to races or fun parks”( Bradbury 7). The idea of always having fun is presented in this society but Clairesse’s way of having fun is seen weird because nobody else is willing to try anything that they’ve found themselves only ideas presented by the government. This is a good example of how Clairesse has a free will instead of following societies ideas . When Clairesse is telling Montag about herself she mentions that “ Im antisocial, they say. I don’t mix. It’s so strange, Im very social indeed”(Bradbury 29). Clairesse understands that people think shes different but she doesn’t know why but she still wonders. She questions people and wants to know why things are. In summary, Clairesse shows nonconformity and values more knowledge of the world more than material things unlike