Conformity In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

To be Energetic or Dull Fahrenheit 451 is a story about conforming to society. The people of this suburban city all conform to the idea about burning books. In Clarisse and the story, there are two characters who show the idea of conformity and the idea of rebellion. Clarisse McClellan and Mildred Montag are these two characters. The analysis of the literary element of characters proves this. In Fahrenheit 45, Clarisse and Mildred show differences in such ways as their personality, their actions, and their view of the world. In the novel, Clarisse and Mildred have very different personalities. Clarisse is very outgoing. “I’m seventeen and I’m crazy” (Bradbury 2). Clarisse says this about herself in a conversation with Montag. Montag is taken

Clarisse always talks in ramblings and switches subjects very frequently. In one part of the story she goes from horses, to cows, and then to her uncle going to jail for driving too slow on the highway. She also talks about how she likes to be in the rain. “I’m still crazy. The rain feels good. I love to walk in it” (Bradbury 8). She also admits that she likes to ride the subway and listen to people. In comparison, Mildred is very boring. According to Smolla, “His marriage to Mildred is less than ideal, notably because she spends most of her time mesmerized by the “televisors”—large flat-screen televisions that occupy entire walls of the house” (897). Mildred watches television with her friends and does much of nothing else. In the book, the suburban town is all about television and technology. They are consumed by it. Mildred follows society’s lead and conforms to what seems to be the norm. Clarisse on the other hand, embodies every bit of what we call rebellion. She doesn’t just sit in her house and watch television. She gets out and does the opposite of what everyone else is doing. She rides the subway, she gets out in the rain, she hikes and collects

As stated before, Mildred conforms to society. She doesn’t question why, she just does it. When Montag begins to think differently about his job and how burning books may be wrong, Mildred defends society’s view. “"Montag, take my word for it, I 've had to read a few in my time, to know what I was about, and the books say nothing! Nothing you can teach or believe. They 're about non-existent people, figments of imagination, if they 're fiction. And if they 're non-fiction, it 's worse, one professor calling another an idiot, one philosopher screaming down another 's gullet. All of them running about, putting out the stars and extinguishing the sun. You come away lost” (Bradbury). Clarisse views the world in a completely different aspect. When Clarisse and Montag talk about being social, Clarisse makes the statement that being social is not getting a bunch of people together and not talking. She talks about how she likes to ride the subway and listen to people. “I just want to figure out who they are and what they want and where they are going” (Bradbury). Mildred would never get out and do that because she thinks it’s against what society