In the dystopian novel “Fahrenheit 451,” by Ray Bradbury, conformity is normal, and individualism is strongly frowned upon. In this society, it is common for all people to act very similar to one another. The government does not tolerate people who do not follow their rules in how people behave and interact with others; this is shown through the hunt for Montag, the main character in Fahrenheit 451, after he runs away. Throughout the article “The Age of Individualism,” the author, Ross Douthat, states that today’s society is filled with individualism, and now is the age of such individualistic ideals. Today, people commonly strive to be their own individual person, which is a large contrast from the society, ideals, and mindsets in Fahrenheit 451. Society in Fahrenheit 451 …show more content…
The article, “The Age of Individualism,” stresses that it is considered good to be unique and different, in fact, it is encouraged. People each stress to be their own person and to be different than everyone else. Today it is normal that everyone is their own person Douthat states that in corrupt societies “people were naturally drawn to mass movements, cults of personality, [and] nationalistic fantasias,” much like society in Fahrenheit 45; not only are characters not encouraged to have their own individual qualities, but they are expected to adapt to social norms and conform to what society thinks of them (Douthat). If one is different in “Fahrenheit 451,” they could be killed, executed, and hunted down. Montag eventually gets fed up with the amount of conformity in society that he ends up running away. The government does not like that he ran away, so they start a search party in order to find him. They are not able to find Montag, so they kill a scapegoat in hopes that it will emphasize to the community that they can not run