Examples Of Materialism In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

(MIP-2) Bradbury further uses the characters to show how this materialism ends up taking away important human traits and relationships. (SIP-A) Many in this society have lost the ability to communicate with others as a result of them caring for material possessions alone. (STEWE-1) This is true of the random strangers Clarisse watches and listens to. She says that they talk about nothing, that “‘They name a lot of cars or clothes or swimming pools mostly and say how swell!’” (Bradbury 28). Their whole conversation centers around “stuff” and “things”, and what they do not talk about is each other. They do not understand or focus on the people before them, and they do not effectively communicate with each other either about anything important.

Instead they only talk about looks, which are superficial, material characteristics. As with the strangers Clarisse describes, these women do not understand each other or care about each other, even though they claim to be friends, because insubstantial talk of material aspects of life has replaced conversations where people talk to each other and listen to each other. (SIP-B) Also lost to materialism is sympathy and caring for others. (STEWE-1) When Beatty and the firemen come to burn Montag and Millie’s house, the only words she has to say are, “‘Poor family, poor family, oh everything gone, everything, everything gone now…’” (Bradbury 108). Although she is leaving behind her husband, who is going to be arrested (Bradbury 111), she does not even stop to say goodbye. Mildred has no empathy for Montag and does not care for him at all, her only concern being about the material objects that will be

The fact that she says this so unabashedly reveals how this kind of relationship is expected in their society. She has no feelings for her husband at all, and from what she says he does not care for her either. The relationship between these two people and many others have become shadows of what they are supposed to be because rather than caring about other people, they concern themselves with material possessions alone. (STEWE-3) It is the same with children; most of Millie’s friends and Mildred herself do not have or want children (Bradbury 26, Bradbury 92). Mrs.Bowles, the only one who does have kids, says about them, "’I put up with them when they come home three days a month; it's not bad at all… They'd just as soon kick as kiss me. Thank God, I can kick back!’" (Bradbury 92-93). She has no feelings for her children at all, and the others do not care for them either, saying that they do not wish to have kids and calling children “ruinous” (Bradbury