Cecilio Foronda Mr. Anderson English 1 8 May 2023 The Appreciation of the Balance of Life Although the feeling of emptiness is negative, it is necessary for people in society to appreciate the natural balance of human life. One must experience sadness or emptiness to fully value happiness. In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, author Ray Bradbury portrays the dangers of a society that relentlessly pursues instant gratification, leading to the inhibiting of human connection. The residents of this dystopian society are so gratified to being happy that as soon as something negative occurs, they instantly try to fix it. When Montag reads the poem The Sea of Faith, Mildred’s friend, Mrs Phelps starts to cry. Instead of consoling her, Mildred, Montag's …show more content…
During one conversation with Mrs. Phelps about a war, she mentions a conversation she had with her husband “Anyway, Pete and I always said,no tears,nothing like that.It’s our third ,marriage each and we’re independent, we always said. He said, if I get killed off, you just go right ahead and don’t cry, but get married again, and don’t think of me” (Bradbury 91). Feeling grief is an inevitable part of life, it is customary that one will grieve over a breakup but the death of a loved one takes a long time to accept. However in this society, people get married just for the sake of it,and if one of them dies they simply just replace them. Even people who claim to “love” each other would not even feel grief if one of them were to die. This disconnection and emptiness are even experienced by married couples. When Montag escapes the city he reflects on the ghostly like behaviors of the society he just fled from “He floated on his back when the valise filled and sank; the river was mild and leisurely, going away from the people who ate shadows for breakfast and steam for lunch and vapors for supper.” (Bradburry 134). The people do not really consume nothingness, but their “diet” lacks components that produce fulfillness. This conveys the emptiness that this society lives with. The endless cycle of replacement is a key contributor to this society's emptiness. The residents of this society sever any means of human connection. The society that Montag lives in does not value human connection, which is why they live with an immense