Fahrenheit 451, By Ray Bradbury

What does your life mean to you? Will anyone care when you die? What have you done to make a difference in the world? Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, discusses, in extreme detail, the importance of life and how questioning the normal sometimes is beneficial. The book teaches readers to do the right thing, even if it means they have to question the standards. Bradbury uses Guy Montag to help readers understand the importance of asking questions and standing out in society. Bradbury begins to craft the theme when Mildred overdoses on sleeping pills. Although she is unaware of what she did, Montag and the readers start to realize how brainwashed the society really is. Mildred is no longer herself, she is a product of the society that she lives in. For example Montag thinks, “Nobody knows anyone. Strangers come and violate you. Strangers come and cut your heart out. Strangers come and take your blood. Good God, who were those men? I never saw them before in my life!” (Bradbury 14). This clearly shows how Montag feels about the society that they live in. The strange men that pumped Mildred’s stomach show how the society has put less focus on the importance of individual human life and more importance on the goal of complete censorship and control.

Although Montag realized that the general population was heartless, he didn’t understand that he was going along with what the society wanted him to believe. For example, Clarisse says, “ ... I think it’s so strange you’re a fireman, it just doesn’t seem right for you, somehow,” (Bradbury 21). By Clarisse saying this, it makes Montag start understanding that he is different from the other firemen. He knew that the books must have been important, but now he realizes that they might be what is missing from his