title Maslow’s hierarchy suggests that humans have a hierarchical set of requirements starting from the most basic physiological needs, security needs, social needs, esteem needs and the highest level of self-actualization needs. This theory can be applied to Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451. The novel, set in a dystopian future world where books are burned for their divisive nature and nonconformity is discouraged, follows Guy Montag, a fireman who rebels against these norms. The society portrayed in the book is meant to meet the characters' fundamental requirements for security, but is not successful in doing so. In its efforts to do so it infringes on the higher-level needs presented, social and esteem needs. In the future chronicled in the novel, the government attempts to meet the security needs outlined by Maslow, including protection against fear and general security, through strict control and monitoring of its citizens. Firemen, like Montag, …show more content…
The characters are in many ways isolated from one another, which makes them unable to create meaningful connections or relationships, leaving them lonely and unfulfilled. Clarisse McClellan, Montag’s friend, recounts her highschool, generally a very social place in our society, as an antisocial place to, ‘get a bunch of people together and then not let them talk.’(page 29). Technology has also advanced to keep people occupied, and has caused human connection to decrease significantly. Montag’s wife, Mildred, for example, is addicted to television and does not have any meaningful relationships in her life, only caring about herself and the characters of the television shows she watches who she refers to as her ‘family’. Even when faced with the possibility that her house might be burnt down, Mildred remarks, ‘he might come and burn the house and the “family”,’ truly showing how isolated she has become (page