Happiness In Fahrenheit 451

In today’s society, people achieve happiness through interaction with others, but in Ray Bradbury’s dystopian Novel, Fahrenheit 451, his characters believe that they need technology to enjoy their lives. People’s main priority is to be happy and have a successful life. They don’t want to have to worry about anything and just enjoy themselves. “‘You must understand that our civilization is so vast that we can’t have our minorities upset and stirred. Ask yourself, what do we want in this country, above all? People want to be happy, isn’t that right? Well, aren’t they?’” (Bradbury 56). All people want in life is to be happy. They want to be untroubled and not have to stress about what’s going on in the real world. They think that technology will

As Montag and Mildred talk about the books, they are distracted by the bombers in the sky. Montag goes on to talk about the lack of attention paid to the bombers: “‘We’ve started and won two atomic wars since 2022. Is it because we’re having so much fun at home we’ve forgotten the world?... The rest of the world’s so poor and we just don’t care if they are’” (Bradbury 69-70). The technology in this society distracts everyone from the other events happening around the world. People don’t think about the events that are making other people’s lives much worse because they are so caught up in their parlor rooms and telephones. Not only do people not care about strangers whose lives are in danger, they don’t care about their own children. “‘I plunk the children in school nine days out of ten. I put up with them when they come home three days a month; it’s not bad at all. You heave them into the “parlor” and turn the switch. It’s like washing clothes; stuff laundry in and slam the lid’” (Bradbury 92-93). In this quote, Mildred’s friend, Mrs. Bowles, mentions how she takes care of her children, which mostly includes keeping them away from her. Parents in this novel don’t have kids for the relationship, but to continue the human race. This creates a barrier between the parent and child, thus leading to a toxic relationship because parents would rather use technology than spend time with

In today’s schools we have at least 5 hours of academics, but in Bradbury’s world, the students get a shorter time to learn unimportant material. “‘An hour of TV class, an hour of basketball or baseball or running, another hour of transcription history or painting pictures, and more sports, but do you know, we never ask questions... they just run the answers at you’” (Bradbury 27). Instead of being taught mathematics, English, science or social sciences, they learn about technology and sports, which won’t help them succeed in the future. The lack of accomplishment for individuals is echoed in the prosperity of the country. A good leader is needed to maintain order in society. However, people allow technology to alter how they determine the fate of their country. “‘I voted last election, same as everyone, and I laid it on the line for President Noble. I think he’s one of the nicest looking men ever became president’” (Bradbury 93). People, such as Mildred’s friend, Mrs. Bowles, vote for the leader of the country based on how they look instead of their political abilities. Noble’s opponent was a short, fat man who lacked the looks but had more knowledge than Noble. However, the viewers are unaware of this because they focus on the looks of things due to the amount of tech in their lives. The little amount of knowledge citizens have is from what they