Ignorance In 'Fahrenheit 451'

Ignorance is bliss has always been a controversial statement. Ignorance not only stops an understanding of certain elements of life, but allows one to overlook the harsh realities of the world, allowing room for more happiness. Over time, ignorance can be replaced with understanding and knowledge and a noticeable change in mood can be observed. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, depicts this change as Montag gains an understanding of the dystopian society and sees things his ignorance would have blocked, realizing he isn’t really happy. At the start of the book, Montag is like most others in his society, thinking he is happy when he does not understand how to truly be himself. Montag runs into Clarisse and they start to talk about firemen, Clarisse asks him, “'Is it true that long ago firemen put fires out instead of

Whatever Montag has hidden behind the ventilator is just now starting to spark a worry in Montag’s eyes as he gains an understanding of what the consequences could be. Montag is starting to grasp an understanding that what he does can affect him and cause a poor outcome for him. As Montag and his captain Beatty are having a talk Montag asks, “Didn’t firemen prevent fires rather than stoke them up and get them going?” (Bradbury 31). Before Montag began to think for himself Clarisse asked him the same question, however, he was convinced that what he had been told was true and was too ignorant to look for an understanding. Montag is beginning to seek an understanding of everything he has based his life off of. Montag is coming closer to the truth that his entire life has been false, that he has been lying to his entire life. Montag has reached the point where he can think clearly by himself, replacing his ignorance with comprehension. While Montag and Faber are talking Montag comes the understanding that, “My wife’s dying. A friend of mine’s dead.