Individuality In Fahrenheit 451

Have you ever been so involved with a book that you feel like you personally know each and every character? That when the book comes to an end you feel like a chapter of your life has just closed? What if you could never have that feeling ever again? Would it make you do things you could have never imagined, like breaking the law? Well this is an everyday problem for the people in the future in Ray Bradbury’s book Fahrenheit 451, when most books are deemed illegal, unless the government says otherwise. Guy Montag is a fireman whose job it is to burn books. Most of the time the books are burned along with the home that they occupy, and sometimes with their owners. After meeting a very interesting young girl, Guy starts to question the way he

Something that is very limited between people is interaction. Most prefer to spend time in front of the TV, or racing cars down the street rather than talk to other members of the community. Guy’s wife, Mildred thinks of the parlor TV walls as her family, and spends most of her time with the people that illuminate her screens. One day Guy questions her about if she really feels like the parlor is her family, to which she replies, “’Why’d you ask a silly question like that?’” (Bradbury 77). Guy was offended by Mildred’s answer. After talking with her, he decides to leave the house and go and visit an old acquaintance named Faber. He goes to visit Faber in the hopes that he can shed some light on the book that Guy stole. Guy feels like Faber is the only one who he can talk to. He tells him that he feels like nobody listens to him, not even his wife because she prefers to talk to the walls. Faber tells Guy that the knowledge in books is something people need. On the contrary, Beatty explained to Guy earlier that books are the cause of many problems: “’A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon, Breach man’s mind. Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man?”’ (Bradbury 58). There are two conflicting sides when it comes to books. In the book we see the impact Beatty’s side has on society. In order to get the effect that the government wants, they have to start brainwashing kids when they are young. On the other hand we can assume the government is keeping information from the people because they are trying to protect them. They do not want the people to worry about what is going on outside of their sheltered