Individuality In Fahrenheit 451

The book, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is about a man named Guy Montag, a fireman, who lives in a dystopian society. In that society, they fear knowledge. To prevent knowledge from spreading, firemen burn books instead of putting out fires. Although Montag claims that he enjoys starting the fires, he meets a strange girl named Clarisse McClellan. She makes Montag view his world differently and pushes him to pursue his own thoughts and feelings. A theme for Fahrenheit 451 is the importance of conformity and individuality in a society. This theme is shown throughout the book by Bradbury’s use of characters, setting, and dialogue. There are many characters in the book that show the conformity and the individuality in this society. For instance,

Throughout the book, there are many times when she tries to find an escape from the world she is living in. A direct example from the book is when she is mentions that she likes to drive all night at 95 mph when she feels like she wants to smash and kill things (PDF 31). She likes to drive fast because it lets her free herself from all the depression she is feeling so she can forget all about her own misery and hopes of getting in a car accident which would lead to death. Mildred is so emotionally detached from the world. The only sign of emotional attachment that she shows is towards her “family” that is portray on television. She is such a weak and dissatisfied character that she is always seeking for validation in hopes that it will make her feel better and obliterate how unhappy she is. She has convinced herself into happiness that she doesn’t even acknowledge her suicide attempt. She buried any signs of feelings deep inside her so would feel the pain that she is internally experiencing and avoids any type of confrontation with her real life. Another emotionally unfulfilled character in the book is Beatty. Beatty is conformed with the society because he knows what he is doing is wrong but he is too afraid to say something. In the