Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

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Fahrenheit 451, a novel written by Ray Bradbury, follows the journey of main character Guy Montag and his discovery of how in a society where books are forbidden and people live dull, monotonous lives, not all is as it seems. Bradbury relates this idea to teenagers by exploring the effects of distraction vs happiness and explaining how being truly happy in life is not the same as being distracted enough to ignore your problems. The novel, written as if it was based in the distant future, describes how people have become shallow and indifferent to the world around them, constantly needing to fill their minds with distractions. Characters like Mildred, Montag's wife, have grown so dependent on this type of entertainment that they experience …show more content…

Clarisse describes distractions to Montag as things that prevent people from thinking deeply or focusing on their lives. At one point, Clarisse asks Montag “Are you happy?” His first thought is “Of course I’m Happy,” but after thinking about this further, he starts to question whether he is truly happy or not. Bradbury was making an interesting point in this interaction as it is a teenage girl challenging Montag and showing him how he is not truly happy in his life. Ironically, it is teenagers who are so often prone to distraction from the world around them as they grow up surrounded by constant entertainment, such as TV, music, radio, and technology. As a teenager reading this book, I found myself questioning if I too was mistaking distractions for happiness in my life. Regrettably, I realized that the reels that I find myself constantly scrolling through make me happy in the moment, but as soon as I turn my phone off, that happiness disappears, and a dull feeling sets in. The same can be said for Mildred, a character so often surrounding herself with distractions to the point of feeling desperately miserable without them. This is a dangerous loop to be stuck in because if our main source of happiness is coming from the media, how can we ever experience true happiness outside of

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