Significance Of Parlor Walls In Fahrenheit 451

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Knowledge only provided to the ones in power, with society blinded, distant from the days of the Enlightenment. Fahrenheit 451, despite an entertaining read, contains significance in its words. At the time of writing, Ray Bradbury possessed a deep concern for the fate of literature. Hearing about the book burnings caused by Hitler, as well the rising popularity of television and media, he took it upon himself to depict the worst in the novel (Lucy 1); how Man’s pursuit of happiness contained the possibility of an alienated society. Humans living in the dystopian society all have access to a one-hundred-piece symphony orchestra, full-color, three dimensional, parlor walls consuming the majority of everyday life. If not running errands, residents b completely enthralled in their one-hundred-piece symphony orchestra, full-color, three-dimensional parlor walls. The overuse of the parlor walls ends up substituting real-life interactions with time spent with the “family”. Clarisse elucidates this, mentioning socializing with her peers to Montag, “Being with people is nice. But I don’t think it’s social to get a bunch of people together and then not let them talk, do you?” (27). In contrast to the …show more content…

Yet the primary concepts of how possible alienation could arise tomorrow are, nevertheless, important to consider. If people truly end up substituting books and literature, flipping the very idea of socialization on its head, and substituting with a constant stream of entertainment, then what is to come of Man and it’s subjects? Bradbury performs an excellent job of providing insight into how alienation could overpower the individual. Desire from society to both not face the harsh truth of life, and ultimately, what Man strives for–the pursuit of happiness. Even so, Fahrenheit 451 flawlessly envisions a future where the pursuit goes overboard, and the extinction of the individual in such a