Society Exposed In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

As humans continue to make life easier through new inventions, people begin to submit to a life of leisure until they eventually have no control over their own lives. Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451, portrays a futuristic society where censorship and technology have taken over. Citizens are told what to think and any disagreement or unhappiness has been removed. Most people spend their days watching their TV walls and books have been eliminated. Bradbury’s protagonist, Montag, lives in almost a death-like trance, until he meets a young girl named Clarisse. Clarisse opens up Montag’s eyes to the realities of society and pushes him to start living his life more freely. The concepts of life and death blend together in a society

In Montag’s society, citizens mindlessly go through their days, as portrayed through Mildred’s character. Mildred typically watches TV the entire day and rarely speaks with Montag. Montag struggles to connect to Mildred's lack of emotion and communication, as if there was “a wall between him and Mildred” (Bradbury 44). Mildred’s dullness starkly contrasts with Clarisse’s lively personality. Clarisse diverges from the rest of society by avoiding technology and questioning civilization’s principles. While both Mildred and Clarisse are physically alive on the outside, Mildred is practically soulless on the inside, while Clarisse has a dynamic disposition. Mildred’s and Clarisse’s contrast portrays how perceptions of life and death in humans can blend together in the same

Montag originally embraces the routine of his dull life, until Clarisse and Faber open up his mind about the possibilities in the future. To break away from his deteriorating society to live a life worth living, Montag escapes the city to the peaceful country. Montag realizes that his departure was necessary, since his society “‘tells you what to think and blasts it in’” without allowing individuals to control their own thoughts (Bradbury 84). Montag transitions from his monotonous life in the city to one where he can freely live and express his thoughts. By using Montag’s experience with life and death in his society, Bradbury warn others not to fall victim to the mindlessness of the future. Bradbury demonstrates the dangers of the future through the mix of life and death in Montag’s