In the Fahrenheit 451 society, a totalitarian government rules with an iron fist, conforming everyone to be oblivious to their surroundings and do everything the government asks without question. Firefighters burn books because citizens are forbidden to read because it might stir intellectual thinking. Since thinking will cause rebellious uproars against the government, the government does everything it can to prevent it. Ray Bradbury lambastes conformity since it can lead to the loss of individuality. He utilizes Clarisse, technology, and an emotionally dead society to stress his position.
Firstly, Clarisse represents the people who have not been affected by the dictatorship. When Montag first meets Clarisse, she talks to him about all her
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The TV parlour is the most influential electronic device used by the government to mold the citizens into conformists. Students who attend the school spend an hour each day watching and learning about television. “‘An hour of TV class…’’’ (Bradbury 33). By having students “learn” about watching television at school and see their parents watching it at home everyday, they start to believe that this is what they are suppose to do all day as well. And if this is all they do all day, they will hear the information on the television repeated again and again. The TVs are three dimensional and when you enter a parlor room full of them, all you see and hear is the information the television spews out. In their underdeveloped minds, they interpret that the information being pounded into their heads must be right so they believe every word that the government is telling them through the television. Another device the government utilizes is seashell radio earpieces. Every citizen has one, and the only thing they do is play loud music and occasionally some governmental news. “And in her ears, the little seashells the thimble radios tamped tight, and an electronic ocean of sound…” (Bradbury 12). Mildred even sleeps with them on, showing how much faith the citizens have in the government, and how much they rely on them for everything. These electronics also distract the conformists so, again, they don't have any time to think for themselves and create their own opinions because the news from the seashell radio earpiece is always louder than their own voice. Similarly, the government uses jingles as well. “...tapping their feet to the rhythm of Denham’s Dentifrice…The train radio vomited upon Montag..” (Bradbury 81). The advertising is just like the seashells; they are distraction devices. Montag was not able to read the Bible when he was on the train because the the jingles are loud and repetitive. The loud jingles