The book, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, had many different, significant themes. One of the themes in the book is happiness vs. discontentment. The people in the society believe that they really are happy when they’re not. Characters in the story truly are happy, but some are depressed in the society. Happiness in our society today, shares many similarities, but still is different from Fahrenheit 451 society. People in the Fahrenheit 451 society feel they really are happy when they are not. The people had no way of expressing or talking about how they really felt. No one is in love with each other, for example like Montag and Mildred, because they hadn’t even remembered how they met. The society that they live in is very strict and people …show more content…
Examples of characters who are happy is Clarisse, Granger, and Granger’s friends. Clarisse is truly happy because she is a free spirit, adventurous person, who expresses what she thinks. Clarisse isn't pinned down by the society because she's very curious about the people and world around her. Granger and his friends are truly happy because they have developed their own society, and everyone has memorized specific books that they share with others. Examples of characters who are unhappy is Mildred, Faber, Montag, and Captain Beatty. Mildred is unhappy because she has nothing in her life that really means anything to her, she doesn’t think for herself or others, and her “family” is the only way she interacts with people on the parlor walls. Mildred wants people to think she’s happy, when she’s really depressed. For example when Mildred tried to commit suicide in the beginning of the story, by overdosing on her sleeping pills. Faber is unhappy because he realizes how much the society has changed by eliminating books. He wishes he would have done something much earlier when the law about books was starting. Montag realizes how unhappy he is in the beginning of the story, when he meets Clarisse and starts talking to her. Throughout the whole story, Montag makes tough decisions, by stealing books and wanting to learn. This led him on to meeting Granger, who helped Montag feel content that they will change the society. Captain Beatty is unhappy because the society has changed him to not willing to think, and to burn all books. In the end when Montag kills Beatty, Montag realizes that he wanted to die, since he had not made any effort by moving away or taking the flamethrower that had been pointed at