Theme Of Happiness In Fahrenheit 451

The theme of happiness in Fahrenheit 451

The story of Fahrenheit 451 is about Montag, a fireman and who instead of putting out fires, sets fires to burn books that are deemed illegal within the society. The protagonist Montag, realizes the real significance of his occupation which is to destroy literature in order to decrease the knowledge within the society. The destruction of books has caused a negative effect on many people in the society. Reading books makes these people content in such a way that technology cannot replace it. This book has many themes, one of which is happiness. People in this society are not joyful and because they lack this contentment, they have portrayed joy as a superficial emotion. Ray Bradbury, author Fahrenheit

The people in this society aspire to be content, when they are not on the inside. Montag had grown aware of the reality that surrounds him, but his previous state of ignorance leads him down a road of depression. We are aware of this when he states “He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off cross the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back.” (Pg. 9). Wearing “happiness like a mask” is a metaphor as you cannot physically wear happiness but having it as a mask symbolizes that there is a true feeling behind the fake one. Another seemingly happy person is Mildred. This is further proven by the quotes “… the object he had sent tumbling with his foot now glinted under the edge of his own bed. The small crystal bottle of sleeping tablets which earlier had been filled with thirty capsules and which now lay uncapped and empty in the light of the tiny flare.” (Pgs. 10-11). This quote refers to how Mildred took an overdose of sleeping pills in an act to commit suicide. This may have been her solution to her inner depression. In a similar manner, Beatty tries to explain society’s desolation in which he states “You must understand that our civilization is so vast that we can’t have our minorities upset and stirred. Ask yourself, what do we want in this country, above all? People want to be happy, isn’t that right. Haven’t you heard it all your life? I want to

This is evident from Mildred’s suicide attempt, Montag’s self-realization about his own happiness and this environment of artificial contentment is created by shows like ‘The Parlor’, where they forget about their family, friends and life’s worries. Sadly, the society in this book is oblivious to the fact that they are depressed, which in turn leaves them with an internal struggle to fight for true happiness. There are 3 different types of people in this society; those who are intelligent, those who are simply oblivious and those who surround themselves with media. Fahrenheit 451, a book that was written about 60 years ago, is still very relevant today. Many features in this book relate to our present day technological advancements. Even educated people today are addicted to technology; the youth today don’t know how to have conversations, they are unaware of their surroundings when their devices are in use, and that many kids have become lazy relying only on technology to help them with everyday tasks. Technology has become so addictive that people would rather watch shows on TV rather than read classical books. In conclusion, Ray Bradbury gave us a wink and a nudge about how technology can divert us from the ones around us and the ones we care about. There are many parallels in this book to