One of the major themes in Fahrenheit 451 is the idea of being truly happy with life vs being so distracted that you never worry about problems in life. Most of the characters in Fahrenheit 451 are not happy with their lives and are just distracted from their problems through constant use of technology, propaganda, and people’s behavior in society. Technology plays a vital role in this society in keeping people distracted. In some extreme instances it brainwashes people and plants false ideas in people’s minds. Mildred, Montag’s wife, is a prime of example of one of these brainwashed people. She constantly watches to her 3 Parlor TV and always listens to her seashell audio device in her ear. She is so brainwashed from constantly being exposed …show more content…
Captain Beatty, Montag’s boss, explains just exactly how the government misinforms the public to give them the illusion of happiness.“‘If you don’t want a man unhappy politically, don’t give him two sides to a question; give him one. Better yet, give him none. Let him forget there is such a thing like war...Give people contest they win by remembering the words to more popular songs or the names of state capitals or how much corn Iwoaj grew last year. Cram them so full of noncombustible data, chock them so damned full of “facts” they feel stuffed, but absolutely “brilliant” with information.’”(61). The government distracts people from true happiness because the government tries to sway people away from asking the hard questions and instead redirecting them to other topics like pointless contests or irrefutable facts. The government also tries to distract people from their problems with the use of fear. A radio broadcast at the firestation revealed that “..War may be declared any hour. This country stand ready to defend”(32). Fear has always been a powerful tool in controlling people. The government broadcast tries to use the threat of war to scare people and to keep their minds off problems at