Category: Fahrenheit 451

Sad and broken, the emotions many of the people in this dystopian society experience, is due to an unhealthy amount of technology that distracts from the real world. These people are deprived of the social skills they need, they are incredibly lonely because they have no human compassion. All they have is a three sided TV in which they can interact with. The domino effect in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag goes on an awakening journey to try to change society’s view on books. This action turned into a series of events that help bolster Montag’s claim about books. In the story, a fireman named Guy Montag goes into work everyday to burn literature which is banned in the society. Montag then rebels against society’s orders and gets in trouble with the law in order to bring books back into the world. Bradbury argues that, simplicity is futile and leads to false happiness, whereas complexity is brimming with knowledge, ideas, and it allows an accurate understanding of the world.

Simplicity is one of the reasons people in society live unfulfilled and unhappy lives without realizing it. The comparison of complexity and simplicity is demonstrated throughout the novel, originating with the juxtaposition of Montag, a lost individual in the society, and Clarisse, an educated and aware person. Clarrisse asks Montag, “‘Do you ever read any of the books you burn?’ He laughed. ‘That’s against the law!’” Clarisse and Montag are polar opposites, Clarisse has a curious mind, she asks questions to feed her brain with knowledge. Montag avoids topics like asking questions because he is so distracted by his job of burning books. Montag feels pleasure when he burns books because that is how the government raised him, he cares more about the simplicity of doing his job to make people proud then what he is burning. Clarrisse shocks Montag with her question of “‘Are you happy?’” Clarisse is the symbol for change and growth, she gets Montag wondering about the society by contemplating on her unusual question and “risky” behavior. People in the society are unhappy because they are constantly disconnecting themselves from the people and objects around them. Some may argue that simplicity is an efficient way to work the world, problem free. Reality is, the world will never end it’s problems. Living life the simple way and constantly distracting yourself tricks your brain into believing in false emotions and inaccurate occurrences. This leaves all the people in the society clueless and robotic.

Technology is what’s causing people to be distracted because of the simplicity of it; you don’t have to interpret ideas when you are entertained. Montag and Mildred have a broken relationship, as if they are strangers to each other. They don’t know anything about each other because Mildred has her “family” on the TV. Montag is starting to realize how absorbed Mildred is in her technology and notices how clueless she truly is. Montag expresses,“He felt he was one of the creatures electronically inserted between the slots of the phono-colored walls, speaking, but the speech not piercing the crystal barrier.” Montag wishes he could have a connection with Mildred but she is completely disinterested. Mildred is so preoccupied in the fake world the three-sided TV has created, that she has no humanity left to her. Mildred thinks she is happy and content with her “family” but it is clear she mentally unhealthy. Mildred says,“You get it up around ninety-five and you feel wonderful…You hit rabbits, sometimes you hit dogs. Go take the beetle.” This is one of Mildred’s favorite activities, when she gets upset she doesn’t talk to people about it, instead she drives her car at high speeds killing any animal in the way. Mildred needs some sort of help though she believes there is nothing wrong because she cannot think for herself. Some might argue that the simplicity of technology is a positive thing and some complexities should be abolished. Technology is a service for people, it should not revolve around their entire life. This is what’s creating this robotic haze among the people in the society.

Simplicity leads to fake content; complexity is a way to analyse situations and improve them. At the end of the novel Montag gets away from the government only to find himself with some individuals that memorize books to carry their legacy. These individuals took the simplicity of books being banned and morphed it into the complex idea of memorizing books. Granger states,“We read the books and burnt them, afraid they’d be found.” Montag has been unhappy his entire life; when he finds the group of rebellious individuals he can finally think for himself for the first time. Montag understands that what the government has been doing is distracting them from feeling emotions and thinking about situations.Montag explains,“I think of her hands but I don’t see them doing anything at all. They just hang there at her sides or they lie there on her lap or there’s a cigarette in them, but that’s all.” Mildred has never done anything with her life, when a bomb falls on the city Montag thinks about Mildred; he thinks about her hands and how she would never be doing anything. The bomb going off was an epiphany for Montag that Mildred is not happy whatsoever. Some may say that just because life is simple doesn’t mean that it causes fake emotions. Watching TV already gives you emotions that don’t affect you or your life, only the false reality on the TV, so technology and the simplicity of it, causes false emotions and content.

The sadness that the society has brought made Montag understand that life cannot be all fake, you need people, emotions, thinking, and so on. This novel is very relevant in today’s society, now that we have iPhones which is exactly like the three-sided TV but smaller. Bradbury’s point was true and that same gloomy haze among the people in the novel could very much happen to us today. Simplicity leads to false happiness and dead ends, whereas complexity opens new doors and allows a much deeper understanding of the world.

Get up with the melodious music played by smartphone. Drink a cup of coffee produced by the automatic coffee maker. Then enter the office by passing through a gate with facial recognition technology. Technology has already become immersed in everyone’s daily life. In the society, technology has become increasingly important and also an indispensable part of running the society normally. However, technology development has harmful negative side effects, if it is overused because it can make relationships between humans farther apart, make people addicted to it and make people lose the ability to be critical thinkers.

Owing to the fruitful development of technology, it has become possible for ordinary civilians to own high technology devises like computers and smartphones, in their everyday life. However, under that technology immersing circumstance, it is easy for everyone to overuse it, and that can bring a negative effect to the relationships between humans in society degree. Obviously, technologies are making relationships farther and colder. In Fahrenheit 451, Montag’s wife, Mildred, interacting with her “family” on TV screens every single day and night. She always wears her “seashell” earphone without hearing outside information and talks to others, even to his husband. She doesn’t care about anything besides technology, which makes Montag feel she is a stranger. (Fahrenheit 451, 1953) Moreover, if the rate of people who are addicted to those technology devices, like Mildred, keep climbing up, less communication will happen between each member in the society. Using technology and media instead of interacting with other humans will create an emotional and social detach from the real world. (knockmedia, 2019) Subsequently, the society will become less systematic because of each part of it, cannot cooperation efficiently. Besides, technology advance means many jobs which are dull and tedious, like cleaner and manufacturer, can be replaced by machines. That cut off a lot of chances for a job, lead to an even more furious compete for a job, and finally, many people may end up with no job. Those jobless citizens increasing the budget that the government need to afford, and they can even lead to a rebellion among society.

When technology immersing in everyday life, it is hard for people to not addicted on it. in that case, they are getting used to the life that is serving by the technologies. then they will forget to do some simple things by it is necessary to do for society. that means if a disaster happened that can destroy the technology like a crisis of the whole grid, it would be a serious setback among the society. For example, in recent years, Venezuela has experienced a massive power cut for some reason. People are urged to stay at home because the workplace and school closed owing to lack of power. That shows people are relay on technologies to work and study. Likely, the whole society ceased to be productive because people can not even do some simple job without the help of technology. on the other hand, overuse technology is not solely bad for their physical health, but also their mental health. using devices for a long time can lead to Vision problems, Hearing loss, and Neck strain, and even depression. ( digitalresponsibility.org, 2019) it will affect the workforce of society in a large degree, and that is extremely bad for society because fewer people would take part in run the society, which means it isn’t as efficient as before.

it is believed that technologies, especially for AI, have the ability to anaythsis the taste of each people and show what they like to them. However, there is a problem that people would become only rather to receive what they like, in other words, people do not even have a chance to receive news and develop their own idea. In Fahrenheit 451, captain Beatty said how the society in the book formed. People in this society just read what they like and would not rather to read. Then fewer books are published and people in that society start to become mindless. (Fahrenheit 451, 1953) To say at least, if people are willing to find some news apart from what AI commanded to them, it is really easy for the government or organization to manipulate the news by technology. they can ban the news or hide them easily.

Overall, although technology, which is created by people, propose to benefit society, it can be harmful to society as well if it is overused. That can make a relationship between people farther, make people addicted to it, and make people no longer critical thinkers. The solution is to control the use of technology and use them properly. Only in this way can people avoid the side effect of technology and make them beneficial.

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury uses several literary devices in his novel. He uses many powerful symbols and allusions, such as biblical, mythological, and historical references. An allusion is a literary device in which the writer or speaker refers either directly or indirectly to a person. Bradbury uses this to obtain the relationship between the book and to make connections to biblical and historical references. The protagonist in the book, Guy Montag, is a fireman whose job is to burn books, because books are prohibited in his society, instead of putting out the fires. Montag lives in a dystopian society where people’s interaction is uncommon. While Ray Bradbury uses a range of literary elements to develop his argument about the nature of books, thought, and humanity in Fahrenheit 451 his most powerful tools are symbolism and allusion.

One of the most powerful tools that Ray Bradbury uses in Fahrenheit 451 is symbolism. One of the main symbols that he uses in the whole novel is the story of a phoenix. A phoenix is a bird that is able to burn, but then it rises out of the ashes to live another life. The phoenix is also the logo on the helements of the firemen. “There was a silly damn bird called a phoenix before Christ, every few hundred years he build a pyre and brunt himself up, he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over, and it looks like we’re doing the same thing, over and over, but we’ve got one damn thing the phoenix never had” (Bradbury 156). Bradbury uses the symbol of the phoenix because it sparks a new era. Granger compares humanity to a phoenix at the end of the book because civilians are making distruction to themselves, then afterwards rebuilding a new civilization, just like how the phoenix will rise out of the ashes. Montag is hoping to rebuild a new society.

Another most powerful tool that Ray Bradbury uses in Fahrenheit 451 is allusions. Bradbury uses the Book of Ecclesiastes to show Guy Montag’s growth of his wisdom. “The Book of Ecclesiastes would be fine. Where was it? ‘Here.’ Montag touched his head. ‘Ah.’ Granger smiled and nodded. ‘What’s wrong? Isn’t that all right?’ said Montag. ‘Better than all right; perfect!’”(Bradbury 150). Ecclesisates is a book of the Old Testament that was written by King Solomn. The Old Testament is a book filled with a lot of wisdom literature. In Fahrenheit 451, it shows Montag’s growth throughout the book. It started from Montag being the fireman that just burns without hesitation, to the literature loving protagonist at the end of the book. Ecclesiastes, it states that wisdom increases sorrow. “For in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow”(Ecclesiastes 1:16). Another allusion in the Book of Ecclesiastes is one of the passages that Montag is trying to memorize in the book. ‘Nothing. I thought I had part of the Book of Ecclesiastes and maybe a little of Revelation, but I haven’t even that now.’ The key passage in the Book of Ecclesiastes is, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”(Ecclesiastes 3:1). Bradbury uses it to explain the conflict that Montag experiences throughout the book. The first conflict that Montag ever faces is his purpose of his life. The second conflict that Montag faces is his willingness to change.

Ray Bradbury uses many powerful allusions to develop his argument about the nature of books, thought, and humanity in Fahrenheit 451. In “The Sieve and the Sand ”, Montage begins to read the Book of Job, a biblical story of Job. “In Fahrenheit 451, Faber begins to read The Book of Job to Montag. He reads him the biblical story of Job because the story relates to Montag’s life.”Far away across town in the night, the faintest whisper of a turned page. “The Book of Job.” Faber specially reads Montag the part in the bible where Job is to remain faithful to God, while undergoing hardships and difficulties challenges. In the Book of Job, the devil curses Job with many misfortunes, with the permission by God, to test Job’s faith. God let’s Job suffer and also lets him grow from it. Montag trusts Faber to say all of the right things from the “bullet’ that’s in Montag’s ear. Montag not only puts his faith in Faber, but also the “bullet” by trusting it will do everything that it needs to do. Everything is built on trust, and also with taking a leap of faith, and that’s exactly what Montag had with Faber. Just like how Job was rewarded at the end by remaining faithful to God, Faber thinks that Montag will be rewarded at the end of Montag’s journey.

Ray Bradbury uses many literary devices that make a connection to the protagonist in the book. Since Montag is living in a dystopian society, people do not have a choice. Montag is given an opportunity to change, rebuild a new society.

Being able to express oneself is a quality that makes a person who they are and determines what role they play in society. In the beginning of the book Montag lacks individual self-expression which is why he is clearly unhappy. Bradbury writes “Nobody listens anymore. I can’t talk to the walls because they’re yelling at me, I can’t talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough it’ll make sense” (Bradbury).

People are not happy in this government controlled society, they want a way out and in Fahrenheit 451 Montag is the power of the proletariats that strives to achieve change. He began to open his eyes to change when he meet Clarisse, someone who really began to help Montag see the life he has been living because of her free and independent attitude. She came into Montag’s life and made an immediate impact, as she questioned him about his career and his happiness. She asked Montag “Are you happy?”, he thought it was a stupid question until he got home and processed their conversation. He realizes that he is not happy at all and becomes more self-aware about the pointlessness of his current society. As their conversation carried on Montag realizes that he lives in a world where people only care for themselves. People in his society don’t care about other’s feelings when acting and this can be resembled by the burning of books.

The lack of freedom of thought is causing the society to fall apart and in order to maintain this freedom, people must prevent government suppression of expression. All people should have the right to be curious, if thoughts were not controlled there would be fewer problems and a stronger society. Individual self-expression is one of the main purposes of Montag’s drive to change his society. From this, Montag began to learn the meaning of caring, as he realized what a terrible place he lived in. Bradbury paints an image for the reader and he lives in nothing more than a futuristic world filled with technology, violence, and mind control. However, this only changes Montag for the better and this is when Montag along with other firemen go to a ladies home because she had books hidden in it. The lady was determined to stay with her books, and was not concerned with the fact that she would burn alive. Montag is shocked with her decision to stay with her books, but concerned with her safety “Montag placed his hand on the women’s elbow. ‘You can come with me’” (Bradbury 39). This can be seen as a turning point for Montag as he starts to take control after realizing the importance of caring for others and their feelings.

It is important to see that people in society are much like books, so in other words books can be seen as a symbol of people. A book has qualities that makes it different, just like a person is different by their own uniqueness. This means that “there must be something in the books, something we can’t imagine, to make a women stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.” Montag is seen being controlled by his own curiosity throughout the novel and shows a more rebellious attitude where he faces consequences. The author writes “every fireman sooner or later hits this”(Bradbury 83), they all get curious about books and the meaning to freely express oneself. Even when Montag realizes that his questions against the government can have consequences, he continues to search for answers because he believes that it is the right thing to do for himself and in general the best idea for his entire city. Montag goes against order and begins to secretly hide books taken from fires, as he is building his future with books. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, illustrates the devastating effects on society when freedom Is lost. Montag rebels against his controlling government and goes on the run and finds people who are strong believers in expressing oneself and those who want to change society to its once diverse self. Montag repeats a passage from the Bible “And on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” Montag memorized this line, and it is significant for a number of reasons. Firstly, the fruit on the tree of life represents new beginnings. This is because Montag and his friends have seen the city become destructed and are now starting to rebuild their society from nothing.

Furthermore, the tree that bears fruit can be seen as a symbol of hope which indicates that Montag and his friends will be successful on their journey. Lastly, the healing of nations is suggesting that Montag’s society will go through a makeover, taking what has been done in the past away and making a new liberated society. Those who didn’t survive to see the new society didn’t realize the importance of self-expression and died when the bomb hit.

Without the ability to successfully think or communicate, humanity becomes no different than a machine. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Montag represents the power of the Proletariats to rebuild a stronger society that values the freedom to express oneself. Bradbury’s intent of the novel is to demonstrate that the destruction, and the subsequent loss of freedom of thought, will be the thing that makes humans disappear. In the novel, Montag begins to have feelings of uncertainty and wants to bring change to the world with his own voice and actions. He was clearly unhappy at the beginning of the book and he lacked self-expression. We see Montag become more confident with his words and actions, and show a rebellious attitude. Lastly, he goes on the run to find people who strongly believe in self- expression and who want to change society to its once diverse self. In Fahrenheit 451, it is evident that society has taught individuals not to express their feelings or thoughts.

Being able to express oneself is a quality that makes a person who they are and determines what role they play in society. In the beginning of the book Montag lacks individual self-expression which is why he is clearly unhappy. Bradbury writes: “Nobody listens anymore. I can’t talk to the walls because they’re yelling at me, I can’t talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough it’ll make sense” (Bradbury 82). People are not happy in this government controlled society, they want a way out and in Fahrenheit 451 Montag is the power of the proletariats that strives to achieve change. He began to open his eyes to change when he met Clarisse, someone who really began to help Montag see the life he has been living because of her free and independent attitude. She came into Montag’s life and made an immediate impact, as she questioned him about his career and his happiness. She asked Montag “Are you happy?” (Bradbury 10), which he thought was an irrelevant question until he got home and processed their conversation. He realized that he is not happy at all and becomes more aware of the tragedy that was his current society. As their conversation carried on Montag realized that he lived in a place where people only cared for themselves. This can be exemplified by the burning of books. The lack of freedom of thought is causing the society to fall apart and in order to create a free society, people must stop government suppression of expression.

When curiosity is suppressed, it is only a matter of time before the curious rebel. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury paints an image of a futuristic world filled with technology, violence, and mind control. Montag was one of many firemen who were ordered to burn books and rid them from society. The firemen would raid individual’s homes and destroy all of the books they possessed. On one occasion, Montag, along with several other firemen, entered a woman’s home after it became known that she had books hidden in it. The woman was determined to stay with her books and preferred to burn with her books than to leave her home. Montag was shocked with her decision to stay with her books, but concerned with her safety: “Montag placed his hand on the women’s elbow. ‘You can come with me’” (Bradbury 39). This can be seen as a turning point for Montag. He began to understand that there was value in the books that he was burning and he needed to do something to stop the government from oppressing its citizens. Montag explains “there must be something in the books, something we can’t imagine, to make a women stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing” (Bradbury 148). Montag is seen being controlled by his own curiosity early on in the novel and shows a more rebellious attitude later on. The author writes “every fireman sooner or later hits this” (Bradbury 83), Beatty explains they all get curious about books and the meaning to freely express oneself. Even when Montag realizes that his questions against the government can have consequences, he continues to search for answers because he believes that it is the right thing to do for himself and his society. Montag goes against order and begins to secretly hide books taken from fires, building his future with books.

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, illustrates that when freedom is lost, individuals will coalesce and seek out others with similar beliefs to fight for what is right. Montag rebelled against his controlling government and went on the run to find people who were strong believers in expressing themselves and who wanted to change their society. He believed that individuals had the right to read books, have the ability to think independently, and spend time in nature. Instead, people were forced to spend their time watching television, and listening to the radio. Montag is truly a new character at the end of the book after he abandoned his life as a book-burner. He was seen as an individual who wanted to live a meaningful life, and make a positive difference in the world. This began when Montag thought “Beatty, you’re not a problem now. You always said don’t face the problem, burn it. Well now I’ve done both. Good-bye, Captain” (Bradbury 121). By killing Beatty, Montag planned on fleeing the city to preserve books and make copies of them to distribute throughout society. By doing this with Faber, a retired English professor, he was preserving prior knowledge, and was hoping that someday he would positively influence a new culture. Montag ended up joining a group of intelligent travelers who taught him the skills he needed to remember works of literature. He would later then use these skills to remember books after an atomic bomb was dropped on his city. Montag lead the proletariats to a free and liberated society. Those in power who did not believe in the freedom of self-expression didn’t survive to see the new society.

Freedom of thought is often taken for granted in today’s society. However, in Fahrenheit 451, there is no such freedom. Throughout Ray Bradbury’s, Fahrenheit 451, Montag proves to himself that thoughts are important and leads the proletariats to a free and liberated society. This freedom is not seen until a fireman, Montag, wants to bring change to the world through his own actions. The way he became more rebellious from the confidence he gained, and finally how he faced the government because of his interests in books. This book shows that everyone should have the right to freely express themselves, and have the right to freedom of thought. Even in today’s society, people are not able to truly express themselves for who they are, and books like Fahrenheit 451 are a crucial reminder that freedom of speech is something we cannot stop fighting for in our world. Having the ability to express oneself allows for creativity and imagination in society.

References

1. Bradbury, Ray, 1920-2012. Fahrenheit 451. New York :Simon and Schuster, 1967.

A dystopian world is one that is destructive, implying that the world of Fahrenheit 451 is, indeed, a world engulfed in the art of destruction. Destruction, in this world, is the action or process of disregarding human life, roles and value in a society. It results in irreparable damage through the harm perpetrated in a continuous and looping manner as destructive acts befall the people persistently. Destruction is even more prevalent as the world of Fahrenheit 451 occur in a war zone, proving the catastrophic and ruinous violence that is evident is a place that is fighting war. Furthermore, the symbol of fire in the world brings provision to the fact that there is a dire need to destroy factual evidence of a human race. Moreover, the existential crisis of dehumanisation increases violence, human rights violations and war crimes in the world. The abolishment of books also clearly imply that the world is chaotic as destruction is a social norm that humans conform to without knowing that it leaves fatalistic results. Also, self-destruction is lucid as humans do not know that they are living in misery. With that, it suggests that destruction is a common theme across the narrative dystopian world of Fahrenheit 451.

Fire is an interesting symbol of destruction in Fahrenheit 451. It signifies the reversed role of firemen in the society of Fahrenheit 451 while also the sacred act of burning books. The roles of the firemen being reversed states that they are destroying the world by burning books with fire instead of restoring the world by putting out the fire created, which is the supposed universal role of a fireman. Clarisse mentioned ‘Strange… they needed firemen to stop the flames (Bradbury 3)’. This suggests that fire used to be an enemy to mankind. However, in Fahrenheit, it is deemed as a blessing as it cleanses the people from the evil connotations behind books. This means that the misconception of a fireman in the world contributes to the destruction of the society. This reversed role also glorifies the very fact that individuals are robbed of their entitlement to think differently although they know that there is a possibility for them to actually save people from fire. This evidently implies that there is a destruction towards the ability for people to think freely as they are conformed to the societal norm that they have to adapt to in this world. This shows that their oblivion towards the possibilities of their role as a fireman implies that they do not have any self-awareness as they are constantly being ordered around to burn books without a logical reason. This insinuates the idea that the people would rather destroy the factor that might be affecting their society rather than solve the underlying problem without negative and chaotic methods like using fire. On the other hand, the sacred act of burning books destroys one’s morality. This is because firemen, not knowing a proper version of their history, faces an existential moral crisis as they question their purpose in the appointment they have in society. This significantly shows that the act of burning book itself purposefully demolishes the mundane human morale. Captain Beatty mentioned that ‘The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.’ (Bradbury 106) This suggests that he has a falsified mindset that books are all medieval artefacts as they seek the purpose to cause conflicts between a society. This implies that he has a one-sided view towards books as he does not acknowledge the fact that the books are able to aid in societal problems. This insinuates that Captain Beatty fails to recognise that books are able to help his fellow firemen to overcome their crisis as books significantly reiterates specific roles that firemen has to adhere to for the safety and serenity of society. Thus, with the destruction of the books through fire, humans are clearly being disadvantaged as their entitlement to gain knowledge, through the existence of books, is taken away from them. With that this shows that one is not able to develop their moral and ethics as they are to only obey certain commands given by their hierarchy, which might not necessarily be accurate to ensure that chaos does not happen in the society. Hence, this shows that the destruction of books led to the destruction of personal ethics that may help firemen to prevent themselves from being confused over their actual role in society. This shows that fire causes irreparable damage to the world of Fahrenheit 451. Moreover,

In addition, the existence of dehumanisation makes destruction in the world of Fahrenheit 451 even more coherent. This is because humans are deprived of positive human qualities. This is done through freedom of speech and freewill being taken away from the people. Being people without the ability to voice out opinions, no one cares about the circumstances they are in, even if they are in danger. This is because they are not able to ask for help as their cries would be neglected unless the government allows or commands for aiding. In the book, it was mentioned that ‘The firehouse trembled as a great flight of jet planes whistled a single note across the black morning sky (Bradbury 62)’ This suggests that people were in a war zone where jeopardy is imminent. However, due to the non-existent freedom of speech, the society has a lackadaisical view of death as if it is meaningless. This implies that the people were indeed used to lives being lost. This shows that it seemed to be a societal norm for everyone to conform to the fact that death is insignificant as it happens constantly. This insinuates the idea that the people were blindly following one another since no one bothered to speak up on their opinions on an issue. This suggests that the demolition of the world is explicitly certain as no one is keen to save the world from collapsing. This implies that the people were increasingly unaware of the mounting tension in the world they live in. Hence, the world would easily be destroyed by dictators since no one is fighting for their rights to live. Moreover, Mildred mentioned that ‘’They had two machines, really. One of them slid down into your stomach like a black cobra down an echoing well… (Bradbury 14)’ This suggests that humans were mercilessly tormented as if they do not have the ability to feel agony, being in pain. This implies that technology was viewed as a tool to implicate pain which was a norm since people did not know they were in misery. This insinuates that the fact that people took pain as normal, therefore, they are ignorant towards the cruelty they are facing. This shows that danger is then going to be definite and continuous since no one voices out the wrongs of the government’s ruling towards its people. Hence, the lack of mental capacity allows the inhibition of aggression to occur constantly as abuse is not seen as a wrongdoing. Therefore, the people, being unaware of the prejudice they are facing, conforms to the injustice and play along as the government says. This distinctly destroys the society as a whole as people are foolish due to the fact that they do not know that their actions distort their society by letting pain be inflicted upon them and hence, leading to irreparable damage to the population as they live in violence. Thus, the disgrace to humans shows that Fahrenheit 451 is a world of ruination.

The abolishment of knowledge also exemplifies the theme of destruction. This is because knowledge is a key factor to the development of a society. Hence, without knowledge, in such a dystopian world, everyone is oppressed to know only certain claims that are desired of them to know. This is an unfateful circumstance as the world of Fahrenheit 451 is full of barbarity. Thus, the knowledge that the society is robbed off from gives them the misinterpretation that their living condition is habitual and fairly normal. In the text, Captain Beatty said ‘Out of the nursery, into the college, and then back into the nursery (Bradbury 52).’ This suggests that the society is full of mindless beings as they are being indoctrinated with the fact that they do not need to have educational and intellectual pursuits as the government plans their milestones in lives through controlling them. This implies that the people are being accustomed to digesting useless knowledge that are expected of them to know as the government craves trust and support from its people. This insinuates the fact the people then lost their capacity to understand information based on their own critical understanding as they are hegemonised. This shows that the majority of the people are submissive as they do not know that they are actually living in misery due to their undeveloped minds. This suggests that chaos is definite because people would not have moral obligations to do what is right as they do not even have control in whatever they are performing. This suggests that destruction of their human rights is in play. This implies that anyone has the capability to cause harm in the society, causing the destruction of many lives, just by the mere feasibility of the government instructing them to do so. This shows that basically, everyone is in proximity of danger if they were to go against the says of the government. Furthermore, Guy Montag claimed ‘There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing (Bradbury 48).’ This suggests that the obliteration of knowledge comes together with the devaluation of human life. This implies that the form of comprehension to human life is so valuable that humans would rather sacrifice their lives than to live without knowledge. This insinuates the means that the notability of knowledge is very significant, hence, it being taken away brings the end of life. This shows that the destruction of knowledge leads to the degradation of value to life, hence, lives are lost. This amplifies the idea that society cannot live without knowledge. Therefore, the destruction of life occur. This shows that fatal impacts happen as Fahrenheit 451 is a world engulfed in destruction.

These factors show that the power humanity is being forsaken in this world and therefore, the world started to fall apart as devastating harm befall the people subsequently, leading to ultimate destruction to the whole society. This evidently shows that morale and value that was not respected and inculcated in the society has demolished the world with great irreparable damage.

Guy Montag, a fireman in a technologically forward society, goes against the government to find true happiness. Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, takes place in a dystopian society in a futuristic America where firemen do not put out fires, but rather use fire to get rid of books. A futuristic society with faults and morals that we can correlate to our own. Instantly, we are introduced to novum and absorbed into Bradbury’s world of technological advancements and corruptness. This society lavishes ignorance and looks down upon intelligence. The inappropriate use of leisure time in Montag ‘s world is the biggest contributor to their deficient society, because people no longer have complex personalities, good socializing, parenting, or critical thinking skills, which are all alluded by subtle things in our real life society.

In Montag’s society, everyone is the same, and no one questions anything that is happening around them. Clarisse, a girl who questions the way their society works, tells Montag, “They name a lot of cars or clothes or swimming pools mostly and say how swell! But they all say the same things and nobody says anything different from anyone else.” (Bradbury 31). This is a very controversial quote because it is the first time that Montag actually begins to wonder about the way their society functions. Beatty, the fire chief, also explains to Montag how the home environment can undo a lot that is trying to be done at school, and that is the reason why the kindergarten age has been lowered so much; practically beginning when the child is born (66). This idea comes to show that everyone in their world is accustomed to being told what to say, do, and think; for example, when Clarisse tells Montag, “There used to be front porches…they thought about things, turned things over…the government got rid of them because that was the wrong kind of social life.” (69). The thought of questioning things and making up answers independently is unfamiliar to people living in their society. No one has a unique personality or wishes to stand out and possibly rebel, which makes it really hard for people to want different things, and question why things work, because they are all so accustomed to what they have been thought to do and like. To them nothing else could possibly be the correct thing to do which, again, comes to show how unaware of happiness the people in their world are.

This society is also extremely impatient and wants things done very rapidly; making socializing a thing of the past. The narrator of the story mentions, “Mildred driving a hundred miles an hour across town, he shouting at her and she shouting back and both trying to hear what was said, but hearing only the scream of the car” (49). This quote comes to show that the people living in this society want everything to move extremely fast so that they do not have time to think about stuff, or even feel emotions. Montag goes on to ask Mildred to keep the speed down to fifty-five miles an hour, which is the minimum. This comes to demonstrate that he has an actual interest in talking to his wife, but she makes little to no effort in trying to communicate back with him. Montag and Mildred cannot have a proper conversation because they are unable to hear each other from how fast they are traveling; as well as Mildred having her seashells (headphones) in her ears the entire time (50). The headphones are not playing music either, but propaganda. Mildred chooses listening to that over whatever Montag would like to say. Since people no longer feel comfortable socializing, because what someone says might hurt their feelings, it makes it extremely hard for their society to go on, because these people choose to close themselves out from other people’s opinions and ideas. What is going on here is very prevalent in our real life society and Bradbury makes us reflect on that. We often tend to block each other out literally and figuratively, whether it be tuning out with technologies and social media or turning a blind eye to pressing issues, all for the sake of protecting ourselves.

People in that society not only have lost the ability to have complex personalities and socialize, but the idea of parenting has diminished as well. When Mrs. Bowles tells Mrs. Phelps, “I’ve had two children by Caesarean section. No use going through all that agony,” it simply comes to show that the idea of having a child is not only painful, but also takes a large amount of time (30). Because their speed of life is so quick, they would much rather just avoid something like labor. To top it all off, when the children come home from school, three days a month, the parents just stick them in the parlor and let the television raise them, instead of interacting with them (33). This society’s refusal to parent their own children makes it almost impossible for kids to respect and love their parents, and people no longer get a chance to learn valuable life-skills that parents in the past or our real life society would have been able to teach.

We can see that technology and modernization have taken a toll on the ability for people to think critically. People no longer know how to make up ideas independently. An example of how their society has become so unintelligent is when Mildred explains to Montag how her favorite television show works. She tells him, “When it comes time for the missing lines, they all look at me out of the three walls and I say the lines.” (20). This television show that Mildred, and many other people in their society adore, is much like the popular twenty-first century nickelodeon cartoon, Dora the Explorer, which is aimed for toddlers. In their society the television shows come with a script and they have to say a line when it is their turn; the characters will just wait until you respond to proceed (20). This is a very strong example of how people in this society and our actual society are choosing to spend their free time doing things that are not productive. For them, instead of reading a book or learning a new language, these people will rather sit in their parlors and waste time, because they are so unaccustomed to thinking and contemplating things. For us, we would rather sit on our smartphones. Since no one wants to question things, and think critically, their society cannot possibly be able to evolve.

The biggest contributor to the failing society in Montag’s words is the inappropriate use of leisure time, which causes people to no longer have complex personalities, good socializing, parenting, or critical thinking skills. Everyone in this society just watches television and has little sense of intellectualism and curiosity. Leisure can be a very great thing to have, but in Montag’s world it has become deadly. No one knows what happiness really is and are all depressed, even if they are not quite aware of it. They are living in a world where communication is such a complex matter and because of that do not know how to properly socialize. Although this world is configured and set in the not so distant future and there is a heavy presence of technologies that we do not have currently, leisure has made their society and culture go into a period of dark ages because no one is inventing anything new. We have become so reliant on technology without really realizing it. We have access to most entertainment without leaving the couch, we can check on loved ones without physically going to see them and it is all leisure to us, but that reliance can also be deemed laziness.

Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, shows us that if societies do not become educated, and continuously depend on others and technology to tell them how to act and feel, they are destined to fail. Just like Montag’s society, our society can resonate and be viewed as taking the same route as his society. Bradbury’s world is trying to allude that not yet dystopian, soon our personalities, ways we socialize, and critical thinking will be affected if we don’t try to find happiness outside our closed minds and tech driven society.

Envision a reality where people feared knowledge and would rather read books instead. A future is full of non-intellectuals that have no knowledge of their history, where all literature is banned by a totalitarian government. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury portrays a society that is forbidden from reading books that have been banned by the government to intentionally control their citizens from living differently. The citizens live their life focused only on entertainment, which is their form of communication and reality. The novel’s protagonist is a fireman, which means he burns book, and goes by the name of Guy Montag. At the beginning of the story, he meets a young girl, Clarisse, who is one of the last remainders of self-aware people in this society. The conversations he has with her set off unpreceded events causing Montag to rethink his place in this dystopian society, ultimately ending with Montag fighting against the firemen organization he was once part of. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury presents a futuristic dystopian society with people spending money on senseless entertainment and the government banning books, which was also feared by the people to establish the theme of censorship.

The beginning of censorship in this society wasn’t established by the government yet since the individuals allowed it. Beatty explains to Montag that people didn’t quit reading books since they were restricted. He told Montag “It didn’t come from the Government down. There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship, to start with, no! Technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick, thank God. Today, thanks to them, you can stay happy all the time’ (Bradbury 55). They quit reading gradually as the lifestyle around them became swifter, shallower, mentally duller, and revolved around minor surges and trivial pleasure. The individuals additionally ensured that censorship proceeded by revealing their neighbors for having books and perusing. When they went to burn Montag’s home, Beatty conceded that both Montag’s own wife and his neighbors reported him. Captain Beatty also told Montag that burning books is better for society. He says if ‘Colored people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it. Someone’s written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Bum the book” (Bradbury 57). Since any person can conceivably be aggravated by a subject, he contends that all books are better destroyed than permitted to actuate outrage. Beatty uses a case of the book connecting to tobacco and malignant growth. He exhibits the benefit of decimating information about lung harm keeps cigarette associations happy, yet we see the general wellbeing dangers as individuals will be less educated regarding what smoking can do. In “The Sieve and the Sand” Faber offers another point of view on why books are detested and dreaded. He told Montag, ‘So how do you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life. The comfortable people want only wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless” (Bradbury 79). Faber says there is life present in books, and most people are uncomfortable with how truthful books can be. They are unable to handle the criticism which is why they stopped reading on their own accord. Even though the firefighters are the ones burning the books, society’s disdain towards books makes such censorship possible.

Considering how the majority of the population favored censorship, the government developed the firemen institution to completely eradicate literature from society. When Montag arrives at a scene to destroy a woman’s unlawful library, Montag is horrified to learn that she is home and resists from leaving her library of books. Captain Beatty and his men who are there to conceal her illegal library, tells the woman, ‘You know the law…Where’s your common sense? None of those books agree with each other. You’ve been locked up here for years with a regular damned Tower of Babel. Snap out of it! The people in those books never lived. Come on now!’ (Bradbury 35). Not only does he makes reference to the censorship law, yet also gives the reader an understanding of his predisposition against writing, which fuels his passion for burning books. The firemen are the government’s weapon to censor literature. The firefighters look for books and capture any people possessing them. The authorities also burn confiscated books and destroy the homes of criminals. The censorship laws are also shown in this dystopian society when Captain Beatty tells Montag, “So! A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man’s mind” (Bradbury 56). By contrasting a book with a stacked firearm, Beatty stresses society’s perspective on books, which coincides with the government censorship policy. Along with the censorship of literature, the government uses media to distract citizens from the dire conditions of the state. When Montag asked Mrs.Phelps about her husband, she told him about her husband going to war and says, ‘In again out again Finnegan, the Army called Pete yesterday. He’ll be back next week. The Army said so. Quick war. Forty-eight hours they said, and everyone home. That’s what the Army said” (Bradbury 90). The government keeps people deluded by making war look normal and reassuring. While the nation is at war, civilians are living meaningless lives while being unaware of the actions happening to their country. The government uses mass media to entertain the population and keep them miss informed. Citizens remain docile and passively accept the conditions of the state through constant entertainment. The government uses censoring to suppress intellectual thought and discourse, which can present challenges to the administration.

Another censorship in Bradbury’s dystopian society is the consumer culture, which urges people to spend their cash on thoughtless amusement. People in this society only watched television and listened to the radio. “Without turning on the light he imagined how this room would look. His wife stretched on the bed… in her ears the little Seashells, the thimble radios tamped tight, and an electronic ocean of sound, of music and talk” (Bradbury 10). This censorship in the novel recognizes the fact that technology has become more advanced and powerful and causes laziness in people. Mildred chooses to spend her time on the TV and radio rather than be with Montag. They live in a futuristic community that uses technology to control what they think and feel by controlling what they see and hear. One of the many entertainments from this society is the parlor walls. They are first mentioned when Montag meets Clarisse. Clarisse shares the fact that she is an atypical person in the society almost immediately but cements that fact by stating, “I rarely watch the ‘parlor walls’ or go to races or Fun Parks. So I’ve lots of time for crazy thoughts, I guess” (Bradbury 7). The fact that Clarisse doesn’t watch TV like everyone else is something that allows her the time to think, which sets her apart from almost everyone else since they appear to be addicted to technology. After this encounter with Clarisse, Montag came home with his wife asking him to purchase the fourth parlor wall, despite the cost being a third of his yearly salary. Mildred didn’t seem to care that this would cause a problem for Montag because she is too addicted to technology. Montag has begun to think that the parlor walls and technology are separating people from each other, instead of bringing them closer together and facilitating happiness. Censorship cam about when people didn’t want to have thoughts introduced to them that might upset their happy nature which is why they turn to parlor walls, high-speed beetle cars, and technology overall.

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury conveys the theme of censorship through the people and the government controlling society where citizens alternately turn their attention to entertainment. In this dystopian society, people are in constant fear of their society. The people who do not fear the society are under the impression of it being the perfect society. People stopped reading so that everything could be done faster, they didn’t want criticism, and they didn’t speak out when they noticed the censorship happening. Although the government wanted to censor literature, it was the people who allowed that to happen. They were too hooked onto technology that it affected people and their daily lives such as Mildred who spends most of her time with the parlor walls. Censoring literature is the dystopian state’s way of suppressing intellectual thought and discourse, which can present challenges to the regime. They wanted to make people happy by preventing controversial authors from criticizing their superficial society. Bradbury presents us to a dystopian society that could be our future if we allow the addictive properties of technology to get to us. Our society could easily turn into this dystopian society if we neglect books as the people did.

People have everything in front of them, people have nothing in front of them; People are on the way to heaven, people are going to the door of hell.

Fahrenheit 451 is a frightening alternative world and it is symbolistic of a society in which the switch from contemplating books to mindlessly craving the instant satisfaction that comes from technology has had a grave effect on its citizens. It is also a not too distant reality of our world. ‘Fahrenheit 451 as perhaps Ray Bradbury’s finest novel while he is being such poor stewards of its legacy’, the statement from Dave Itzokff has reveals Bradbury’s idea of books were repositories of knowledge and ideas, but he also feared that zilch will be endangered in the future. Furthermore, Dave Itzkoff also has inference technology replacing everything in 21st century through the discussion about the audiobook and paper book in his article. He also shares his daily life with utilise technology to inference with people attention to the happening of the present and technology has already instead of everything. Reading was becoming less of a portion of people today not matter the past or now.

‘Books aren’t people. You read and I look around, but there isn’t anybody!’ The statement is what happened when Mildred rejects when Montag tried force her to think with read the book loudly. It is an irony example outlines a social actuality where people are mindless because technology, they started resist books. The complaint of books aren’t people is from Mildred was making a contrast with she feels when watching television. It also uncovers Bradbury was warning readers about the threat of TV parlors from rejection people to thinking. In fact, when people are reading books that help making connection with authors and it is sharing people’s experience, Mildred always think she contacts with friends by TV parlors while she is insensible of technology has been distract people all the time and TV parlors never including any actual information of any lasting importance conveyed to the viewer. Hence reveals Bradbury’s apprehension about people have lost communicate with other and conspire to destroy literature because the influence of television is consecutively invading in the society.

Captain Beatty provides an explanation of phenomenon that people are happier live without thinking since books arises confusion and distress after reading. He states that ‘None of those books agree with each other. You’ve been locked up here for years with a regular damned Tower of Babel. The people in those books never lived’, therefore the society decided to be safer from destroy the books and ban of reading book as restricting their access to ideas and occupy themselves with mindless entertainment, such as Seashell. Seashells are Bradbury’s imagination entertainment that usually inserted in people’s ears with songs for crammed their mind that also distract their attention. Seashell also relate to the contemporary society; it can be considered to Apple’s air pods. If people started looking around, they will be noticing everyone is wearing it all the time. On the other hand, Dave Itzokff has perceived that ‘There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship, to start with. Technology, mass exploitation and minority pressure carried the trick’. An example of technology that influence people’s life is happening in the novel, Bradbury uses repeating words and phrase’s technique to highlight the disorder of Montag’s mind is because the dentifrice advertisement blaring on the subway when Montag is trying to remember the Bible verse ‘The lilies of the field’. At this moment, the Bible verse as designed to help him tolerate the noise from the advertisement in this case. It is a hint as turning point in his life, Montag discovers the contrast between other people are adapt to life in noise while he is getting dysphoria due to the commercial advertisement. Consequently, Montag start notice he is living in an empty and superficial societal.

In Fahrenheit 451, government just provide technology to satisfying what people want even though the society is initiate absorb empty messages from technology such as television propaganda, it also shrouds values, ideas, information that found in books. Bradbury shows a decline society even have success development of technology, but it resets individuals live like Mildred, TV parlours has dulled her ability that let her lives without consciousness. ‘His wife stretched on the bed…in her ears the little seashells…electronic ocean sound of music’, Bradbury was showing how powerful technology has become part of the life when people become lazy. In the novel, people are live in a futuristic world that use technology to control what they think and feel by set limiting of what they want to see and hear. Which people are marking an illusion of live under government’s censor in long time for removal their individuality, but the significant factor of destruction of life emerge is because themselves. All things considered, since technology’s invention half a century ago, it has become an integral part of modern life, however it has played an immense of lives of everyone who use it. Similarly, the contemporary society should pay attention to the issue of reading and technology.

‘I don’t talk things. I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and know I’m alive’. Faber has emphasized the importance of critical thought to the reader from the statement. He links the act of thinking and explore information to determine being alive. For him, the important thing is comprehending the meaning of information that found in the book, not just blindly absorbs what written in the book. Book is barely a stuff that arouse people’s ideas, but it can become powerful when readers explore the knowledge that beneath of the books. Bradbury links the act of thinking and explore information to determine being alive. Here, Bradbury has made a sharp contrast between Faber and Mildred, it also ironically to those ignorance people who constantly passively absorbing television and repeatedly attempts to end their own life.

From the discussion above, the contemporary society appreciates Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is because of the portend from Bradbury’s society criticism is relate with the present. The society that Bradbury portray has given up books and reading because people are full of blind obedience and conformity by self-censorship. Admittedly, Fahrenheit 451 have disclosed a profound reflection of humanity throughout represent to the conflict between freedom of thought and censorship in the dystopian society. Bradbury also warning that the contemporary society might evolve to like the society of the novel. People must bear in mind that television could be a nightmarish while leading to people spend their time in a drugged dreamland.

Rebellion is one of the most themes that mostly make an appearance in the novel by using personification to strengthen Ray Bradbury’s point of rebellion. In the beginning, Montag loved to be a fireman but as time grew on he had grown sick on the smell like two parts of him were fighting to do the right thing and stopping. Montag likes to do his job but as he thought possibly being a fireman is wrong and he wants to do something right. Ray Bradbury expresses Montag’s halves fighting each other ”He felt his body divide its self into a hotness and coldness, a softness and hardness, a trembling and not trembling, the two halves grinding ” (21). Montag does not know this feeling of fighting his self to see which is the better option, which can he chose, what side is the best to fight for. Should he speak his mind or not to speak his mind he was lead by fear of getting killed or hunted by the government he does not know which side to take Bradbury uses personification of ” he felt his body divide” to give a better explanation. As a fireman, they need to start fires and burn the book if they find someone to owns them they take them if not they let them burn along with the books. Ray Bradbury interprets the kerosene as deathly ”with the brass nozzle at his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head”(3). As to using personification ”with the brass nozzle at his fists” to give better strength to understand better the way the kerosene smells and that it destroys everything that has life and Montag is controlling it. Montag did not find this something that he should do and fight for his freedom and not in shackles. Bradbury uses personification to express his theme of rebellion to have people fight with themselves to do the right thing and clash with their own thoughts to do the best. Montag has fought with himself to make up his mind in order to get a better state of mind and think.

Television is a big part of people’s life and fills people’s minds with a false imagination or frame of mind which then leads the people to have an unstable mental mind by using a metaphor. The people in the city think that reading will give them a sense of the society that is more ugly which people think that he or she resides in a perfect life. Ray Bradbury declares that people are up most scared ”so now do you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life.”(83) The government wants people to think that they live in a perfect world and that there is nothing bad in their society. Using the dark side of technology to give a sense of false happiness in the world so they don’t see threw the government’s lies. Everyone thinks that they are happy and content with their life, in reality, he or she is depressed and suicidal. Where Montag takes a chance to fix the mistakes that he has done. Ray Bradbury puts ”books can get us half out of the cave. They might form making the same damn insane mistakes!”(74) Using a metaphor to strengthing the thought of how technology affects people Mildred, Montag’s wife lives happily with technology which Montag is tired of people being ignorant. Which contrasts the differences between them and how they see their society. Ray Bradbury uses these to strengthen the thought of how technology has been inflicting its people to think that they are happy about their society.

Their society is a very controlling society that is controlled by fear and society until Montag fights in order to bring back life and color to the world and by using a simile Ray Bradbury uses to help the theme of rebellion. Since the beginning, Montag has been stealing books that had given him a sense of knowledge that he now knows what kind of knowledge they hold. He now knows why the government banned books which he hides from his Capitan. Ray Bradbury points out,” his fingers were like ferrets that had done some evil and now never rested always stirred and pick and hid in pockets, moving from under Beattys alcoholic-flame gaze”(101) Using a simile Ray Bradbury does take this statement that he goes against his government as perusing his hands for all the evil things that he has caused in order to have his freedom. While on the run he escapes and meets people beyond his city and discovers a new society that old people that were chased out escaped. Since those people read they have the information in their head to remember and create new books. Ray Bradbury overlooks ”we must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal […] then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against”(55) By using allusion Ray Bradbury by pointing out the constitution is how the government came to be. That people were able to think like one another also that people depend on technology. Ray Bradbury uses both simile and allusion to have his point go through people’s minds and emphasizes his theme of rebellion.