Fahrenheit 451 Cultural Characteristics
From nomadic life to farming settlements, working in the home to commuting, rudimentary education to advanced specialty learning, and equal rights for men to equality for all, the world has undergone exponential numbers of change. Ray Bradbury, an author during an era of the most unprecedented technological advancements, wrote the novel Fahrenheit 451: the story of an intelligent man, named Montag, trapped in a world that has banned books. He, along with the majority of the population, has been programmed into the ignorant mold that the government wants. Montag is quite intelligent but needs a push to reach his potential, and that is where Clarisse comes in. She unintentionally shows Montag what society
…show more content…
Most people are unaware of the current events around the world and are numb to emotions. They have no strive to become a genuine person. The culture is simply oblivious. Throughout the novel a war is brought up; however, the descriptions of it are vague. No one knows the reasoning behind the war, who is fighting in it, and when it is happening. Montag is confused about how the civilization has become so unobservant and he says: “How in hell did those bombers get up there every single second of our lives! Why doesn't someone want to talk about it” (Bradbury 69)? It even took Montag many years to notice the war going on just outside his front door. A sense of awareness is completely missing in the day-to-day lives of these people. The society is not only cultured to be uneducated, but they are trained to live life at a fast pace. The readings are condensed into one-sentence synopses to efficiently use their time. Even driving is changed into a speed event; the cars move by so fast that kids play games jumping out of the way of the cars to see who can get the closest to them. Because of the ridiculously fast speed limits, people are unaware of the beauty of the world, as Clarisse says: “White blurs are houses. Brown blurs are cows. My uncle drove slowly on a highway once. He drove forty miles an hour and they jailed him for two days” (Bradbury 6). This shows the lawful consequence of trying to break the shackles of …show more content…
She is a thought-provoking, conversant, and attentive teenager. She enjoys doing things considered unnatural or antisocial compared to the rest of society. While everyone is watching television she is out dancing in the rain or conversing with her family. Without specifically portraying the how Orwellian the world has become, Clarisse gets Montag to realize it. She talks of the past societies, how firemen used to prevent fires not start them, and how: “There's dew on the grass in the morning” (Bradbury 7). This may seem like an average occurrence, but it makes Montag contemplate on if he even knew that. Clarisse gives Montag the spark to revolt against society; she is to Montag what Montag is to Faber. Mildred plays just as big of a role in Montag’s revolt as Clarisse does. Mildred is caught up in society; she watches television every day, hates books, and even attempts to commit suicide similar to many other people. At times Montag feels as if he is not in love with Mildred. She is highly materialistic and can only be pleased through the means of technology. This shows how societies mold has encapsulated and brainwashed her. Because of her tedious characteristics, Montag sees what has gone on under the roof of his own house. When Montag asks Mildred where they met she says: “It doesn’t matter” (Bradbury 40). She is completely lackadaisical which causes Montag to lose it, and go attempt to save the world from
Montag is realizing wrong his world really is. He wants to change it too. He says “ Im going to do something, I dont know what yet but im going t do something big.” He doesnt know what to do yet because at this point he hasnt figured out the “missing peice”. Montag says “ I dont know. we have everything we need to be happy, but we arent happy. Something is missing.” then he starts to understand that books are the key to knowladge and knowledge is what they need. he says “There must be something in books that we cant imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there, you dont stay for nothing.” And this is the turning point of the book because now montag is ready to take
At the beginning of the book, Clarisse acted as Montag's mirror and changed his self perspective. Clarisse challenged societal views and in turn had influenced Montag to do the same. Mildred was a mirror image of what their society had become. And she was an illustration of where Montag would end up if he had not altered his actions. Their society had driven itself to a point of brainwashed mindlessness that eventually caused it to collapse. In the rubble of what society once was is where the rebirth of the human race must start, this can only happen if society is willing to look in the mirror to see it’s flaws and move past them. Bradbury created a world of people who were not willing to look in the mirror to reflect upon themselves; a world of people who had destroyed themselves in effort to avoid disappointment in what they had become; a world that now must spend a long time looking in mirrors to be able to even attempt to make diamonds out of their
Imagine a world in which there are no books, and every piece of information you learn comes from a screen. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, this nightmare is a reality. In Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag is a fireman who instead of putting out fires burns books. He eventually meets Clarisse who changes his outlook on life and inspires him to read books (which are outlawed). This leads to Guy being forced on the run from the government. The culture, themes, and characters in Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 construct a dystopian future that is terrifying to readers.
In Federalist 10 James Madison argued that while factions are inevitable, they might have interests adverse to the rights of other citizens. Madison’s solution was the implementation of a Democratic form of government. He felt that majority rule would not eliminate factions, but it would not allow them to be as powerful as they were. With majority rule this would force all parties affiliate and all social classes from the rich white to the poor minorities to work together and for everyone’s opinion and views to be heard.
The role that Clarisse plays in the book enables Montag to break free of the ignorance. To conclude, because the government was able to use censorship and promote ignorance, they were able to control and manipulate their citizens. This novel also has resemblance to our world, this novel is a reminder of how powerful media can become if used the right way, society can be misled into thinking false things. By promoting ignorance, the citizens started having very bland lives with no depth. People did not talk about ideas and feelings because they were obsessed and dependent on instant pleasure, they will start denying their own feelings because of this.
In Dystopian societies, conformity overrules curiosity, but occasionally people stand and rebel. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Clarisse and Mildred represent these two classes of people. they stand on opposite sides of the overall theme to think about. The curiosity of Clarissa and the conformity of Mildred define the opposing sides of Juan Ramon Jimenez's quote, “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way,” by showing both effects in Montag and the rest of society. Clarisse McClellan is the spark, not the flame, nor the match of the novel.
In "Brave New World", the main characters, Bernard Marx and John the Savage both slowly come to realize the faults with their societies. In "Fahrenheit 451", Guy Montag quickly discovers that things could be better in his society, because of some unfortunate events. His wife Mildred tries to commit suicide, Clarisse gets killed by a speeding car, and a woman refuses to leave her home and her books when firefighters come. These events force Montag to think about the way things are. He is forced out of his society to live with others like himself who think differently. Marx questions the lack of history that his society has. He wonders about books, banned because they did not encourage the new culture, which had no place for old things. By visiting
People nowadays have lost interest in books because they see it as a waste of time and useless effort, and they are losing their critical thinking, understanding of things around them, and knowledge. Brown says that Bradbury suggests that a world without books is a world without imagination and its ability to find happiness. The people in Fahrenheit 451 are afraid to read books because of the emotions that they will receive by reading them and claim them as dangerous. Bradbury hopes to reinstate the importance of books to the people so that they can regain their “vital organ of thinking.” In Fahrenheit 451, Montag steals a book when his hands act of their own accord in the burning house, regaining his ability to read and think on his own (Bradbury 34-35; Brown 2-4; Lee 3; Patai 1, 3).
In this world society is different. In the novel, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradburry, Mildred is the wife of the main character, Guy Montag. Society acts robotic, unfeeling, and self-centered all of the time. Mildred was just like all of these other people and society made her this way.
Mother Teresa once said “If you judge people, you have no time to love them”. Before people become acquainted with others they begin to judge them and then are unable to move past their preconceived ideas. In Fahrenheit 451 people consider Clarisse McClellan as very abnormal for their society, but instead of judging her Guy Montag learns about her. Since Montag stays away from judgment and learns about Clarisse, he becomes fond of her including her lifestyle. Clarisse influences Montag’s life in many ways, because he allows her into his life as well as learns from her. Clarisse affects Montag’s life by evoking his unhappiness, shows him how their society is, and changes Montag way of life by her death.
Guy Montag is a fireman who is greatly influenced in Ray Bradbury's novel, Fahrenheit 451. The job of a fireman in this futuristic society is to burn down houses with books in them. Montag has always enjoyed his job, that is until Clarisse McClellan comes along. Clarisse is seventeen and crazy. At least, this is what her uncle, whom she gets many of her ideas about the world from, describes her as. Clarisse and Montag befriend each other quickly, and Clarisse's impact on Montag is enormous. Clarisse comes into Montag's life, and immediately begins to question his relationship with his wife, his career, and his happiness. Also, Clarisse shows Montag how to appreciate the simple things in life. She teaches him to care about other people and their feelings. By the end of the novel, we can see that Montag is forever changed by Clarisse.
Clarisse is a young, but intelligent girl that, unlike many children in the novel, was raised with discipline. “I was spanked when i needed it, years ago.” Clarisse said to Montag referring to how she was raised. Kids used to be loving and caring, but now it’s not like that anymore. The world is a dystopia and everyone has lost hope, but Clarisse, her family, a group of hobos who want to join the fight for books, and a secret team of Harvard graduates. Clarisse met a man named Montag, who is a firefighter that burns books down along with the house they were in if the owner of the books refuses to reveal their location. Clarisse walked with Montag, right after they had met, and told him of the many things life has to offer that he doesn’t see because he is caught up in burning books for a living. She caught Montag’s emotions and this is what ultimately ended up with Montag deciding he was going to stop burning books and even help the Harvard graduates memorize and spread the words and knowledge of the books that remain. Clarisse filled Montag with empathy and this changed Montag’s view of life
Some characters like Montag did not succumb to the ignorance of society. Unlike Mildred characters like Montag believed in the power books and knowledge. Montag was once like Mildred until he met Clarisse; his neighbor. Clarisse was different from anyone Montag had ever met. She made him question his career, his happiness and even his marriage. After talking to Clarisse, Montag realizes he’s been ignorant for his whole life and begins a dangerous search for knowledge. After eventually stealing a book and reading it Montag realized that knowledge is really important. Books symbol knowledge because they provide their readers with information they did not know prior to opening the book. Montag no longer believed that ignorance was bliss “”. Through Montag’s fight for knowledge Bradbury is able to help the readers to understand that people are afraid of knowledge because they fear making mistakes. “You’re afraid of making mistakes. Don’t be. Mistakes can be profited by” says Faber (Bradbury 104). Knowledge is gained from experience. The best and worst sides of Montag were revealed during his journey because he made mistakes and learned from them. At the end of the novel Montag like readers comes to the realization that knowledge and experiences is the true meaning of life.
Beatty tells Montag how they do this, “‘You can't build a house without nails and wood. If you don't want a house built, hide nails and wood. If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give them two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none.Let him forget there is such a thing as war. If the government is inefficient, top-heavy, and tax-mad, better it be all those than that people worry over it. Peace, Montag’”(Bradbury 58). Hiding the knowledge make them able to create the world ignorant and oblivious to the world’s problem. They want to make people have an easy life, but fail to see, in the long run, how this could affect their future. The book's climax revolves around consequences of having them could lead to. Montag gets caught by Beatty with his books and spouts out to him how much of an idiot he is, “‘Alone, hell! She chewed around you, didn't she? One of those damn do-gooders with their shocked, holier-than-thou silences, their one talent making others feel guilty. God damn, they rise like the midnight sun to sweat you in your bed!’”(Bradbury 108). Beatty is talking about how Clarisse and her questions made Montag feel guilty about his life. It is true that Montag feels much regret for his life choices, but that is the price for knowing and seeing more. Though it gives the right of freedom for people to have their own
Within a ten-year period, he was okay with his job and content with his work. During the story his train of thought switched up, therefore it causes him to become an enemy of his old self. This action highlights the idea of character vs. self-conflict. To push the action in Fahrenheit 451 even further the author introduces Clarisse, who ends up making Montag question himself even more. Clarisse asking this question makes Montag question himself even further and cause him to think if he is happy with the life he is living now. She even gets him question his relationship with his wife even though Montag and Millie have been married for years, Montag realizes, after the overdose incident, that he doesn't really know much about his wife at all. He can't remember when or where he first met her. Regardless of their differences, the two are pulled in to each other. Clarisse's vivacity is irresistible, and Montag discovers her surprising viewpoints about existence fascinating. For sure, she is somewhat in charge of Montag's adjustment in demeanor. She influences Montag to consider things that he has never thought of, and she compels him to consider thoughts that he has never pondered. If the author of Fahrenheit 451 hadn't added the conflicting thoughts within Montag heads there would be no push for external conflicts in the story. His