Fahrenheit 451: Question Number Two

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The quote that Bradbury included to introduce his novel, Fahrenheit 451, was well chosen because it aptly summarizes the entirety of his work. The quote, written by Juan Ramón Jiménez, states, “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.” This directly relates to the message Bradbury perpetuated throughout the novel, the concept that in order to cause change, one must vary their actions from those of the rest of society. Fahrenheit 451 illustrates a realistic future society where the definition of thought and reason are unknown. Books are banned because they contain too many conflicting ideas and therefore offer no actual value. Every moment of the citizens’ lives is full of stimulation, whether wall-sized interactive television, murdering strangers, or listening to music on wireless radio headsets. Everyone is taught not to ask questions or think beyond the decision of which show to watch. Being a pedestrian is something one can be arrested for and the concept of casually chatting or watching the world pass-by is considered suspicious activity. One of the characters who figuratively follow through with the demands of Jiménez’s quote and the subsequent idea, is Clarisse. She is introduced to the reader when Guy Montag -the protagonist of the novel- passes her on his way home from work and it quickly becomes apparent that she is not like everyone else. For example, the second time Montag and Clarisse meet it is raining and Clarisse tries to convince Montag that the feeling of rain falling on ones face is joyous and pleasant. However, Montag disagrees stating, ‘I don’t think I’d like that.’ Clarisse fires back with, ‘You might if you tried.’ To which Montag retorts, ‘What do you do, go around trying everything?’ Not su... ... middle of paper ... ...s. Society must try new experiences and keep their ears and mind open to new philosophies and ideas, because without them, it cannot learn from its mistakes and will continue to ‘make funeral pyres and [jump] into the middle of them’ (163). Society will blindly follow instructions without a problem if there is no one to there to dispute or cast doubt. However, when someone does step up to question to the motivation behind the rules and regulations, it is like the domino effect. One person can cause a change by simply asking questions and stopping to think outside of the box placed upon the citizens of a society. Jiménez demonstrates this phenomenon in his quote and Bradbury took it and ran with the concept, building a scarily realistic society, which illustrates the willingness people have to simply follow behind another, never stopping to think or consider why.

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