Conformity In Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury envisions a dystopian society where books are banned, social interactions and thinking are looked down upon, and firemen burn houses instead of saving them. Bradbury creates this world to foreshadow the rise and takeover of technology over people’s lives. The takeover of technology leads to all books being banned because everyone believes the equality of knowledge will remove conflicting and radical thoughts, which makes society as a whole happier. The firemen have the important job of burning houses found harboring this illegal contraband. Guy Montag is a fireman, and he begins to think and question why things are the way they appear to be. He realizes that he is no longer content with the social norm, which fuels his drive to

find out why he is not happy anymore.

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury presents both visual imagery and detail to establish a critical tone towards societal conformity, thereby conveying his point that societal conformity creates a nonrealistic "perfect" community.
To begin with, Bradbury utilizes visual imagery to display his critical tone towards societal conformity. He visualizes this imagery through Montag noticing distinct similarities shared between his fellow firemen, and the author adds this imagery to assist the audience in envisioning the way society has conformed. To explain, the author creates the visual image of the firemen, displaying characteristics regularly associated with fires or firemen such as, “sunburnt face”, “fevered eyes", “charcoal hair”, “soot-colored brows”, and “bluish-ash-smeared cheeks” (30). Through the inclusion of the imagery describing the firemen, Bradbury emphasizes the "perfect" society through the similarities found by Montag which appear on all firemen. Bradbury disapproves of this conformity by associating the descriptions of the firemen to fire, which is linked to destruction in the beginning of the book. Bradbury portrays his disgust towards societal conformity by ridiculing the people who follow blindly. For example, he describes the people as “gray animals peering from electric caves, faces with gray colorless eyes, gray tongues and gray thoughts looking out through the numb flesh of the face” (132). The gloomy imagery characterizes the people as “gray animals”. People are not often described as “animals”, but this description is used as an insult to display the critical tone towards societal conformity. The gray color is associated with being dull and emotionless. By describing the people as “gray animals” with “gray colorless eyes, gray tongues and gray thoughts”, Bradbury is using the color to describe the people as being dull, emotionless animals. In addition, he writes that the people are inside of an "electric cave", and this imagery combined with the imagery of "gray animals" relates the people to ancient, uncivilized barbarians, further expressing his critical tone towards the “perfect society”. Bradbury presents vivid, visual imagery throughout the book to present his critical tone towards societal conformity.
Equally important, Bradbury incorporates important details to present his critical tone towards societal conformity and its strong appeal to people everywhere.

Throughout the book, Bradbury includes details pertaining to the importance of society as a whole, “People want to be happy, isn’t that right? … That’s all we live for, isn’t it? For pleasure, for titillation?” (56). By including the details that people live to strive for happiness and pleasure, Bradbury creates the way the government views societal conformity as a method to keep the people “happy”. In these details, the author emphasizes that people live for happiness, but he leaves the details of what else do people live for other than happiness in society. He shows his critical tone through his details of the strict statements regarding happiness and society. Bradbury also includes a small detail near the end of the book, which shows his critical tone towards those who had conformed in the cities compared to the individuals who had chosen to escape the cities in “I wrote a book called The Fingers in the Glove; the Proper Relationship between the Individual and Society, and here I am!” (143). By using the title, Bradbury affirms his theme of societal conformity and reiterates his critical tone. Bradbury provides important details, which assist in presenting his critical tone towards societal

conformity.
Overall, Bradbury establishes his critical tone towards societal conformity utilizing visual imagery and details. He criticizes the idea of a “perfect” community because it causes people to lose their identity. Bradbury recognizes the importance that society plays in the world, such as influencing people and distributing information. He fears the creation of society wherein free thinking is censored and people are influenced specifically to believe in propaganda. Societal conformity is an issue emphasized by Bradbury as society grows and undertakes an ever-important role in the present.