Fahrenheit 451 Identity Diversity Analysis

Complexity, Identity, Diversity

What would happen if people were all the same? Seems convenient, right? More like dangerous. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the world is deprived of books. Society is glued to technology, and personalities are monotonous. Montag, a firefighter who burns down houses with books, struggles to find himself after meeting teenager Clarisse who makes him question his ideals. Suddenly, Clarisse disappears, and Montag is lost. He feels tension at his job, and seemingly everyone turns against him. Beatty, Montag’s boss, persecutes him for having books. Montag retaliates and kills Beatty, and running becomes the only option. Fahrenheit 451 teaches many compelling messages for readers today because it poses a warning

for the world to keep diversity. Diversity is powerful and necessary in society because without diversity in an individual’s use of mass media, critical thinking, and definition of happiness, society crumbles.
Lack of diversity in the use of media is critical for the balance of society.

In Fahrenheit 451, most of the citizens watch the same television shows and own the same types of technology. Parents use it as a way to entertain kids, get rid of their kids, and also entertain themselves: “’You heave them into the ‘parlor’ and turn on the switch. It’s like washing clothes: stuff laundry in and slam the lid’” (Bradbury 96). The use of technology in their society has become so monotonous that the people are instantly glued to the screen no matter what is playing. This is dangerous to their culture because the lack of technological distinction limits opinions and ultimately makes society tediously boring. Some may argue that watching the same television shows and using the same technology would be beneficial because people would be more likely to agree on tricky subjects, this, though, is not true because if everyone agrees the monotony will be agonizing. Mass media can also override people’s memory and decision-making skills. Montag and Mildred (Montag’s wife) have a heated conversation over a touchy

subject:
‘No. The same girl. McClellan. McClellan. Run over by a car. Four days ago. I’m not sure. But I think she’s dead. The family moved out anyway. I don’t know. But I think she’s dead.’ ‘You’re not sure of it!’ ‘No, not sure. Pretty sure.’ ‘Why didn’t you tell me sooner?’ ‘Forgot.’ ‘Four days ago!’ ‘I forgot all about it.’ ‘Four days ago,’ he said, quietly, lying there (Bradbury 47).
Mildred is so plagued by her constant use of technology that she forgets to tell Montag that one of his closest friends was hit by a car. This is a dangerous subject because if people overuse their brains using technology, they are less likely to be able to use them for memory and other thinking skills. Uniform use of mass media is not the only aspect that will damage our society, but like forms of creative thinking will also damage culture.
Lack of diversity in creative thinking will leave society swirling into a centrally controlled life.

Citizens in the Fahrenheit 451 have a difficult time with critical thinking because they have simply been taught to spit out answers and move on. The central authorities change their rules to make critical thinking a taboo: “It’s a lot of funnels and a lot of water poured down the spout and out the bottom and them telling us it’s wine when it’s not” (Bradbury 29-30). Clarisse struggles with her peer’s lack of critical thinking, and being taught things but not learning their meaning. Without training to think outside the box, students are left with training only to find stale words that are the answer, but have no meaning to them. This in turn leaves society without problem solving skills. Montag also observes Mildred’s friends’ blank minds: “So it was now, in his own parlor, with these women twisting in their chairs under his gaze, lighting cigarettes, blowing smoke, touching their sun-fired hair and examining their blazing fingernails as if they had caught fire from his look” (Bradbury 95). Montag finds the lack of thought in the women to be astonishing. They simply exist, and run through their daily routines without questioning anything. They are nearly clueless without the ability to think critically. Their society lacks depth in different opinions and invention due to their deficiency in critical thinking. Some argue that if we’re all clueless and do not question

anything life would be much easier, but this is not true because if we are all clueless, no one would be able to create and innovate new things. We would be a society that is satisfied with where they currently are, rather than striving to be better everyday. Not only does lack of creative thinking affect society, but having the same definition is extremely dangerous to society, too.
Happiness should not be defined or chosen by what others believe brings them satisfaction. Montag realizes throughout the book that by seeking happiness in what society thinks should make a person happy ultimately makes you unhappy. Seeking insincere happiness becomes a routine after a while:
Well, after all, this is the age of the disposable tissue. Blow your nose on a person, wad them, flush them away, reach for another, blow, wad, flush. Everyone using everyone else’s coattails. How are you supposed to root for the home team when you don’t even have a program or know the names? For that matter, what color jerseys are they wearing as they trot out on the field? (Bradbury 17).
Happiness is the tissue, you watch one program, move on to another, and repeat the cycle over and over again. Soon it becomes so monotonous that you do not know who the “home team” is, and life swallows you whole because you were happy with oblivion. Oblivion is confusion, not satisfaction. Some may argue that if a person is oblivious, they will be happier because they will not comprehend what is happening. This is not true because if a person is oblivious, how are they going to feel any emotion at all, and happiness is an emotion. The children in the story clearly do not feel happiness, so they seek it in unorthodox ways: “God knew, from twelve to sixteen, out whistling, yelling, hurrahing, had seen a man, a very extraordinary sight, a man strolling, a rarity, and simply said, ‘Let’s get him,’ not knowing he was the fugitive Mr. Montag, simply a number of children out for a long night of roaring five or six hundred miles in a few moonlit hours, their faces icy with wind, and coming home or not coming at dawn, alive or not alive, that made the adventure” (Bradbury 128). In the pursuit of happiness, the teenagers are not afraid to take someone else’s life, and not afraid of losing their own. At this point, they do not know how to seek happiness, and never will due to the lack of diversity in their community.
Diversity is essential in society because without diversity in a person's use of mass media, critical thinking, and definition of happiness, civilization disintegrates. When people do not have any distinct and defining traits and interests, society becomes boring and monotone. If people all use the same types of media, opinions and decision-making skills are compromised. When critical thinking gets thrown out, opportunities for central government to take full control is heightened. Opinions of the public are only made up of what the central being wants them to believe in. Lastly, when individuals have the same definition of happiness, they ultimately become unhappy. All three of these points are critical for us to maintain diversity in. In current times we are constantly trying to degrade people for their interests and beliefs when in reality, if we make everyone the same, society would be controlling and boring. Diversity is like a flower, beautiful, yet so delicate and special. Such a pleasant thing to have, and yet it is so easily destroyed.