Fahrenheit 451 Literary Analysis

“ . . . quality of information . . . leisure to digest it . . . the right to carry out actions based on what we learn from the inter-action of the first two¨ (Bradbury 81). Anything that promotes thinking is frowned upon in this society. The speaker, Faber, is talking about that very concept: knowledge. Here, he’s explaining the three things that people are missing from their lives to the protagonist. Fahrenheit 451 is a story written by Ray Bradbury in 1953; it involves a man called Montag, a fireman who burns books for a living. In this society, people are constantly distracted by music, tv, censored news, and more. The reason for all these distractions lies in the government, as they desire ultimate control over their citizens. Clarisse,

a seventeen-year old girl, along with an old woman’s death light a candle in Montag.

This is dangerous, however, since he must face the chief fireman, his wife, and the rest of society almost entirely on his own. The poem Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold proves each of Faber´s statements about what is missing from people's lives due to its stanzas about thought and the world.

The Professor's first statement was about the quality of information, which is mentioned in certain parts of Fahrenheit 451 and in a poem by Matthew Arnold. One scene in Bradbury´s novel has Faber talking about why few read books, ¨. . . hated and feared. . . truthfully recorded details of life . . . cycle back to reality . . .¨ (Bradbury 79). People are afraid of the information in books and how they talk about the truth about life and humanity. They shun novels and what they have to say because the person doesn't agree with it or because they get confused by the differing views and arguments. In Dover Beach the author mentions how Sophocles thought deeply about sadness, ¨Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow / Of human misery; we / find also in the sound a thought¨ (Arnold 17-19). Arnold´s poem is talking about how a human´s sadness and despair is intertwined with thinking. The ¨turbid ebb and flow¨

he is speaking of means that the despair is thick, cloudy; it´s a feeling that won't easily go away. Thought leads to ideas about life and death in general, it makes you wonder about humanity and the meaning of things. In Fahrenheit 451, society lacks the motivation to do such things. They prefer to entertain themselves with technology and violence since all they require are listening, doing, watching, none of the heavy comprehension that Dover Beach needs to be understood properly. It would be considered quality information to Faber for that very reason. He´s reached the level where he interprets the meaning of things automatically; years of reading books and teaching has given him that ability. Montag is slowly getting there, though he is unable to do the same as his companion in his current state. He’s questioning the meaning of books and the environment he lives in, which is better than he could do before. The dystopian society in Bradbury´s novel doesn’t think for one other reason: emotions, especially sadness and anger. Those who are upset tend to rebel, which is the opposite of what the government wants. This is why they only allow basic reading and writing; Denham's Dentifrice, the White Clown, these are the kinds of distractions that people can sing along to and/or watch mindlessly. The same happens in today's world; video games, tv, and music are all used as distractions to avoid and/or to relieve stress. These reasons are how the society in Fahrenheit 451 lack the quality of information that is noticeable in Dover Beach.
The leisure to digest information was another point that Faber talked about. People need time to process what they’ve read, otherwise they’ll fail to understand it in its entirety. One character in Dover Beach was admiring the coast of France, yet he turned back to look at the cliffs of England, his home country, “Gleaming and vast, out in the tranquil bay. / Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!” (Arnold 5-6). The narrator is spending his leisure time by watching the world around him and starts speaking to an unknown person in the second line. He’s commenting on the night-air and how wonderful it is, he’s also urging the other person to join him. Bradbury’s work also includes a passage with Faber explaining to Montag how people really don’t have the time to think despite them believing they do, “. . . you can’t argue with the fourwall televisor . . . rushes you on so quickly . . . your mind hasn’t mind to protest . . . books . . . you can shut them, say, “Hold on a moment”’” (Bradbury 80). If you disagree with something that a person on the parlor wall says you won’t be able to bring up a counter argument due to the show never pausing to let you think. By the time you’ve formed something to say the tv would have switched to a different topic. With books, you have the ability to take a break anytime you want; there’s no restriction on when and how long you can take some time off for. You’re allowed to build up an argument for yourself, gather information, wonder about further possibilities without punishment. Also, almost everyone in this society spends all their time away from work by watching tv, driving at high speeds, and by hurting or killing themselves and others around them. Little to no thought is needed for the listed activities, so although society assumes that they’re spending time wisely by relaxing and having fun, they aren’t. A lot of what they’re doing is just wasting their lives away, leaving no time for processing information.This is connected to the quote from Dover Beach; the individual is simply viewing the cliffs of England, not thinking of much other than how delightful the sight is. The conversation seems to be rather straightforward as well, there’s nothing to further question or think about. By spending all the free time a person has doing things like this, they end up with no time to actually think. Montag, unquestionably, used to be one of those people; he’d come home from work, eat, sleep, talk to his wife, walk around, but never sit down and think about important topics. Leisure time to think about information is the second point of Faber’s speech, and it can be proved using evidence from Dover Beach.
Third, Faber said that citizens require the freedom to act and think however they want based off of what they learn. In Bradbury’s novel, society evidently lacks the rights allowing them to do as they wish. In this quote, Mildred invited a few of her friends over to watch the White Clown on the parlor wall, “‘Why don’t you just read us one of those poems from your little book’ . . . ‘That’s not right . . . we can’t do that!’” (Bradbury 94-95). Here, Mrs. Phelps is encouraging Montag to read from the poem book that he was holding, though Mrs. Bowles protested because of it being illegal. The people don't have the right to read what they want whenever they want; they're limited to meaningless shows and distracting jingles. A different part of Arnold´s poem involves religion and how it has changed over time:
The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore
Retreating to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear (21-22, 25-26)
Christianity used to be everywhere, meaning that people truly believed in religion and looked up to religious figures. As time passed, the ¨sea of faith¨ went down, representing how the generations became less and less religious. The sea became empty, like the effects of a drought. In Fahrenheit 451 citizens use people like Jesus as a marketing opportunity, kind of like a mascot of sorts. That shows how their respect is little to nothing compared to that of the past, when thinking was much more common. Going back to the first quote, men and women don't have a choice when it comes to reading, whether it be from novels or poems. If they do break the rules, they'll have to suffer the consequences: lifetime in jail or death. They're not supposed to be religious either, hence why books like the Bible are illegal and will be burned immediately upon discovery. Montag has the Old and New Testament in his possession (the last copies in the country), so his career as a fireman could be terminated if someone becomes suspicious of him. Montag wants to ask about what he's read, he desperately wishes to have his rights, to be able to learn about the world. He doesn't have that freedom, however. Today, Americans have quite a bit of freedom to do what they want compared to the dystopian society. In the U.S., citizens have the right to follow whatever religion they want; the government won’t punish them for what they believe in. On the other hand, it’s becoming more common for the younger generations to not be quite as religious as their older family members, which relates to the second quote. Lastly, no one really cares what someone else is reading unlike the society in Fahrenheit 451. That's how the Professor was correct about people missing the freedom to do what they want as a result of what they've learned.
Dover Beach has several examples proving Faber’s three things that are missing from people’s lives: quality information, leisure time to process the information, and the free time to be able to act on what you’ve learned. In the poem, people spend their time admiring the scenery and talking but they leave no room for deep thinking. Furthermore, religion (the poem specifically involves Christianity) has diminished in both worlds, which means that people have begun to think less and less. In Fahrenheit 451 no one is able to read and gather information with the exception of a few higher-ups such as Beatty, the chief fireman. That’s because if the people are unhappy due to what they’ve been thinking about, then they’ll be harder to control. In life, people like Mildred can’t always run away from the deeper things. Things aren’t always joyous and entertaining despite how much they seem to be on the surface. To Faber, if you’re distracting yourself with things that falsely make you believe that you are alive then you aren’t spending your leisure time wisely. Memorizing information isn’t quality, ideas and concepts are. If the world follows Ray Bradbury’s novel then people will lose the freedom of doing what they want, no longer will they have the ability to live and think, to be themselves.