Unhealthy Society in Fahrenheit 451 Essay Example

Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in the 1950s, an era that was influenced by the aftershocks of the Cold War and the rise of technology. During that time, televisions, telephones and radios became more prevalent in North American homes. This evolution of technology is used by Bradbury to set a satirical warning of what could happen in the future. The story revolved around an unhappy fireman named Guy Montag and his wife, Mildred, who are depicted as obedient to government conformity. Montag does not put out fires, he starts them, destroying any literature that contains knowledge outside of people’s will. However, he meets new people who more or less exposed him to the reality behind the facade its society constructed. The author uses powerful quotes and characterization to argue that people may never want to face change in their everyday lives, but those who do, realize that censorship of common issues devises an unhealthy society.

To begin with, the author’s utopian goal was to create a world where everyone was at the same intellectual level. However, it created a very unhealthy society. The government aimed to censor any thoughts deemed ‘unnecessary’ to think about so that the people were happy and without trouble. Meanwhile, Montag went to visit Professor Faber to know his viewpoint on why books are hated and feared, he says: “The comfortable people want only wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless” (79). This suggests how apathetic people had become in this quote. As books were banned, people could not gain empathy from listening to the experiences and perspectives of others. This made everyone hollow and indifferent as a result. It was the same with things such as funerals; they made people experience negative emotions, so the government decided to abolish them and avoid unnecessary "conflict". There’s also another quote by Beatty, a figure of authority in the firehouse, that supports this idea stating: “Colored people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it” (57). Mildred is another product of this ignorant society; She feels hopeless to cope with her conflicts since everything she does is following what the world is doing. No one is open to change. When Guy Montag is feeling terrible about the woman who was burned inside her house, Mildred tells him to go for a speedy drive to get rid of those feelings. She says that “You hit rabbits, sometimes you hit dogs” (61). This further implies her emptiness as a human being and is unaware that she tries to do these things, so she can feel at least something.

Furthermore, removing sensors to common conflict can lead to enlightenment. Through Montag’s interactions with Clarisse McClellan, a young woman who adores nature and the beauty of taking things slow in life, he discovers many things about himself and the world around him. The author illustrates his argument with the dilemma by contrasting the red pill (ignorance, blind sightedness, stupidity masked by simplicity/minimalism) and the blue pill (enlightenment, wisdom, conflict, intellectual growth/overall mindset change).  Throughout the book, Beatty told Montag about the dilemma that a lot of firemen face. Along with letting his guard down, Beatty admits “…every fireman gets an itch” (59). Using Beatty’s powerful dialogue, the author unmasks the truth of Beatty’s past that he read books before and thought about changing but didn’t. Moreover, Montag wants to observe a copy of the bible and ask for help from Faber saying: “The whole cultures shot through. The skeleton needs melting and reshaping.” (83). The author uses this quote from Faber to emphasize the magnitude of the problem in the world they live in. The world they live in is a house that was built on a broken framework from the beginning. It is impossible to pick up the pieces, and the quote states two ways that Faber discussed fighting back against the destructive movements adopted by society.  Moving on forward, it was clear that the metaphorical house was bound to fall apart. The government has designed an ideal world and it’s going to have to take destruction intending to start from scratch again. 

To summarize, in such a sad society, people destroy themselves in the end. This statement is supported by the atomic bomb that obliterated Montag’s city at the end of the novel, which aligns with our initial assertion that ignorance can lead to our own destruction. The message in Ray Bradbury's story is that facing common challenges and learning from them is very important to build a wise society. If we fail to face reality, it will come at a price, and burn everything down over time.