Examples Of Conformity In Fahrenheit 451

During the 1950’s, the number of homes with a television increased from 0.4% of homes to 83.2% of homes. This was accompanied with the increase of birth rates and much more. Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, wrote about these trends along others in his novel. Fahrenheit 451 revolves around a man, Guy Montag, who lives in a dystopian future where books have been banned and many social trends and issues exist. He based his book around societal trends that he predicted were going to become a problem in future society. Fahrenheit 451 accurately reflects many societal trends in modern-day society, such as the desire for instant gratification, the devaluation of human life, and the impact of technology on human relationships.

Individuality is the quality that people that makes each person unique and distinguishable from each other. It is important to remain distinct from others, even among groups of people that are classified as either the same or very similar. While individuality is a concept that many people agree with and want to ensure, the pressure from most people’s lives, including their environment and the people around them, forces individuals to lose who they truly are and morph in order to fit in. I strongly agree that individuality, while important, is difficult to keep because of outside factors, a concept that was presented by Logan Fey.

While Montag is on the run in the streets, he hears through a Seashell a command for everyone to look for him, and his mind pictures a very realistic image: “He imagined thousands on thousands of faces peering into yards, into alleys, and into the sky, faces hid by curtains, pale, night-frightened faces, like gray animals peering from electric caves, faces with gray colorless eyes, gray tongues and gray thoughts looking out through the numb flesh of his face” (132). He pictures “thousands on thousands” of people conforming to the will of an upper government, no questions asked. They all will do exactly as told, but something about the image seems especially unsettling. The word “gray” was repeated four times and connected to every phrase describing them. This color is often associated with blandness and lack of unique color, and

Knowledge is power. Granger and Faber do not need authority to feel empowered, their knowledge is enough . Beatty on the other hand, seeks power in ways of authority. He is not willing to surrender power at any cost. Even when Montag points a gun at his face he says, “Go ahead now, you second-hand litterateur, pull the trigger.” (Bradbury 113). He shows no concern that he may or may not get shot within moments. All thinking is done for society. “Hard work” is foreign to them. Montag’s wife Mildred has one job; agree. The very last things she does every night is not kissing her husband, but falling asleep with seashells in her ears. There is no time to decompress, think about the day, or learn from mistakes made. Taking away that crucial time is hurting society enough, but completely eliminating books is absurd. Bradbury fears that American culture will no longer think for themselves and that their brains will never surpass a certain level of knowledge. There is no desire to learn, think out of the box, or create new ideas. In fact, anyone who attempts any of these actions is thought to be a glitch in the system. Beatty says, “Queer ones like her don’t happen often. We know how to nip them in the

After reading Captain Beatty’s speech you can tell Mildred has changes. She has been changed in many different ways, some good and some bad. Society has made her self-centered, robotic, and unfeeling. First she had changed in ways to be more self-centered. On page 18 in the book Fahrenheit 451, the book says, “‘It’s only two thousand dollars.’

In life, it is commonly stated that “A man who doesn’t think for himself, does not think at all.” This statement is supported in “The Pedestrian” and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. In Fahrenheit 451 the main character finds himself bound to the expectations of society and robotically follows every order that is given to him without second thoughts. This leads to him being unknowingly unhappy and having a hollow existence. But as the story progressed the main character became more aware of the person that he truly was, and when he had finally discovered that person, he was truly happy. On the contrary, In “The Pedestrian” a lone individual who is different from society is able to think for himself, thus giving him freedom from the bonds of society and the ability to embrace his individuality. Making him free and happy. In both stories, we see how individuality releases people from the shackles of their society and finally allows them to be truly happy with who they are. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 and the

People like to believe that the idea of conformity versus individuality is as clear as black and white. It is either side with society and conform or retain individuality and go against the norms. When it comes down to it, individuality and conformity are not foreign concepts. We see the idea executed in everyday life. In his novel, Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury reveals that individuality and conformity is not strictly two sides, but rather, a spectrum with many views in between. Bradbury expands on the theme of conformity versus individuality in society through his characters Guy Montag, Clarisse McClellan, and Captain Beatty.

“ Don't step on the toes of the dog lovers, the cat lovers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, chiefs, Mormons,

The author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury, develops the idea of assimilation throughout the story. Due to everyone acting the same and not really having to think on their own, they are so adapted to the theory books are evil and that it is wrong to own them. I think Bradbury’s overall message throughout the story is that people should think on their own and not just “go with the flow” similar to how everyone else does.

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 features a fictional and futuristic firefighter named Guy Montag. As a firefighter, Montag does not put out fires. Instead, he starts them in order to burn books and, basically, knowledge to the human race. He does not have any second thoughts about his responsibility until he meets seventeen-year-old Clarisse McClellan. She reveals many wonders of the world to Montag and causes him to rethink what he is doing in burning books. After his talks with her, the society’s obedience to the law that bans knowledge, thinking, and creativity also increasingly distresses him. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury shows conformity in the futuristic America through schooling, leisure, and fright.

In the novel, Fahrenheit 451, critically acclaimed author Ray Bradbury asks the controversial question, what would a world where censorship of creative and differing Ideas is the norm resemble? In Fahrenheit 451 Bradbury envisions a dystopian America in which not only books are censored, but personal thoughts and individuality are constrained in this world as well. Although there are many ways in which Bradbury presents and develops the themes in Fahrenheit 451, the most effective way Bradbury does this is through deft characterizations, he does this specifically through Clarisse Mcclellan and Mildred Montag

Technology consumes the society Bradbury has created, and determines the behavior of the community he has created. The television consumes Mildred along with every other dependent conformist in their time. The people are so absorbed by the television that the families portrayed through the shows, that they are psychologically engulfed into the television families. Mildred even displays this when Bradbury writes, "Will you turn the parlor off?" He asked. "That's my family." "Will you turn it off for a sick man?" "I'll turn it down." (Bradbury 49) MIldred’s connections to her fabricated family is more important than her actual family. The subjugation of the television families is such a convoluted concept. This immense confusion is only sensibly comparable to one character, Chief Beatty. Beatty’s knowledge of literature is used to disprove the importance of literature to others. He is willing to defend the “equalization” of society while he is educated himself, and rejects the use of books as weapons while reading them whenever he pleases. Due to these contradicting concepts in his life, Beatty is the most convoluted and mysterious character in the novel.

“That’s awful! ...Why should I read? What for?”(Bradbury, 73) Mildred hates the fact that her house and her ‘family’ would burn down if Beatty and the other firemen found out about Montag and his books. Mildred doesn’t understand why Montag wants to reason with her and what he finds so special in books. Mildred is a selfish woman who cares only about herself and her friends. As long as nothing happened to her ‘family’, she’d be fine.

Censorship and individualism are some of the most important topics in Fahrenheit 451. I would even go so far as to say they are the most important. It is obvious that censorship affects the story of Fahrenheit 451 drastically, because it is what the book is based upon. But there is more to censorship than destroying knowledge of the world, or diluting cultural richness. It is specifically destroying unique ideas. It is like killing a person, by destroying the only thing that remains of them, their ideas. Therefore, by burning books, you are essentially destroying ideas. We know there is censorship in Fahrenheit 451, but it makes a special connection to individualism. If censorship destroys ideas, we need to find how ideas and individualism

As human beings, people naturally possess unruly desires for visions of dystopia. To feed into the unorthodox urge, sad and frightening scenarios are shoved down our throat. Hollywood producers have been doing this for decades through literature and film. A dystopia is a reality outside of your own that gives you the sensation of exploration to a new or better place in your life. A certain level of security is given to you through this type of function.