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Examples Of Nature In Fahrenheit 451

Decent Essays

Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, is a thought-provoking novel which raises concerns about what the future may hold by extending a current problem so that it can be viewed from a different angle. In this novel, firemen destroy books to rid the society of knowledge where the citizens completely abide with this process, living a carefree and simple life. Through Montag’s eyes, Mildred and Beatty are the epitomes of ignorance, seeking lives of pleasure and simplicity that parallel to modern society. Mildred’s immediate gratification comes from her Seashells and parlor walls, a representation of the modern-day earphones and television. As Montag comes home past midnight, he imagines Mildred and speculates that in her ears are “the little …show more content…

Beatty asks the question “What is fire?” and answers it with “Its real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequence. A problem gets too burdensome, then into the furnace with it” to emphasize his simplistic nature (109). He ignorantly disregards responsibilities and consequences, revealing he is useless to his society. Responsibility and consequence are two factors that indicate growth, but as seen in this novel, the society does not accept growth and continues to burn in its own ashes. In modern society, people want to have less responsibilities to deal with so an education is perceived as worthless. In this way, fire can be seen as society’s ignorance for education, but the individual must overcome that ignorance to truly experience the benefit. In another conversation, Beatty reveals to Montag that “any man who can take a TV wall apart and put it back together again, and most men can, nowadays, is happier than any man who tries to slide, rule, measure, and equate the universe” (58). Beatty emphasizes on the happiness simplicity brings, but in truth, it only brings ignorance since the people will not understand why or how any device works. Only learning the methodic process dehumanizes us because the soul needs the knowledge gained from learning why and how something is done. In modern

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