How Does Bradbury Create Happiness In Fahrenheit 451

“Happiness, true happiness, is an inner quality. It is a state of mind” (Vaswani). True happiness can only be achieved through being true to oneself. In the novels Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main characters share the theme of the search for true happiness, with only Montag, from Fahrenheit 451, achieving it. People within society want to obtain true happiness, but seek their joy through different means such as wealth, love or freedom. In Fahrenheit 451, Montag is a firefighter who burns books and the homes they are found in. Montag wants to keep the books and values the knowledge they give so he runs away from his society. Jay Gatsby and Guy Montag are both willing to risk their life for their joy, but only Montag is true to himself and pursues a true happiness.

Beatty uses a lot of rhetorical questions to persuade Montag that the people truly are happy. The questions makes it seem simple and obvious that their culture should do anything it takes to make the citizens feel content. His quote is filled with pleasuring words that describe their true culture. Their purpose is simply to have fun, and all the other aspects of life are avoided at all costs. Not all books make people feel happy, for that some argue with one another, and some aim for different emotions. Books had to be rid of immediately to keep the people happy. Their world is abundant with elements that can stimulate happiness into anyone. They have rooms surrounded by entertainment, which includes the parlor walls that are always playing

Imagine a society where people are too distracted to realize that they could be happy while reading books, and are even afraid to feel emotion towards a book. In their own way Clarisse, Mildred and Beatty all contribute to Montag's unhappiness.

Happiness is the state of being happy. A person who experiences frequent positive emotions. Does Fahrenheit 451 display this emotion? In this dystopian novel, by Ray Bradbury, suppression of negative feelings doesn’t lead to happiness but rather leaves us feeling alienated. For example, the residents are faking their cheerfulness and many act as if they are “happy”. Moreover, they only depend on the government for their happiness and enjoyment and follow their restrictions without thinking twice. In addition, their interaction are very limited and it’s a very isolated area.

Montag is wondering what is inside books that could further his ideas since he has been hooked to clarisse’s world. The significance to the claim is that Montag wants to be lively like clarrise instead of boring fireman, and there is no other way to be like that without the imagination and creativity in books. “ Not if you start talking, the start of talking that might set me burnt for my trouble” (Bradbury 87). Montag is starting to notice his speech is more developed like a book reader, Beatty is catching on! The significance of this quote is that Montag is starting to be like Clarisse and he likes that a lot. Montag likes being free, and calm with the world and books gave him

Throughout the book, the reader is challenged to decide what happiness consists of: ignorance or knowledge. As Montag grows throughout the book, he finds that knowledge is the only thing that will set him free and grant him happiness. Montag has lived most of his life unhappy, and the only thing he knows is missing is the knowledge books contain, “Nobody listens to me anymore. I can’t talk to the walls because they’re yelling at me. I can’t talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough it’ll make sense.” (Pg.82) Nobody listens to Montag because they recognize he wants to learn. Everyone in this society had been taught that knowing is bad. Montag frightens those around him into leaving him; this ultimately makes him realize that his quest for knowledge may feel lonely at times, but will end in him finding happiness. Once Montag meets the rebels he is taught about how the world used to

Throughout the novel, Montag evolves as a character, he slowly comes to grips with reality. He begins the story as a happy, content, and everyday member of society, and after a few choice interactions, begins to feel progressively unhappy. In search of a solution to this confusing and growing unhappiness, Montag becomes rebellious towards the value of the commonly accepted facts of his society. This is most clearly demonstrated by Montag’s opinion of books. As he slowly eases into reading books, Montag comes to the realization that despite him not knowing the meanings of the books he reads, they do have a profound and deep impact. Once

The motif that Bradbury has used most clearly in this novel is that of life. One example of this is when Montag first goes to Professor Faber’s home to have him explain books and why exactly they’re important. On page 83, while explaining why they are important, Faber states, “‘Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality. And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture. This book has pores. It has features. This book can go under the microscope. You’d find life under the glass, streaming past in infinite profusion. The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a sheet of paper, the more ‘literary’ you are.’” By stating that books have pores, Faber is saying they books have life included in them. The life his is talking about is that of the author. The “truthfully recorded details” mean the details of the life of the author. And by reading these truths, the reader is also becoming a part of the

Throughout the book, Bradbury blatantly shows his viewpoint on the issue of happiness. Through Montag, Bradbury creates a character which resembles himself, and builds upon the character as the novel progresses. Starting off with a fireman who believes in his work and thinks to be happy, Bradbury captures the mindset of every citizen in Fahrenheit 451, as well as some from his own life. By the end of the book, Montag is a runaway who sees the true power of imagination and books, and witnesses the ultimate destruction of a city that was scared to feel. Bradbury wants readers to adopt the values of reading and thinking, and shows the possible future of a country gone astray. He believes that censorship takes away the happiness of people, and forces them to conform into a life of worthlessness. I think that while Montag is Bradbury's developing character which truly shows the power of thought, his self-modeled character is Faber. Faber believed happiness to be the quality of

Throughout the story, Bradbury uses his writing to represent how miserable of a character Montag is. There is a point in the story where Montag is looking at himself in the mirror and takes a look at how saddened he really is. In the text, Montag talks about how “He was not happy. - He wore his happiness like a mask” (12). In this text, it is shown that the main character is realizing how truly sad and unhappy he feels. Generally, people notice if they're unhappy at the moment instead of waiting longer and being even sadder. When Montag is reading a poem to his wife's friends he gets sentimental and reminisces about how the society he lives in is. Bradbury writes that Montag felt “He wanted to cry, but nothing would happen to his eyes or mouth” (77). In this other part of the text, it's shown how sentimental Montag is towards his society. Montag is unhappy because of how his society functions with

a pleasure to burn…”(Bradbury 1). Montag was content of the way he was living. It was a

In the book Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray. Bradbury, books are the root of all the problems that occur. In this quote Montag is expressing to Mildred on why there’s a need for books, and the quote also explains the warfare that will continuously happen all through the story, “‘Is it true, the world works hard and we play, is that why we’re hated so much?’” (70) Throughout the story Montag becomes more and more aware of the world around him.

Immediately Faber replies with “It’s not books you need its some of the things that once were in books” (78). From there Montag begins to understand the magic within books and its effects on people. Montag finally understanding books for what they are uses this knowledge in an attempt to bring Mildred’s friends to the realization of their errors. What Montag did was read a poem to his wife’s friends one night while playing it off as a joke, Montag knowing the meaning of the poem and what effects it could have on an unstable housewife. Montag successfully brought them to reality at least for a time making one of them rethink about their past decisions to the point of tears. Although Faber was totally against this act he was the one who could be held accountable for changing Montag’s view on books because now he understands what books mean and how to use them to his advantage.

“Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” –Abraham Lincoln.

The philosopher Aristotle once wrote, “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” This famous quote compels people to question the significance of their joy, and whether it truly represents purposeful lives they want to live. Ray Bradbury, a contemporary author, also tackles this question in his book, Fahrenheit 451, which deals heavily with society's view of happiness in the future. Through several main characters, Bradbury portrays the two branches of happiness: one as a lifeless path, heading nowhere, seeking no worry, while the other embraces pure human experience intertwined together to reveal truth and knowledge.