Conformity In Fahrenheit 451, By Ray Bradbury

Individuality is feared because it is seen as a threat in a society expects all citizens to conform. Individuality is when a particular person is aware of what is happening around them, while conformity is when a person’s behavior is in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards. In the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, characters in the book show the relationship between conformity and individuality because those who conform, follow society’s rules while individuals still conform in a way, but retain their individuality by showing that they are physically and mentally mindful of their actions.

Do you conform or do you become an individual? Conforming is being similar in form or type ; behaving according to socially acceptable conventions or standards vs individuality which is a separate existence ; the quality or character of a particular person or thing that distinguishes them from others to the same kind. Two very opposites, but you first conform and then further develop into individuals, you take what you learn from others and our own experiences, then finally mature into individuals.

If you are in a room where everyone else has something in common except for you, what do you do? Maybe pretend to share their ideas. Maybe leave the room. But generally there are very few who would face the negative attention that is created by situations such as this. No one ever wants to be the ‘odd man out.’ Yet, without controversy how can people grow to have established morals and motivation in life? This is exactly what Ray Bradbury was trying to explain in his novel, Fahrenheit 451. His main character, Guy Montag, starts as a government pawn, a fireman who had the job of burning books. He blends in to society until one day he meets a young girl, who for the first time in his life makes him ask ‘why.’ Through his struggle of finding

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

Montag is trying to memorize the Bible and in doing so he tells himself, “Shut up, thought Montag. Consider the lilies in the field” (74). This is an allusion to the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus teaches his followers of morals and spoke against tangible, worldly items. Which parallels completely to the idea of being an individual in society rather than a monotone drone because if people could keep their intellectual property, the society Bradbury has created would become obsolete. Thus demonstrating the dangers of censorship. Multiple other allusions are made by Faber, Montag’s old professor who gives in to teaching him about books. Faber explains that Montag should pity those who burn books and are captivated by the pretty fire because they do not know any better (99). This alludes to the forgiving nature of God in the New Testament, as Faber tells Montag that they don’t know any better, just as people who are not in the light of God do not know that they are doing anything wrong (in accordance with Christian literature). In relation to the New Testament, being forgiving and accepting is what the society in Fahrenheit 451 is lacking, showing that by acceptance people of all different thoughts may coexist peacefully. Faber’s name is actually derived from Homo Faber, or the creator of everything in the life of homo sapiens, therefore depicting him in a godly

According to the novel, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Rollo May’s quote “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it’s conformity” is inaccurate because for what these people in the society conformed to, is a coward act on it’s own. To go ahead and follow something you don’t have knowledge on with the stakes so high and then not give others a voice when they bring viewpoints that differ to what you originally conformed to, is known as a cowardly act. Conforming is just a cover up stuck in ignorance and stubbornness, an excuse for cowardice.

Faber opens Montag's eyes to the world around him and Montag comes to see how everyone around him is in a daze and is simply not living their lives. When Montag visits Faber to inquire about books and what they contain, Faber sates "I don't talk to things. I talk to the meaning of things. I sit here and I know I'm alive" (Bradbury 71). Faber's deep knowledge of books help him see life in ways that others cannot, and Montag hopes to obatin some of this knowledge. In fact Motag craves this knoweldge. He describes the sate of life he is currently in as numb. Montag firmly believes that "the numbness will go away...It'll take time, but I'll do it, or Faber will do it for me" (Bradbury 74). He wants the clarity that comes with knowledge. Montag's new found knowledge and a want for change is easily seen in the way that his views on fire changes. This is evident when Montag is forced to burn his own home. "He burnt the bedroom walls and the cosmetics chest because he wanted to change everything, the chairs, the tables, and in the dining room the silverware and the plastic dishes, everything that showed that he had lived here in this empty house with a strange woman...And as before, it was good to burn, he felt himself gush out in the fire, snatch, rend, rip in half with flame, and put away the senseless problem. If there was no solution, well then now there was no problem, either. Fire was best

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 book Fahrenheit 451 is set in a dystopian, authoritarian world. The main character, Guy Montag, joins a movement for books when he begins to go against his society’s and government’s regulations. It is a book about censorship, individualism, and mass media.

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.

Fahrenheit 451 is one of the hundreds of books that contains multiple instances of social commentary. In the novel, Ray Bradbury critiques the citizens as well as their home society, which refer to the censorship the government imposes on the society. Notwithstanding the possible effects, the citizens’ minds drastically change due to the amount of brainwashing they received throughout the years to destroy all of their community’s past. Initially, we can see this when we read that the firemen are completely different than what we know today in comparison to what they formerly were. Firemen now burn houses that carried traces of books on fire to substitute the old style of extinguishing already lit fires. Little do they know that what they’re doing has a lasting impact on the people of their communities.. We see this when Montag ultimately realizes why they burn the books after talking to Clarisse McClellan, the young, perfect-looking woman that Montag finds waiting outside of the fire station one night. Montag couldn’t let anyone know what he was thinking or doing unless he wanted his life to brutally come to an end. Bradbury grew up during the times of censorship as well as the technological advancements. With these changes, a lot of the people worried about the lives of their people, Bradbury consisting of this population of people. He wrote this Novel to demonstrate what life would be like if these changes grew out of hand. During the time Bradbury wrote the book,

In the book Fahrenheit 451 the theme is a society/world that revolves around being basically brain washed or programmed because of the lack of people not thinking for themselves concerning the loss of knowledge, and imagination from books that don't exist to them. In such stories as the Kurt Vonnegut's "You have insulted me letter" also involving censorship to better society from vulgarity and from certain aspects of life that could be seen as disruptive to day to day society which leads to censorship of language and books. Both stories deal with censorship and by that society is destructed in a certain way by the loss of knowledge from books.

Conformity, known as working in unison with authorities serves an essential role in making the global community function through policies and set of laws that are regulated upon a vast population. John F. Kennedy, an American politician sheds a different light on conformity than what it is commonly understood as through his famous quote, "Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth." This quote reveals the increasing control conformity has taken on one's mind, promoting the importance of being accepted by others rather than accepting one's own individual personality and capabilities. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury demonstrates conformity as a mask that hides one from the raw inner soul, abolishing one's freedom to think

Clarisse, the young women, impacts Montag’s life and changes his perspective on the world. When Montag first met Clarisse, he noticed she did not behave like the other citizens. Clarisse does not obsess over technology. Instead, Clarisse liked to enjoy the outside world and pay attention to it. As Montag and Clarisse interact and become friends, Clarisse says something to Montag that shocks him. For the first time Montag contemplates his life and job. While in this state of shock, Clarisse tells Montag that she finds him unique because he does not ignore her. Instead he listens and comprehends what she says, "...You're one of the few who put up with me. That's why I think it's so strange you're a fireman, it just doesn't seem right for you, somehow."(23-24). After Clarisse says this, Montag decides to do something Clarisse suggested. He stopped to feel the rain drip on his tongue, something he has never done before. Clarisse impacted Montag's life in a way that made him realize and appreciate the world around him. Until Montag met Clarisse, he never thought of the world as something to take care of and appreciate. Clarisse shaped Montag into the person he became. Other