Theme Of Happiness In Fahrenheit 451

Imagine a world where simple tasks such as reading books or walking outside, are acts seen as taboo. Well, that is precisely the case in the book of Fahrenheit 451. In this world, books are illegal, in fact it is considered normal for people to stay inside all day and watch the four walls. Their world is made that way in order to guarantee that all of the citizens are happy and peaceful. However, happiness is a mask that people wear instead of actually experiencing. In the book, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, to be happy and fulfilled a person has to conform to what is considered normal in the society.

In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury shapes a society that is restricted in speech and thought and centered on technology. In this future, books have been banned. When discovered, they are burned along with the houses they are found in. Responsible for setting the fires are “firemen”. Among them is Guy Montag, the main character of the novel. The elimination of books was merely one step of many to fully eradicate individual freedom of thought and speech. In his efforts to explain to Montag the history of their society’s censorship, Captain Beatty lectures: "The bigger your market, Montag, the less you handle controversy, remember that! All the minor minor minorities with their navels to be kept clean. Authors, full of evil thoughts. Lock up your typewriters. They did”(Bradbury 57). Beatty clarifies that it was the people rather than the government that purged the world of books in order to cease controversy and prevent feud. Opposite to the presumed result, their world is more consumed in war than ever before. The privation of human interaction leaves their society passionless and without true happiness. To compensate for the love lost, their world is drowned in various technologies. Televisions coating entire walls, and the characters inside them, become of chief importance over actual people: “’Will you turn the parlour off?’ he asked. ‘That’s my family’” (Bradbury 48-49). Montag’s wife Mildred entirely disregards her husband’s request as it seems her television characters are of higher value to her than her own husband. Along with her, the

The book Fahrenheit 451 is a book that promotes many themes and morals. There are more than just a few themes we can see in this story, some of them quite different to the others. Some of this has to do with violence, in the book we read about how young people go around killing others just like them or sometimes just because they are a bit different, which shouldn’t matter, another one about how the citizens are not satisfied with how they’re living their lives. What if many of them actually found appealing or amazing the art of writing but weren’t able to pursue that because in that society it wasn’t right to do that, it was more like a crime.

Montag begins to question every aspect of his life, “I don’t know. We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren’t happy. Something’s missing. I looked around. The only thing I knew was gone was the books I’d burned in 10 or 12 years. So I thought books might help.” (Pg.82) Censorship puts Montag in the dark; a place he no longer wants to be. Montag wants to be passionate about something worth fighting for. That passion leads him on a hunt for knowledge, guides him to books, and sets him free.

Therefore, through books, Montag becomes conscious of the monotony of his previous life, and now rebels against the very foundations of his society. Due to this intellectual illumination, Montag begins to acknowledge the details of the world around him, details he had once ignored: ‘”Bet I know something else you don’t. There’s dew on the grass this morning.”’As enlightenment dawns on Montag, he finally begins to realise the power within books (i.e. they hold the key to power through knowledge) and this is his ‘crime’ against society: ‘There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house...’ Despite his newfound interest, Montag is still struggling to understand the concept of literature. Once again however, Montag is pushed in the right direction by Professor Faber. Under Faber’s guidance, Montag recognises that ‘There is nothing magical about [books] at all. The magic is only with what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment.’ This quote exemplifies the fact that although books are the combination of mere ink and paper, it is the beliefs and the knowledge within a book that are so incredibly powerful.

Happiness in our society is harder to find than in the society of Fahrenheit 451, but once achieved, it is a true happiness, one which grows upon its seeds, and sprouts a great and fulfilling life for that person. The average citizen in our society believes themselves to be happy, but in reality, they too are replacing their true desires and childhood dreams with superficial entertainment and mindless activities, which resembles the society which is portrayed in Fahrenheit 451.

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.

Some people were really passionate about books, but it was rare, because if you wanted to be able to read books, you had to keep them hidden. One day, the firefighters discovered a woman who had been hiding books in her home. The lady refuses to leave the house without the books so they burn the house, books, and the woman. After that, Montag was traumatized. He couldn’t stop thinking about the horrible incident. He began to question himself, and his individuality. That night Montag kept complaining to his wife Mildred, “‘There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay

Montag is now at the point where his views are being tested and new beliefs of life are being created. “Montag had done nothing. His hand had done it all, his hand, with a brain of its own, with a conscience and a curiosity in each trembling finger, had turned thief” (35). Here Montag sees a plethora of books inside of Mrs. Blake’s house and seemingly of its own accord Montag’s hand takes a book. He has now broken a rule that everyone in Montag’s society knows, never to take or read books. Mrs. Blakes, instead of coming with the firemen out of the house decides to burn with the books. This confuses Montag and piques his curiosity to figure out what inside the book could drive someone to die with

Happiness is a fundamental right that all human beings are allowed to pursue of their own accord by the government. Yet, imagine a society in which all the thinking is done for their citizens, feelings are gotten rid of before they could be felt and it was encouraged to not accept the downsides of life. Throughout the pages of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, he describes the lives of many characters. Specifically their relationship with the emotion of happiness. Bradbury brings to the attention of the reader of whether the characters are happy or distracted. A person cannot be happy if they do are not honest with themselves and if they do not feel or think for themselves. Through the experiences of the characters spoken about, it will be seen how happiness is not felt and lived, because their distractions take place.

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

Montag had no idea why books were so important to people until something made him reconsider the way he did everything. Montag pondered, “There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing,” (Bradbury 48). While at the Martyr’s house, Montag stole a book just to see why they were such a disgrace to his society. Since he didn’t really understand, Montag went to get help from someone who knew books more than anyone else, Faber.

One person’s happiness is completely different than that of the person next to them. In Fahrenheit 451, society is given the idea that happiness is found in the fast life. Students crash cars, crack windows, and drive recklessly for fun. Schooling in this society isn’t even in the realm of learning. Instead, it is filled with sports, electronics, and everything but learning. Death is a quick cremation instead of funerals and mourning. Adults not only have poor relationships with their spouses, but their children. Yet, this to them, is happiness. Even to Montag, this was happiness; until he discovered it wasn’t. He was one of the lucky few that was able to escape the vacuum of this new society, like Ted in The Lorax. In a world of people that don’t care about the wellbeing of the animals, the trees, or the rest of the world, Ted took a step out of the norm. This

Imagine not knowing you were not happy for years. In Fahrenheit 451 Guy Montag did not realize he was not happy until a young girl named Clarisse McClellan came along and questioned his happiness. Therefore, what is happiness? Happiness is a goal that everyone wants to achieve in life.

According to Storm Jameson, “Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.” Jameson suggests that happiness is not just having fun, but it is to be present in the moment and to make connections with others. Happiness is rarely found in the novel Fahrenheit 451, because this joyless society defines “fun” as driving with the need for speed and with an intention of killing small animals and people or the deadening white noise of endless television viewing. The novel Fahrenheit 451 conveys this very idea as the protagonist Guy Montag and others in his society are unable to achieve full happiness. Author Ray Bradbury suggests the truth of Jameson’s statement primarily through