Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 introduces a new society in which the population is plagued with sameness. Individuality is not accepted and an intellectual is outlawed. Instead of a fireman preventing fires, they are now seen as the flame thrower, destroying books which are considered evil because they make people stop and think. Everyone enjoys the same: nature and watching TV. With this plot, Bradbury raises the idea that man should think for himself as opposed to letting the government or the television do it for us.

“We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal . . . A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man’s mind.”
Captain Beatty says this as he explains the revisionist history of firemen to Montag. During his speech, he was undoubtedly ironic, using his profound knowledge to manipulate Montag. He was willing to defend the “equality” of society while still remaining educated, which raises the question of whether he truly agrees with this society. Montag is able to snag books due to his work as a fireman. Beatty is in the same line of work as Montag. Perhaps Captain Beatty took on the work as a fireman to gain legal access to books through his position of authority. That said, Captain Beatty may very well be a representation of rebellion which further supports Bradbury’s idea of man having their own thoughts. The author seems to suggest that if individuality is oppressed then its man’s job to think and act on it.

"Maybe the books can get us half out of the cave. They just might stop us from making the same damn insane mistakes!"
Montag sees books not only as helpful tools but as vital cures for his diseased world. What this quote suggests is that the consensus people have a fear of learning and instead leave it to the hands of the government. People are weak minded and in the dark about things, as Montag indicates when he says ‘Maybe books can get us half out of the cave.’ Since they don’t think, they need something that occupies their time. This is where television comes into play. However, that raises more problems itself such as depression and suicide. Thus, Bradbury believes that instead of putting our brains into the hands of the government and television, we should expand our knowledge with history and books. It is necessary for a society that doesn’t want to repeat the same mistakes.

"Go home and think of your first husband divorced and your second husband killed in a jet and your third husband blowing his brains out, go home and think of the dozen abortions you've had, go home and think of that and your damn Caesarian sections, too, and your children who hate your guts! Go home and think how it all happened and what did you ever do to stop it?" Montag says this when Mrs. Bowles rejects his “poetry lesson” and he can no longer restrain himself from voicing her ignorance. This suggests that a person lacks feeling when they also lack the ability to think. This topic was brought up in the beginning of the book when Clarisse, Montag’s neighbor, told him that he was not in love. Montag exclaimed that he was in love with his wife but after he thought about it, he realized he was not. And he was sure that she was not either. This further supports the idea that feeling brings change. With the extermination of intellect and therefore feeling, the government is sure to stay in the dystopia it has become. However, if intellectuals were to take a rise, their depressing society would change. Therefore, Bradbury encourages learning and reading in order to realize whether we think something is right or wrong.