The Importance of Awareness

Table of Contents Fahrenheit 451 .......................................................................................................................4 Guy Montag ...........................................................................................................................5 Clarisse...................................................................................................................................6

Outline I. Introduction II. Research Methods A. Qualitative B. Quantitative III. Conclusion

Afifa Humaira Mrs. Panks Fahrenheit 451 Essay 25 January 2011 The Importance of Awareness Are you happy? is a question that reverberates in Montags ears through his search of the true state of happiness. Fahrenheit 451 is a futuristic book written by Ray Bradbury about this 30 year-old fireman in around 24th century that questions his job to burn books. He meets different people as he tries to reveal the truth about his obscure surrounding, such as an inquisitive girl called Clarisse and an English professor Faber who guide him towards the light. Meanwhile, his wife Mildred and Captain Beatty are the obstacles that he needs to face along the way. Awareness is one of the major conflicts within this novel that most of the people are lacking of, which leads to discontentment life, selfishness, and disaster at the end. The novel begins with a clear imagery of Montags duty as a fireman in the city. He experiences a drastic change in his view of life after learning about his neighbors character, Clarisse, shown in this quote: He felt his smile slide away, melt, fold overHe was not happy. He said the words to himselfHe wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock her door and ask for it back. This description tells that Montag is showing a discontentment in his life, as he often complains about his unlovable wife and his cruel job. He also questions himself on his empty feeling towards Mildred until the end of the book. People in this book also attempts to commit suicide by the proof in this following quote by the two men with the blood pumper machine: We get these cases nine or ten a night. These men actually confessed the fact that there are a lot of

suicidal attempts happening in the city aside from Mildred. By drinking an excessive amount of sleeping pills, Mildred overdosed because she cannot find the real happiness in her life. The same theme of dissatisfaction continues when Beatty mentions that people are trying to get rid of things that make them unhappy, such as minority pressure, by lecturing Montag, Colored people dont like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people dont feel good about Uncle Toms Cabin. Burn itForget them. Burn all, burn everything. Here, Beatty emphasizes that Montag should eliminate those which are impeding his way of being happy, like the community did. Since it seems like the community is upset of many things that do not suit them, we can actually see that these people are rejecting the blessings in their lives, which leads to ungratefulness. These different events in the book actually reflect on the same aspect that shows people in this century are lacking of gratitude and happiness in their daily life. Selfishness is a major problem that can be seen from the attitude and actions of the characters throughout this novel. For example, in Beattys long lectures of convincing Montag that being a fireman is the right path to choose, Beatty mentions, We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equalbut everyone made equalA book is a loaded gun in the house next doorWho knows who might be the target of the well-read man? Here, Beatty tells Montag that books are dangerous, as they can make those who read them to be more powerful than the rest, and that books destroy the equivalence between human beings. These points indirectly reflect that Beatty is selfish as he is not happy to see someone who is better than him. The fact that Clarisse seems to know the truth better than most of the citizens, even though the firemen could not find any book hidden in her house, made the officials eliminated her by making up a scene as if she ran into a speeding car and died. This is an unfair action by the government or the leaders, as they will do anything in order to get rid of the enlightened ones, even if they are

innocent like Clarisse. Mildred also shows her selfishness by forcing Montag to get her the fourth TV wall as seen in her dialogue with Montag, Its really fun. Itll be even more fun when we can afford to have the fourth wall TV installedIts only two thousand dollars. She claims that Montag should consider her sometimes, but as a matter of fact, she is actually the one that does not consider Montags income as well as feelings. This negative attitude that is growing in the community is bringing the pupil to a cliffhanger ending. In the very end, the people find themselves in a great disaster, as the city is demolished due to the atomic bomb impact from the war. Most of the citizens, except for the book people, are the victims of this disastrous event. It is tragic that the citizens of the city ignored the war that takes their lives in a matter of seconds because of their selfishness. In this quote, Patience Montag. Let the war turn off the families. Our civilization is flinging itself to pieces, Faber tries to comfort Montag as he is depressed of facing the ignorant and stubborn community that does not consider the war as a serious matter. Faber also refers that the war will turn off the families to show his anger towards the people who are prioritizing the unnecessary TV shows while ignoring the knowledge of books. It is also very ironic how Montag manages to escape the war but his wife Mildred did not, although he keeps on trying to guide her to the reality outside of the TV walls that are giving away false information and fake happiness. This reveals a huge contrast between their levels of awareness and understanding of the truth. It also shows that Mildred is destroyed by her own character qualities. These ideas of disaster within the last chapter of the novel give a conclusion that the citizens selfishness and ignorance brought themselves to a great misfortune at the end. Ray Bradbury conveys clearly through this novel that awareness and sensibility are the essential moral values for human beings in order to survive. This idea is shown throughout the

conflicts that the characters are struggling with, like how Montag sought for happiness in his life, and how he tries to open the eyes of his close-minded wife. He learns that his assumption of happiness is wrong, that happiness is actually something that you feel good of doing, not something that you perceive. It also obvious to the readers that the novel characters ignorance is the deadly attitude that causes the great loss of lives, disaster, as well as the tragic end to their life spans.

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