Equality in Society in Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a society that tries to remove sadness by making everyone in the society feel equal to everyone else. One of the ways the society maintains conformity is by having harsh punishments. The protagonist, Montag, who works as a fireman that burns books, is seen as a conformist individual. Until he meets Clarisse, who is an individualist, Montag mostly agrees with Beatty, an extreme conformist. However, after he meets Clarisse and Faber, he becomes more aware of himself and attempts to make a more active change in his life while promoting harmony. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury emphasizes the transformation in Montag’s character from a rigid, unhappy, conformist to a self-assured member of the community to convey the theme that the blend of conformity and individuality can help shape one to become an overall happier, wiser, and more satisfied person.

Bradbury uses Montag’s characterization, thinking and acting the same as everyone else, at the beginning of the book to show that only following conformity and not thinking for yourself can prevent you from achieving true happiness. Montag enjoys being a fireman and feels comfortable burning illegal books for the community. He is considered a good citizen in the very conformed society he lives in. While Montag is burning a house that has been reported for owning books he thinks, “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed… his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history” (Bradbury 1). Montag admits that “it was a pleasure to burn”. He doesn’t feel bad for the homeowner whose house is getting burned down, all he cares about is that he is doing his job just like the rest of the firemen. Things being “eaten”, “blackened, and “changed” gives Montag “special pleasure”. Montag isn’t feeling true happiness because things being “eaten” and “blackened” shouldn’t be causing one happiness. Even though Montag feels as if he is feeling happiness he needs to experience individuality to achieve a higher level of happiness. After Montag witnesses the firefighters burn a woman and her house, he becomes traumatized and tries to get Mildred to listen to him. Montag tries to get Mildred to understand that his job requires him to destroy a man’s lifetime worth of thoughts in a few minutes. However, Mildred doesn’t want to deal with this sadness and Montag expresses to Mildred, 'Let you alone! That's all very well, but how can I leave myself alone? We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real” (Bradbury 49). When Montag says “We need to be really bothered once in a while” he means that people need to feel sadness to feel happiness. The conformed society he lives in has tried very hard to make everyone equal to take away the sadness. On the other hand, Montag realizes that taking away the sadness isn’t going to make anyone happy. Montag is trying to explain that we need to be able to think about the things that are “important” and “real” that cause us sadness if we want to become a better person.

Bradbury utilizes Montag’s characterization after Montag starts having conversations with Clarisse and Faber, a mix of an individualist and conformist, to show how much happier and more satisfied if people had a combination of individuality and conformity. After a few days of talking to Montag, Clarisse notices that Montag is different from the majority of the society. Montag doesn’t realize there was another side to him until Clarisse informs him that he’s different and he reacts, “He felt his body divide itself into a hotness and a coldness, a softness and a hardness, trembling and a not trembling, the two halves grinding one upon the other” (Bradbury 21). Montag says that he feels his body “divide itself” and uses the metaphors like “hotness and coldness” to show that he doesn’t know if conformity or individuality was better for him. The reader knows that Montag doesn’t feel true happiness when it’s too hot or too cold. Montag is trying to find the balance between too hot and too cold which alternatively means that Montag is finding the balance between individuality and conformity. Furthermore, the two sides, conformity and individuality, would keep “grinding” on each other until a balance is reached and from then on Montag would feel much happier and satisfied because he wouldn’t be feeling too hot or too cold but a nicely blended temperature. After devising a plan to expose the firemen with Faber, a former English teacher, Montag knows that he is no longer like the rest of society but feels proud. Montag slowly realizes that he should start thinking for himself and reflects on himself, “He would be Montag-plus-Faber, fire plus water, and then one day, after everything had mixed and simmered and worked away in silence, there would be neither fire nor water, but wine. Out of two separate and opposite things, a third. And one day he would look back upon the fool and know the fool. Even now he could feel the start of the long journey, the leave-taking, the going away from the self he had been” (Bradbury 99). Montag describes his new self as “Montag-plus-Faber” and “fire plus water”, this shows that Montag has become a mix of himself, a conformist, and Faber, an individualist. He says, “one day after everything had mixed and simmered there would be neither fire nor water, but wine”, Montag says “mixed” to show that there needs to be both conformity and individuality present in one’s character to achieve true happiness. “Wine” represents a product when conformity and individuality are mixed which is much better than just one of the two. Montag even admits that this new product “wine”made out of “two separate and opposite things”, makes his old self that believed only in conformity look like a “fool”. “The leave-taking” of Montag’s old self into his new “Montag-plus-Faber” or “fire plus water” gives Montag happiness and confidence because he feels that he is finally moving away from the “fool” he was before.

To feel true happiness one cannot be too conformed or too individual, one would need a proper mix between the two. Our society believes that thinking differently from people and being unique is the only way to success. However, being a complete individual will only lead to isolation from the rest of society as shown by Clarisse in the book. People in our society should try to form a personality composed of a blend of conformity and individuality. There are positive components to both conformity and individuality and embracing them will lead to a happier, more successful life.