Society In Fahrenheit 451

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Imagine a hopeless society where everyone was brainwashed with meaningless technology, books were strictly forbidden, and the true meaning of life was long forgotten. For Montag, that is society was very real. The central idea of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, conveyed by the themes of the sections — awakening, seeking knowledge and truth, and rebirth— is that independent thought can help to overcome great obstacles, which is what leads Montag to step away from the wasteland of modern society to where he truly wanted to be. The first section, “The Hearth and the Salamander”, is where Montag begins to break away from being like an average person in society. The hearth has long been a comforting symbol of home. The salamander, a mythical creature…show more content…
This section is where Montag truly starts to think independently, as he does things that are taboo against his society in hopes of gaining new insights. While on a subway, Montag recalls a painful childhood memory. “… some cruel cousin had said ’Fill this sieve and you’ll get a dime!’ And the faster he poured, the faster it sifted through with a hot whispering.” (Bradbury, 78). The harder Montag tried, the more hopeless the situation became. He was making zero progress. Bradbury relates this to Montag’s desperation to memorize the book in his hands, despite the fact that he knows that books are illegal. Sadly, he is greatly distracted by the train radio, making all his efforts futile. “The train radio vomited upon Montag…the people were pounded into submission…‘Lilies of the field’ ‘Denham’s’ ‘Lilies, I said!’” (Bradbury, 79). In this case, the sand is the truth, the information he seeks from the book. His mind is the sieve, seeking a truth that seems impossible to grasp. Eventually, with the help of a mentor named Faber, Montag is able to finally understand and memorize the book. He now knows that books are precious, and he and Faber set up a plan to preserve them. However, their plan turns in a completely different direction when the firemen discover that Montag has been hiding

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