Let's Face Reality

I just finished the second part of Fahrenheit 451. Through this part of the book, Montag meets with Faber and they start to analyze the people around them and how their attitudes came to be. Faber gives Montag a listening device so that both of them can hear what is going on even if they are not near each other. After his meeting with Faber, he finds that two of Mildred's friends are over their house. Montag is eager to read to them to prove that there is indeed something in these books that all makes sense. When Montag starts to read, Mrs. Phelps begins to cry, and Mrs. Bowles has an argument with Montag. In this argument, Montag says to her, "Go home. Go home and think of your husband divorced and your second husband killed in a jet plane......go home and think of the dozen abortions you had,...and your children who hate your guts. Go home and think how it all happened and what did you ever do to stop it?" (101). When Montag is saying this, his meaning is to get a point across. In other words, he said to Mrs. Bowles, Think about all of the horrible things you have done and then say to me that your life feels complete. All of those things you did, that contributed to the dumbing down of our society. And you still cannot see the impact of what you are doing.
In this society, all of the people seem to be completely brainwashed of their past. What their lives are like now are how they have always been. No one has time to think any more because in the reality of this lifestyle, even though it is not seen by the world, is sad. And nothing good can come of it it no one stands up to fight for what is right. Beatty shows how he is hypnotized when he says to Montag as they arrive at a house to start burning, "Here we go to keep the world happy, Montag!" (109). Beatty, along with eveyone else, believes that actually burning the past and its history away is just and will help the future society. But the truth is, they do not know what will hit them in the end. Erasing what has already happened is erasing millions of major events, memories, and most of all, the ability to think.