Warnings of Governments Suppressing Individual Freedoms

Unlike the governments of the past, some of today's governments set forceful laws on a society and rob people of their individual freedoms. In this novel, not only does Bradbury show how governments can rob people of their freedoms as individuals, but he also shows how governments can brainwash people into not thinking or expressing emotions. In Fahrenheit 451, Montag's society is prohibited from reading books, and war is constantly occurring. Not allowing the society to read books is an example of robbing peoples' individual freedoms. In our society today, there are many people who enjoy reading books and like to read about the past to help them gain more knowledge. However, the situation in Montag's society is much different. No one is interested in reading books or bringing to mind memories the past holds. Before meeting Clarisse, Montag hardly questioned anything; and if he did question something or ask "why", he wouldn't bring his questioning to the table. In other words, when Montag met Clarisse, he began to experience a different feeling and outlook on the world around him. The problem was that, only he and Clarisse were the ones questioning the changed society.

I think that, before Montag became interested in showing his hidden books to his wife, he was truly timid and scared about expressing his new emotions to the people around him. Of course he couldn't express these emotions to the firemen, because they play a big role in the society's downfall; burning books filled with insightful ideas. Also, his wife Mildred is so brainwashed by the whole society that she finds joy in sitting, watching the shows in her "parlor family" and listening to what they say to her. This quote that Mildred says shows how much the government and the people of her society have brainwashed her: "Books aren't people. You read and I look all around, but there isn't anybody !" (73). I think that Bradbury uses these quotes as a symbol of unreality to show that what Mildred is saying about her and Montag's society is true. What Mildred hears from books is not going to be shown in her own society, so she feels that there is no point to her reading.

Another example of the government robbing others of freedoms and brainwashing people is when Mrs. Bowles argues with Montag after he reads a poem to Mildred's guests. She says, "...I've always said poetry and tears, poetry and suicide and crying and awful things, poetry and sickness; all that mush!.....awful hurting words...Why do people want to hurt people?" (101). This quote shows that Mrs. Bowles has been robbed of her right to have feelings towards something meaningful. This also shows how much she is brainwashed, because the poem that Montag read contained thought-provoking phrases, and she reacts to them by crying. What Montag was reading was really about keeping peace with others and the world, and not losing sight of what is happening around us. Faber helped Montag understand the real meaning of books. In this quote he says, "So now do you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life. The comfortable people want only wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless. We are living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on rain and black roam. Even fireworks, for all their prettiness, come from the chemistry of the earth. Yet somehow we think we can grow, feeding on flowers and fireworks, without completing the cycle back to reality.' (83).This shows that Faber is completely aware of what is going on in his society. Even though he is one who is robbed of his freedoms, he is not robbed of his mind and memory. Because of Clarisse and Faber's outlook, Montag has started to become a new person.