Fahrenheit 451 Conformity Essay

563 Words2 Pages

In Dystopian societies, conformity overrules curiosity, but occasionally people stand and rebel. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Clarisse and Mildred represent these two classes of people. they stand on opposite sides of the overall theme to think for yourself. The curiosity of Clarissa and the conformity of Mildred define the opposing sides of Juan Ramon Jimenez's quote, “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way,” by showing both effects in Montag and the rest of society. Clarisse McClellan is the spark, not the flame nor match of the novel. Her intelligence and optimistic mindset scares the rest of society away and they claim her to be “crazy” and “antisocial” because of it. But this does not bother Clarissa at all. If anything, she questions them and comes to very reasonable conclusions. For example, Bradbury 26 she differs from the others calling her “antisocial”. She states, “I am very social indeed… it all depends on what you mean by social. To me it is talking about how strange the world is. I don't think it's social to get a bunch of people together and then not let them talk.” She then goes into detail on how schools have you wrapped up on television and prefer to give the answers rather than to ask questions. These actions give off that She does not express her views of the world since she spends her days watching and “communicating” with the parlor walls. Because of this, she is very forgetful of personal events and careless of others. Bradbury 40, Montag thinks back to when he and Mildred first met. “The first time we met, where was it and when?” “Why it was at-” She stopped. “I don't know,” she said. Also in Bradbury 49, Mildred states, “..let me alone. I didn't do anything,” as Montag shares his book conflict. This shows how Mildred lacks in thinking and considering the feelings of others. Therefore, she is the opposing side of the theme of the

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