Fahrenheit 451 Critical Thinking Quotes

Bradbury's plea for Critical Thinking In Ray BradBury’s fiction novel “Fahrenheit 451,” BradBury paints us a dystopian society where every citizen lacks the ability to think critically. Citizens are known to have short term memory, a lack of empathy for others, and an addiction to short term pleasures such as loud music and television. The main character Montag, once a societal norm in the beginning of the book, goes through a series of changes that fundamentally influences him to rebel against this society for their practice of igniting books. Bradbury uses specific events in Montag's transformation throughout the book, such as his conversations with Clarisse and his conversation with his wife’s friends, to help Montag realize that he isn’t

Intro to Evidence: At the fire station, Montag puts his critical thinking skills into practice as he questions the firemen’s logic behind their action of burning houses full of books. Evidence: “He opened his mouth and it was Clarisse McClellan saying, “Didn’t firemen prevent fires rather than stoke them up and get them going?” (34). Analysis: The beginning of the quote shows the level of influence Clarisse has had on his critical thinking skills. His question starts out with “didn’t firemen” which signifies that Montag is critiquing or indirectly pointing out a flaw in the firemen's logic for burning books. Montag mocks them in a sense as he compares the firemen’s logic with something that is clearly more logical of what a fireman's job really is. Transition to next piece of evidence: As the story progresses, along with Montag’s finding of society's flaws, he uses critical thinking to pull apart all the problems with the women's lives during a conversation with them. Intro to Supporting Evidence: Mildred’s friends were chatting about politics and how they chose their candidates based on looks; how they valued their parlors (television) more than their actual family; and their lack of empathy for their lost family members and friends. Montag loses his temper and objectively criticizes their lives, telling them to think deeper than the surface. Supporting Evidence: “Go home and think about your (lost husbands), think of the dozen abortions you had, and your children who hate our guts. Go home and think how it all happened and what did you ever do to stop it?” (101). Analysis of Supporting Evidence: Montag foolishly sacrifices his safety in society to get Mrs. Bowles and the other wives to think critically of their situation, especially when he asks her to think of how it all happened and what you did to stop it. This whole passage shows how Montag