Fahrenheit 451 Theme Ignorance Essay

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Ignorance is in its nature an easy and almost appealing state of being. By being ignorant we are exempted from thinking, worrying and furthermore making wrong decisions because we simply do not know any better. But is being ignorant being happy? In Mildred’s case, a character that in this novel embodies a normal civilian, that is not even a question. She does not worry about being happy or anything to that matter, instead she sleep walks through life and is consumed by the mundane. Mildred lives through the parlor walls, an alter reality that “is an environment as real as the world. It becomes and is the truth.” [84] Mildred cannot escape this virtual world, and instead conforms to what the parlor aunts and uncles say because she wants to believe and is lead to believe that it is …show more content…

“Books aren’t real” [84] to her and the knowledge they contain is frightening and dangerous because it destroys her perfect idealized dream world. At the end of the novel Montag asks her to change her ways. He begs her to actually listen to him and read a book. However, Mildred blatantly refuses to do so because she perceives knowledge as a threat. Instead she screams for him to stop, showing that she would rather be ignorant than be exposed to something unknown. Mildred’s defiance towards knowledge demonstrates how sometimes not knowing is easier that dealing with the truth. Yet, is ignoring the truth any better? Can happiness really be achieved through self-deception and conformity, or is challenging the truth what makes us content?
Some characters, such as Montag, Faber and Clarisse cannot succumb to ignorance. They, unlike the others believe that books are wonderful and that knowledge is the basis of happiness. These think beyond the parlor walls and don’t merely talk things, they talk of the “meaning of things.” [75] Bradbury’s protagonist, Montag, transitions from ignorant to knowledgeable and

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