The author understands a good deal about human nature and the trends in society. I could not believe it when I read that it was published in the nineteen fifties. When creating his future of the world, he understood that a lot of the time people do not want to think. He also understood that thinking and the depth that it implies are quite essential to truly happy people.
In his future, people spend all day in front of a television that says absolutely nothing (Bradbury 46). If the complete lack of thoughtful programming today, with shows like Jersey Shore, is anything relatable to what the television of Bradbury’s future, I think I get the picture. People fill their mind with such nothingness as that, and they do not have real time or reason to think. The people of the future block out thoughts with their constant time in front of noise and confusion. When they are confronted with something thought provoking, like the poetry Montag reads to his wife’s friends, they get terribly upset and never come back (Bradbury 101). True, the poem was quite sad, but even sadness is beautiful, not only because the thought required feeling it. Someday, I’m going to write about all of the reasons sadness is beautiful.
The other important thing the author understands is that without thought, people are just unhappy and find no reason for their life (How can they find a reason if they never reason?). Millie tries to commit suicide because of it, and she does not even know that that is the reason why (Bradbury 19). Montag realizes that Beaty wanted to die too (Bradbury 122). A person not thinking is somewhat akin to a musician never paying attention to music. Without music, a musician dies inside, and without thought so do people. The thoughts we have make us who we are, and if we have no thoughts and have no “who”, then what really is the point of living?
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Ballantine, 1996. Print.
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