To be happy is anticipated by many, but does our society know the meaning of true happiness? Often, happiness is thought to be achieved by the amount one consumes and the entertainment one has. In the novel “Fahrenheit 451”, Ray Bradbury exaggerates the overuse of technology in society. The society in Fahrenheit 451 relies on parlour walls and violence for entertainment. Due to the distraction of technology the society was oblivious to the intense warfare surrounding it. This society burns books because they believe books contain useless information. In his heroic journey the main character; Guy Montag, realizes that happiness cannot be attained through technology but with knowledge and books. Without the help of Clarisse, Montag would have never seen the beauty of the world. Ray Bradbury is prophetic by emphasizing the addiction to technology people face in the dystopian society, which is very similar to today.
People tend to seek fill their lives with reactive happiness. In Fahrenheit 451, the society fails to care about things that matter and invests more time in entertainment. The society in the book, believes that life should strictly be composed of entertainment in order to possess happiness. While talking to Montag, Beatty says, “bring on your clubs and parties, your acrobats and magicians, your daredevils, your jet cars, motorcycle helicopters, your sex and heroin, more of everything to do with automatic reflex… I just like solid entertainment” (pg. 58). The society seeks glorification to avoid thinking about political issues. The society seeks to be entertained and has faux experiences. Rather than participating in activities that generate true happiness they are stuck believing that by undertaking drugs you will be in contentment. Whereas it is paradoxical, the parties and entertainment will only be able to grant happiness for a limited amount of time. After the time is up, they will continue to be in melancholy which results in suicidal behavior. In the book, true happiness is only experienced by Clarisse, who neglects technology. Clarisse is able to communicate with others and she has insight into the world. The rest of the society does not challenge their minds, which diminishes their conscience. Similarly, in our society we seek for glorification. One lyric from Donald Glover’s video, This Is America is “we just wanna party”, then Donald Glover continues to dance and later shoots someone. We believe that doing such revolting acts are entertaining, but the adrenaline and happiness lasts for a restricted amount of time. We experience faux happiness and continuously repeat those actions. Once we feel malaise, we quickly react instead of being proactive and doing something that will truly enrich our lives. Both Fahrenheit 451 and society today, lack the feeling of authentic enjoyment.
The society in Fahrenheit 451 and society today are both reliant on technology and disregard the ability to critically think. In Fahrenheit 451, technology is the prominent influence in society. The parlour walls in the society display useless information, this makes the society incompetent at critically thinking. Instead of having the parlour walls show cartoons, it could have documentaries that educate the people. The citizens do not have a conscience and do not use the parlour walls for educational purposes. While talking about politics and the presidential election, one of the parlour ladies says this: “I voted last election, same as everyone, and I laid it on the line for President Noble. I think he’s one of the nicest looking men to ever became president” (pg. 93). The parlour women voted for a president based on his looks and did not consider his campaign. They have the privilege to vote, but they abuse this honor. The parlour walls are undervalued for the effective information they could spread. Due to the distraction of the parlour walls, the society is unaware of the warfare happening in its own country. They have no insight into the world. Similarly, in the society’s schools the students learn absurd facts that are irrational. The purpose of school is exploited and used improperly. In our society, we equivalently do not use contextual information. In Time To Do Everything But Think, David Brooks says, “the problem with all this speed, and the frantic energy that is spent using time efficiently, is that it undermines creativity”. Time To Do Everything But Think is a very universal and interpretive article. The internet can dispense everything, and this takes away from our conscience. We can find pointless information online, but we do not use the tool for its full extent. We can easily find educational material online and this takes away from our learning skills. Our society has become lazy and dependent on technology to critically think for ourselves. We do not dive deep with the information we receive but we only stay at a surface level understanding. With the tool of technology, we have forgotten our own ability to think. We are oblivious to events happening around the world because of our hubris. We only care about things happening around the countries we live in and neglect our responsibility in this world.
People tend to believe consumption leads to happiness. In Fahrenheit 451, Mildred is exposed to technology all around her. Mildred faces problems with depression yet, she still claims to be happy. At the beginning of the book, Montag was pleased to have a life filled with technology. But at the end of the book he is in despair because of technology and urges to change society’s functions. In the book Mildred is willing to spend “one third of [Montag’s] yearly pay” (pg. 18). Mildred is deeply obsessed with the technology because she believes it is her family. She cannot maintain a relationship with real people but a virtual reality world. This very closely relates to society today. We are indulged in buying the newest products available. By consuming we are tricked into thinking we are happy. We tend to buy things even if they will lead us into debt. After looking at the Happiness Index, countries such as the USA and Canada are claimed to be the saddest countries in the world. The USA is the top consumer in the world, yet, it is the saddest. Mexico and Colombia are the happiest countries in the world because they find joy without consuming useless products. Happiness cannot be measured with entertainment and technology, but it is measured in from within.
Fahrenheit 451 was written over 50 years ago, yet the themes still relate immensely to society today. Happiness does not come from faux experiences and technology, but it comes from knowledge. Happiness is a tangible feeling and with intangible items, no one will be able to experience happiness. Technology is taking over the ability to critically think and contextualize information. Happiness needs to be redefined to fit both the society in Fahrenheit 451 and society today. Sadly, Ray Bradbury’s dystopian fiction society in Fahrenheit 451 will soon become a reality due to our hubris.
Sources:
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Simon & Schuster, 2013.
Brooks, David. “Time To Do Everything Except Think.” Newsweek, 13 Mar. 2010, www.newsweek.com/time-do-everything-except-think-150597.
“Childish Gambino – This Is America (Official Video).” YouTube, 5 May 2018, youtu.be/VYOjWnS4cMY.
NEF. Happy Planet Index. Mono, 2016, http://happyplanetindex.org/countries.