What is society? Society is defined by the way people act and think in day to day situations. Any action that occurs daily affects how society works. These actions may positively affect the outcome of future generations, boosting positivity and bringing forth a brighter future for the masses.
On the other side of the coin, the actions taken by past individuals may negatively affect the future of society, presenting troubling times or unsightly conflict. The choice all comes down to precedence, what happened in the past is bound to chip away at the future. The ever-foreboding decision of good or bad plagues many societies today. Riots and wars a riddled throughout the world, while other areas are working to fix the problems that have inevitably come from the “bad” societies. Literature is a good messenger of these ideas. There have been books written on political systems, the malicious intent of large corporations, what society might be like with no government, and even the hardships of the mentally incapable. Yet that digresses from the point. The bottom line is society is impressionable. People take on the shape of whatever is considered normal throughout their community. This may be called hive mind or critical conformity.
Of all the literature to display the idea of critical conformity, Fahrenheit 451 may take the cake. The society in Fahrenheit 451 may as well be in the dictionary under the word conformity. The people in Fahrenheit 451 have been conformed to follow a strict set of ideas. Any small sliver of information that is not sanctioned by the government is not permitted, and therefore destroyed upon discovery. Fahrenheit 451 is about censorship, which is a big problem today. Corporations have difficulty deciding what is to be censored, and often get into a heap of debates about it. Censorship is a way to protect the public keeping the sanctity of society intact but may also take necessary information away from the public, depriving it of crucial facts and morals.
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With the continual age and progression of society, broadcasters, publishers, writers, news companies, and large corporations must decide what is necessary and irrelevant when presenting a work to the public. To keep the sanctity of society, certain information must be kept from people to avoid any confrontations. Tv broadcasters must be cautious when airing a show or movie on television because any audience could be listening. Certain people take offense to small, insignificant triggers, so the airways must be finely divided and censored to maintain order. Publishers must do the same, classifying books and articles based on the age of individuals that should be allowed to read the work. This process seems simple but can often opt for more undesirable results. This is the basic premise of Fahrenheit 451. To keep people happy and safe, the corporations and governments outlawed works of literature and have cleaned the airwaves of anything to long or unnecessary.
Society’s push forward presents many new technological advances. Computers that you can take on the go. A new system that lets you watch movies almost anywhere. A large-scale network that allows anyone to access information that they could need on any topic, without the long time finding hard copy sources in a library. A computer that fits in your pocket. These technological advances catch people’s eye because they allow for easier lifestyles and more secure lifestyles. Dylan Arruda of Stonehill College says “With the surge in technological advances, it’s no wonder people are more attached to their electronic devices. The TV-walls in Fahrenheit 451 are just one example of how technology is consuming humanity. Mildred is literally trapped in a room surrounded by screens of things that become a second reality. Humans have about seven to eight hours of screen time a day, and the trends are only rising.”
Both Fahrenheit 451 and our own society share the common idea of relying on electronics to cure boredom. In the novel itself Guy Montag points out how much his wife is glued to her Parlor Walls and seashell headphones. She is so entranced that she often ignores her husband’s concern and simply complains that he does not care about her enough to purchase more TV walls. Our society works the same way. People wait for hours in line for the new iPhone and spend hundreds of dollars on new phones and computers to satisfy the quota check. People will act pretentious towards others who do not have all the new technology of the year. Some people will perform an act called flexing where they show off their large sums of money and expensive possessions just to be of a higher status.
Another topic that is brought up in the novel is education. In Fahrenheit 451 education is slightly more disregarded than in our own society. Children go to school and are taught the basics of their society and how to survive, then are kicked out into the real world. These children lack inspiration. They have no hobbies and have no future to look forward to as well as no goals to achieve. This brings them closer and closer to critical conformity. They do what is necessary and nothing else simply because they have no passion to fuel them to succeed. The same principle goes in our own society. As children people take in a great deal of information, as it is one of the key learning periods in a person’s life. There are so many programs for child education and so many options on how to pursue a good foundation, but eventually it may start to drop off. Some high schoolers and college students lose the enthusiasm that they once had had, not knowing what they want to do or where they want to be in life. Some college students change majors because the one they first pursued began to drop off. Eventually it leads a person to a dead-end job at a desk typing away from nine to five. Some people just lack enthusiasm and take pleasure from relying on technology to fill in the void of their life. Some people take it a step farther going to hardcore drugs and alcohol.
Perhaps the most interconnected part of this novel and our society is feelings. Our day to day lives depend on our emotions, changing it from worse to better or vice versa. Emotion has begun to slope downwards slightly, just as it did in the novel. In our online world, the necessity to send messages is crucial to success. Yet, emails and messages lack a great deal of emotion. Emotions are a shared experience, and that feeling does not transfer well onto an LED screen. Its vastly different to see and experience laughter and joy than look at a message that reads “haha lol”. The society of Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 lacks the same necessity. TV programs are incredibly short to maintain the attention of its viewers, but it loses emotion for that same reason. No literature sparks diverse feeling in readers, people hardly talk to each other simply because they do not really care.
Throughout history, society both progresses and recedes in its many different aspects. Some situations die off and become a lesser worry, while others rise and become increasingly threatening. Regardless, the society presented in Fahrenheit 451 is quite accurate to its purpose of “This will happen if things continue”. All the negative ideas presented within the novel have begun to arise in our own society. Censorship can have its positives and negatives but is still present, technology plagues society due to its addictive nature, and the technological advances have brought our emotions closer and closer to extinction. Society might be a better place if we were to directly deal with the threatening ideals.
