Are We All Conformers in the End?

Throughout Fahrenheit 451, there are many symbols and motifs that demonstrate the ideas of conformity and the efforts to create equality of intelligence throughout society. For example, Beatty says to Montag, “We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal . . . A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man’s mind” (58). It is clear that Bradbury is trying to show the connection between the negative effects technology and censorship have on people’s ability to think for themselves. Bradbury conveys these ideas of censorship through characters like Beatty and Mildred, as well as roles of opposition through Montag, Faber, and Clarisse.

Montag’s boss, Beatty plays a crucial role in showing the importance of conformity, as well as having the knowledge to back up his reasoning. He argues about the content of books and how they only cause disagreements. Beatty says, “Now let’s take out the minorities in our civilization…dog lovers, cat lovers.. the bigger your market, Montag, the less you handle controversy, Remember that" (57).

Mildred is also a good example of a character that readily conforms to the ideals of censorship within the book. Based on her unwillingness to connect with any characters in the novel, let alone her husband, she is portrayed as an empty human being devoid of any warmth. This makes it difficult for readers to empathize with her and she easily serves as a perfect contrast to Clarrise McClellan. Bradbury often alludes to Mildred’s emptiness by describing Montag’s bedroom at first as “not empty” because it contains Mildred and then later as “indeed empty.”

Clarisse McClellan and Faber are very influential characters throughout this novel as well, and in contrast to Mildred and Beatty, are opposed to conformity: an ongoing theme seen throughout the novel. Clarisse is one of the first people that Montag meets, and she plays a crucial role in advancing Montag’s continuing skepticism and curiosity he has for books. Faber, the English professor that Montag encounters, is the prime example of opposition in the book, and competes with Beatty to win over Montag’s mind. Montag feels he is desperately in need of change, although, he never truly changes for himself. He still relies on other’s to tell him how to think, and this is seen when Montag says to Faber, “I’m not thinking. I’m just doing like I’m told, like always” (92). This would suggest that he is as empty and vulnerable as Mildred.

Finally, conformity and equality of intelligence is portrayed as being inevitable throughout this novel. With the use of technology and censorship, people begin to lose a sense of self and what is truly valuable or real. The question that remains: are we getting what we want out of life, or are we just as naïve as the characters in the novel?