Fahrenheit 451 Literary Analysis

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Veronica Minar Mr. Brazelton English 1 (1) 27 March 2024 Freedom in Thought You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Ignorance is bliss” before. Thomas Gray wrote this line, among others, in his 1947 poem “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College,” advocating for children to have a peaceful upbringing rather than be bombarded at a young age with the stresses of adult life. Nowadays, this line is used especially to describe a sense of freedom and peace when one is unaware of a daunting issue. Some people long for this oblivion, while others say that it’s morally incorrect to take advantage of that mental freedom while others are suffering from large, real-world issues. Over the course of several scenes in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, the characters Mildred and Clarisse are used to depict the theme that one’s sense of freedom is highly dependent on one’s interpretation of the idea. …show more content…
Her way of doing this is by following the crowd and trying her best to fit in, even though it’s at the expense of the people who care about her. One scene that describes this situation is when Montag first shows Mildred the books he’s stolen over the years. After some disagreement, she finally composes herself and calms down from the shock of seeing such highly illegal objects. As Montag reads, “Mildred kicked a book. Books aren’t for people. You read and I look around, but there isn’t anybody!’. ’Now,’ said Mildred, ‘my ‘family’ is people. They tell me things; I laugh, they laugh! And the colors!’” (69). Her obsession with the TV parlor extends beyond just sitting in front of it all day; it is also the topic of most conversations she had with Montag each day. But this addiction isn’t entirely her fault. Society has taken away the freedom of thought that comes with reading