The Hearth and the Salamander - Analysis

First off, I really like this book. It reminds me of the Giver which is one of my favorite books. The people in this society are so brainwashed. They're like uniformed puppets. Technology is one of the main causes. People stopped reading books because they lost interest in them with all the different forms of entertainment. Books make people think and question within themselves. Books have meaning and symbolism that affect the people that read them. With all the different ideals in books it only makes sense that books would cause the people that read them to have different ideals as well. Which is why the society in Fahrenheit 451 has outlawed books. Books cause controversy and abstract thinking. If people all think the same and don't question the society they live in it eliminates unhappiness. Mildred towards the end of this section of the book says that she is "happy, and proud of it". She's so brainwashed that she actually believes she's happy. She sits around all day and has conversations with the characters in her TV parlor living a meaningless life, but she's content nonetheless. She's content because she doesn't know what she's missing. There's no controversy that troubles her, everyones the same. Those that are different are casted out, like Clarisse. She questions everything and is very observant, while Mildred on the other hand couldn't care less about anything other than her "relatives". The people who built this society had a fear of being inferior. They took away all meaning and purpose of life. When a person dies they are insignificant. Since everyone is the same they don't have anything to leave behind in the world; all their ideals are the same, they have no impact to make on the world. Montag realizes the true value of books and what they represent later in the chapter when he ponders on how long it probably took these writers to write their books and how much effort went into them. These author's life purposes and ideas are all thats left behind from them in the world, in their books. The firemen torch these books without a second thought, believing that they are preserving the happiness in society but there is no true happiness in this society just the illusion of it. They're wearing the mask of happiness Montag mentioned in the beginning pages after his first meeting with Clarisse. Without individuality they all live meaningless lives. No one will care when they die, there will be no funeral for them. Life itself has no purpose, which should be a sad thing; but to the society in Fahrenheit 451 this is just the way their society works.