Are you happy? In 1943 Abraham Maslow created Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs which helps explain what humans need to be happy. While some of the items on the triangle are met in the society depicted in Fahrenheit 451, love/belonging, esteem, and self actualization are missing. The government makes sure that the other two pieces, physical needs and safety, are met, but the higher levels are what make a person an individual (www.simplypsychology.org). Individuality is totally lost in the novel by Ray Bradbury, who wrote a story about a society in which books and anything intellectual are looked down upon and banned. The main character is Guy Montag whose job is a fireman. Firemen don’t fight fires; they burn the homes and books of people who are
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At home, there is nothing to do except watch TV, so many people choose to get out of the house and take part in some of the activities supported by the government. Any time not working or watching TV is spent doing something because without books, people are bored out of their minds. Watching TV can be relaxing, but the government does not make it that way. Although books can sometimes seem dull and boring in comparison, they allow you to go at your own pace and make your own connections. The fast pace of the TV does not allow you to experience that. As Bradbury explains, “‘It is immediate, it has dimension. It tells you what to think and blasts it in. It must be right. It seems so right. It rushes you on so quickly to its own conclusions your mind hasn’t time to protest. ‘What nonsense!”’’ (84). The speed of TV is much greater than that of books. This fast pace influenced people in ways shown in their daily life. People no longer took the time to talk or even walk. They always drove, and they always drove fast. Clarisse comments upon this and notes, “‘I sometimes think drivers don’t know what grass is, or flowers, because they never see them slowly…’” (Bradbury 9). Therefore, no books leads to boredom, and to prevent boredom life needs to move
At home, there is nothing to do except watch TV, so many people choose to get out of the house and take part in some of the activities supported by the government. Any time not working or watching TV is spent doing something because without books, people are bored out of their minds. Watching TV can be relaxing, but the government does not make it that way. Although books can sometimes seem dull and boring in comparison, they allow you to go at your own pace and make your own connections. The fast pace of the TV does not allow you to experience that. As Bradbury explains, “‘It is immediate, it has dimension. It tells you what to think and blasts it in. It must be right. It seems so right. It rushes you on so quickly to its own conclusions your mind hasn’t time to protest. ‘What nonsense!”’’ (84). The speed of TV is much greater than that of books. This fast pace influenced people in ways shown in their daily life. People no longer took the time to talk or even walk. They always drove, and they always drove fast. Clarisse comments upon this and notes, “‘I sometimes think drivers don’t know what grass is, or flowers, because they never see them slowly…’” (Bradbury 9). Therefore, no books leads to boredom, and to prevent boredom life needs to move