Fahrenheit 451 - 4

In the book Fahrenheit 451, a common theme has to do with the lifestyle that the people have. The people live so selfishly. All that they do is think about themselves and only worry about the things that affect them. An example of that is Millie. She Sits in a chair all day long and watches T.V. On the televisions, she watches "The Family". She talks about "The Family" as though they are really her family, however, they are just a T.V. show. I think that not only shows selfishness, but that shows the lack of a family life that the people then had. She did not even take interest in her husband, instead she watched her fake family on T.V. And to show how little the people valued family, Guy and Millie couldn't even remember where they met, and they had only been married for seven years.

Many of the youth in the book Fahrenheit 451 live even more selfishly than many of the adults. They cruise around in their cars, going hundreds of miles per hour, and not have a care in the world. They try to run over people on purpose and not think twice about it. Death in their culture is a very prevalent thing and is actually made into a game. On T.V. it shows people getting hunted down and killed. It is like they are animals, but they are people. Death in this society means nothing and killing people is a way of life.

On page sixty-six of Fahrenheit 451, Montag finally hits a breach in his lifestyle. That is when he realizes that there may be more to life than the way they have always lived it. Montag says to his wife, "Whether we like this or not. we're in it. I've never asked for much from you in all these years, but I ask it now, I plead for it. We've got to start somewhere here, figuring out why we're in such a mess, you and the medicine nights, and the car, and me and my work. We're heading right for the cliff, Millie. God, I don't want to go over. this isn't going to be easy. We haven't anything to go on, but maybe we can piece it out and figure it and help each other. I need you so much right now, I can't tell you. If you live me at all you'll put up with this, twenty four, forty-eight hours, that's all I ask, then it'll be over, I promise, I swear! And if there is something here, just one little thing out of a whole mess of things, maybe we an pass it on to someone else."

I feel like that quote from Montag explains a lot of his feelings about their lifestyle and is the begining of something new.

Bradbury, Ray. The Hearth and the Salamander. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1933. 66-67. Print.