Montag seems perfectly content with his life until he meets Clarisse, a teenager who asks him if he is happy. He flippantly responds that he is, but up until that point, he hadn't really thought about it. 'Of course, I'm happy. What does she think? I'm not?' he thinks.
In ''Fahrenheit 451'' Ray Bradbury explores the theme of happiness within the plot of removing books from the town's citizens. Explore examples of how the different characters in this novel experience happiness.
''The important thing for you to remember, Montag, is we're the Happiness Boys, the Dixie Duo, you and I and the others. We stand against the small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought.'' Beatty encourages Montag to consider how important his role is to the happiness of society.
In the story Montag says, " Of course I'm happy. What does she think? I'm not?"(Bradbury 8). In this quote Montag is telling himself that he is happy and she is strange for asking that question.
From "The Sieve and the Sand" "We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren't happy. Something's missing. I looked around. The only thing I positively knew was gone was the books I'd burned in ten or twelve years.
Happiness is important. Fun is everything. And yet I kept sitting there saying to myself, I'm not happy, I'm not happy. I am.” Mildred's mouth beamed.
The society Montag lives in tries to make its people happy by simplifying their lives, which represents conformity and the loss of personality. The desire to conform causes the citizens to lose themselves and the true definition of happiness.
What makes people happy? In Fahrenheit 451, the government believes that getting rid of books (which give people conflicting ideas, make people worry, and provide superior intellect) will make the citizens happier. Distracting people with fun—fast cars, television parlors, and Seashell devices used to listen to music—keeps them from feeling unhappy. Firemen like Montag, the protagonist, are responsible for burning down the homes of those who keep books, for the good of the community.
When Beatty realizes that Montag is beginning to question things, he stops by Montag's home to explain how the firemen work to keep people happy. Books are risky: People could be offended by realism, may get too many incompatible ideas, and some will gain superior knowledge.
Back at the firehouse, when an alarm rings, Beatty tells Montag that they are off to make the world happy, but in actuality, they are going to burn Montag's house down and arrest him for keeping books. This, as we learned, is an example of irony, which, in literature, is when the opposite of what is expected happens.
Okay, let's review! In a world filled with distractions and fun, Montag never stops to think about happiness until Clarisse, the teenager next door asks him if he is happy. Montag laughs it off, but as he ponders the question, he realizes that he is not really happy, just pretending to be.
He makes a face and tosses the flower at me. It lands on my cheek, and I pick it up and twirl it between my fingers. I could lie out here all day, not moving an inch, feeling the sun above and the grass below. With a contented sigh, I stretch my arms wide, raking the grass with my fingers - and find myself brushing Aladdin's hand with my own.
I know when I was here prosecuting homicides in the District of Columbia, one of the most effective units here was the cold case squad, which had on it FBI agents, as well as Metropolitan Police Department homicide detectives working together." Author: Robert Mueller