(LiE)_ Happiness in F451

@p0stc4rds_ Literature in English Happiness in Fahrenheit 451___ Prose How does society experience happiness? ● Through intense gratification, sensations (speed, violence)○ Constant motion + fun + distraction = happiness○ Happiness is sought through distraction, mindlessentertainment● The usage of artificial means to be happy● In society, people are made happy by simplifying their lives○ represents conformity and loss of personality● Q.They were like a monstrous crystal chandelier tinklingin athousand chimes, he saw their Cheshire Cat smiles burning through the walls of the house,and now they were screaming at each other above the din.-> shows the grotesque andfake the happiness normal citizens experience. How do people in F451 find happiness?● Beatty: exercising his power over people○ He is embodies the regime, and thus finds joy in burning books○ The more he can suppress the people and their views the happier he will be○ Q.Beatty smiled his smile which showed the candypinkness of his gums-> derivesjoy from manipulating and scaring Montag● Clarisse: finds happiness through human nature○ Talking, thinking, nature, making connections○ Q. She smiled when she saw Montag."Hello! " ->showshow she enjoys humaninteraction

○ Derives happiness through interaction with people, which the governmentactively suppresses● Mildred: through artificial means○ Validation over shallow things + escapism + speeding○ Unconcsciously becomes the perfect victim of the government + becomes atool of the government○ portrayed as a media0obssessed woman who claims that she is happy○ her happiness is derived from constant immersion in entertainment in massmedia● Montag: develops throughout the book○ At the start: finds extreme joy in burning (‘he wouldfeel the fiery smile stillgripped by his face muscles’)○ At the end: freedom to think and act from the books (when he○ thought to test it, was half a smile.-> done whilehe is on the run, symbolic ofhis happiness coming from his rebellions’)○ Realises how unhappy his life is ("Happy! Of all thenonsense… He felt hissmile slide away... He was not happy. He was not happy. He said the words tohimself. He recognized this as the true state of affairs. He wore his happinesslike a mask…")○ Montag is a chracter who goes through an arc oftransformation moving from blind obedience to enlightenmentand discovers that true happiness lies beyond the propganda ofthe government○ Meeting Clarisse (unlike anyone who knows) sparks his desireto find happiness (Are you happy?) and makes him doubthiscontentment with life○ Mildred’s suicide attempt symbolizes an awkening and opensMontag’s eyes to not only his own misery, but his wife’s as well● Faber: hope in humanity○ Starts of as unhappy because of his inaction, causing him a lack of self esteem○ Sees a world devoid of knowledge and wants a better society, dissatisfied withsociety

○ Starts feeling joy once he sees Montag, who is his hope that society canimprove from its censored state (The old man laughedwhen