Examples Of Anomie In Fahrenheit 451

The social condition, anomie, is presented in Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451, within many major and minor aspects. The society seems to promote isolationism and that begins with things as simple as their leisure activities and architecture. Clarisse McClellen’s uncle seems to hit the nail on the head stating, “My uncle says there used to be front porches. And people sat there sometimes at night, talking when they wanted to talk, the real reason, hidden underneath, might be they didn't want people sitting like that, doing nothing, rocking, talking; that was the wrong kind of social life.” (Bradbury pg. 30) The society prevents its citizens from free thought as a way to suffocate the potential of uprisings. These leisure activities display anomie by making them an independent experience rather than a group activity. Mildred sits at home all day talking to ‘relatives’ programmed by the society, and has little to no interaction with others aside from Guy. The society is telling her what to think while
promoting desolation.
In the novel, Montag is experiencing alienation when the tedious, repetitive routine of getting up and doing the same thing everyday is now challenged.
When Clarisse plants simplistic questions and ideas in his head, this inception grows and spreads much like a disease or virus. Simple ideas such as watching the landscape rather than rushing past or even the question, “Are you happy?” (Bradbury pg. 4) cause Guy to reconsider his role and he feels alone, superstition rises and then society seems to be isolating him with the hounds, “But Montag did not move and only stood thinking of the ventilator grille in the hall at home and what lay hidden behind the grille. If someone here in the firehouse knew about the ventilator then mightn't they "tell" the Hound . . . ?” (Bradbury pg. 12) It appears that they use it as a red flag, a way of monitoring those deemed ‘different’ and almost threatening those who begin to generate free thoughts by alienating
them.
In Bradbury’s world, the citizens indulge in many great leisure activities, this is a simplistic way for those in charge to keep the citizens happy, so that they won’t sit back and try to figure out if their life has a direction, and, if so, are they really happy with it? Anyone who differs or doesn’t quite conform to this ‘contentment’ is ostracized, or considered antisocial. Clarisse is a prime example of this. "I rarely watch the 'parlour walls' or go to races or Fun Parks. So I've lots of time for crazy thoughts, I guess....I'm anti-social, they say. I don't mix. It's so strange. I'm very social indeed. It all depends on what you mean by social, doesn't it? Social to me means talking about things like this." (Bradbury pg. 4 and 13) Clarisse has a different idea of contentment and that is against what is considered a regular leisure activity, and is considered odd in society. Mildred is quite the opposite, "Well, this is a play comes on the wall-to-wall circuit in ten minutes... They write the script with one part missing. It's a new idea. The homemaker, that's me, is the missing part...Isn't that fun, Guy?" (Bradbury pg. 9) Her open willingness and enthusiasm for the leisure activities that the society allows her to do results in a type of conformity, as the book progresses it shows that she is just going along with the motions, the society has power over her dependence upon her screens.
I am enjoying this novel very much. I think that this is because of a psychological attachment to my schema. Everything that we experience in our lives from our recognition and interpretations of data and events and that is why no two people interpret a painting the same way. Also our schema helps dictate what we enjoy, or how we prosper. The source of my attachment comes from the internal conflicts and interests of the characters; for instance thoughts such as, “I'm still crazy. The rain feels good. I love to walk in it.”(Bradbury pg. 9) or when Guy thinks about the books seriously, “I realized that a man was behind each one of the books. A man had to think them up. A man had to take a long time to put them down on paper….It took some man a lifetime maybe to put some of his thoughts down, looking around at the world and life.” (Bradbury pg. 25) It relates to my own thoughts and values, and pulls me in.