Examples Of Materialism In Fahrenheit 451

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Society in the novel Fahrenheit 451 based their lives on mindless pleasure-seeking and blind materialism, which in turn, made their lives empty and hollow. The government demanded that the people live life according to their terms, instead of revolving life around their own values and beliefs, so they could virtually control society. The vast majority of society lived their lives like mindless robots, carrying out actions without any actual knowledge of what true living really was. People dedicated their lives to looking a certain way and obtaining possessions in a thoughtless manner, which made their lives empty. Children attacked and killed one and another simply for the adrenaline of it since they had nothing real to live for. Society turned …show more content…
Society in Fahrenheit 451 was a very materialistic and thoughtless group of people. They were often shown exploiting religion for profit, and bought materials at high prices simply because of government demands. Society was so blind to their empty lives that they were oblivious to how they used religion to promote commercial products. “Christ is one of the ‘family’ now. I often wonder if God recognizes His own son the way we’ve dressed him up, or is it dressed him down… He’s a regular peppermint stick now, all sugar-crystal and saccharine when he isn’t making veiled references to certain commercial products that every worshiper absolutely needs.” (pg.77-78) Faber tells Montag this as he is trying to explain how society has basically turned religion into a cheap profit. Their mindset was so materialistic that they were losing their true way of religion. Civilization even resulted to buying merchandise at unrealistic prices simply because the government told them to. Mildred, as well as a majority of the society, would buy televisions that cost one third of their yearly pay. People would also purchase the fastest cars available and drive them at outrageous speeds to fill their lives with “happiness”. All Value of life was lost, and people depended upon their possessions for happiness. This parallels society today, because so many people are intent on living life through technology instead of enjoying the real values of life. Society in Fahrenheit 451 blindly depended on their possessions for fake and even temporary happiness. In the same way, society today lives similarly when relying on undependable things, such as technology for
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