I think one of the main points of this book is to paint a
drastic alternative to our current society where freedom, intelligence and a sense of
ambition live and flourish. Bradbury wanted to show what it might look like if society
ever became as apathetic as it is in the novel.
While the
novel may be science fiction, and therefore, certain ideas are sheer speculation
combined with Bradbury's genius world of make-believe, one thing that is certainly true
about the characters in the novel is that they are still humans. And Bradbury shows
through his protagonist that the human condition (with its natural desire for personal
freedom, intelligence, ambition, personal relationships) is still alive within them--it
has just been suppressed and buried so long, most people don't recognize what it is.
Enter Clarrise. Her role is to stir up the questions and emotions that Montag has
already grappled with (slightly) on his own.
Through this
microscope on Montag's life, we are not to assume that Montag is unique. Based on
Montag's story--is this society stable? Certainly not. He is lonely. He comes home
perplexed by a neighbor who causes him to rethink questions he's always considered a
little dangerous. His own wife is also lonely. She has attempted suicide when he
enters the house--and when she doesn't remember it, he makes it out to be something it
wasn't. The firemen at the station do not really interact with each other on a personal
basis and they rely on a robot to do their dirty work for them. But who is to say any
of them aren't also dealing internally with the same questions as
Montag?
So the world isn't changing much on the outside.
That doesn't mean individuals aren't changing on the inside. This is a society that is
largely in denial and has turned somewhat numb. But this does not
constitute stability.
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