The characters in Fahrenheit 451 live in a society ruled by a totalitarian government which controls just about all aspects of their lives. Firemen don't think about job, no one ever thinks about anything. In a world where firemen rush to start fires as opposed to stopping them, the society is not unlike the one ruled by Hitler. The Nazis burned hundreds of thousands of 'un-German' books. Also, the people in the society are so dependant on TV and technology because they lack learning so much.
             The government is concerned that books may contain contradictory and controversial ideas and thus challenging its power to control the people, who are usually just satisfied to just watch TV and go about their lives with little thinking. However when Clarisse, a seventeen-year-old girl who looks at everything differently comes along, Montag's whole life starts to change. He becomes disillusioned with his job, and his life, when he starts talking with her. He eventually starts thinking and realises what a mess society has become. Faber also changes Montag's his view on his job.
             'Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality. And do you know why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life.'
             It is then that Montag realises his ignorance and the fact that he had never actually thought about why he had become a fireman.
             Selfishness and independence is another issue in the novel. An example is when Montag gets sick. However, instead of helping him, Mildred scolds him and tells him that he should get up as he had overslept. She is, in the novel, portrayed as the average citizen in the society. This goes to the point were he vomits and instead of helping, she once again scolds him saying, 'Why did you do that?' Another example is when Montag tells Mildred about the woman who had set fire to her own house and killed herself along with her boo...