In Fahrenheit 451 Guy Montag, the main character, is able to see
through the government and the official policies of his society. He does
so by gradually beginning to question certain aspect of society which most
simply accept as fact. Montag's job as a fireman serves as a setting to
show how many people passively accept the absurdity of their society.
Instead of rushing to put out fires, as firemen today do, Montag rushes to
start fires, burning the books and homes of people reported to have books.
This was considered by most people to be a respectable profession. But on
different occasions Montag took a book out of burning homes and would from
time to time read them. From this, he begins to to question the values of
his society.

Montag's marriage also serves a setting to contrast passive
acceptance versus questioning of society's values. His marriage is not the
happy kind that couples today experience but more like a coexistence. He
and his wife live together and he supports her, though he apparently
neither loves her a great deal or expects her to love him.
This relationship and living arrangement, with its lack of love, is

Bradbury's way of showing what life could be like if people not only stop
communicating but stop thinking and choosing, thus loosing control over
their lives. Montag and his wife continue to live together though people
in that situation today would not hesitate to terminate such a
relationship. Montag's wife apparently accepts this relationship because
it is normal for the society in which she lives. (Wolfheim)

Like Brave New World_characters escaping from reality through the use
of soma, Montag's wife, and many other characters, escape through watching
a sophisticated form of television. This television system covers three of
the walls of the Montag's TV room (they can't afford to buy the screen to
cover the fourth wall), has a control unit that allows the watchers to
interact with the characters on the program and another unit that inserts
Mrs. Montag's name into specific places, thus creating the image they the
characters are actually conversing with them. Montag's wife, having only a
few friends and ones she rarely sees, spends much of her day in this room,
watching a program called "The Family", a government sponsored program
that shows the viewers what life at home should be like.

The problem with this is that Montag's wife takes the program as a
substitute for reality. She is almost addicted to the program, much as
people were with soma in Brave New World. Bradbury uses this television
and it's programs as a way of showing the escape he is worried people will
look for in the future. Without actively questioning society's values, he
is concerned that people will look for ways to idly spend their time.

But like Marx, Montag chooses not to take part in this addiction. By
abstaining, he can see the affects it's use has on the people around him,
much as Marx and more importantly John the Savage saw in their culture.
Both authors try to show that with life made easier by strong government
control and a lack of personal involvement people will no longer spend
their time thinking, questioning or developing their own ideas.

Through these various diversions from normal behavior in society,
Marx, John the Savage and Guy Montag are able to see the truths behind the
societies they live in and are able to learn about themselves. And though
their discoveries meant that their lives would be changed forever, the
authors succeeded in showing that the key to humanity lies in thinking and
questioning. These men found themselves through their own discoveries,
much as Bradbury and Huxley hope others will do.