In Fahrenheit 451, there is a struggle between knowledge and ignorance, and the novel shows how people cope when faced with this struggle. It can be debated, but the pursuit of knowledge is key, and ignorance is not always bliss.
The pursuit of knowledge is crucial for Guy Montag, the society as a whole, as well the sanity of everybody. Montag is lost, depressed, and lonely because he felt as if a part of his life was missing. He would wander through the streets at night crying, wondering what was wrong with him, screaming to the skies about the constant weight on his shoulders. Over time, he began to stash books in his vents and pursue reading more. After this, he changed. He seemed lighter, happier, and overall more content with his life. The mere presence of books brought him such a great happiness and began to fulfill his need for knowledge. Clarisse McClellan also struggled with her desperation for knowledge. By the government, she was deemed “different” and “strange” due to the fact she adored reading, writing, and reading. People crossed streets to avoid her, students at school tormented her, and even parts of her own family disowned her. All these actions were a result of her need for knowledge. Ultimately, she ended up taking her own life because she felt so unwanted, she could not express her love for knowledge, and she felt as peculiar as a violin in a marching band. Citizens were burned and were willing to be burned alive if it meant that they were going to lose their books. These citizens were quite literally willing to die for knowledge, and the right to educate. Kids had lost all of their creativity and became almost robotic. They lost who they were and began to question their existence, solely because they had no way to express who they were through words or reading. Without knowledge, it was as if the city was dead. Many people craved knowledge, while others were ignorant towards it, further harming their minds.
Sometimes ignoring something and pretending it is not there, rather than accepting it causes more harm than bliss. Ignoring a situation many times results in the situation worsening and progressing negatively. In the case of depression, many people chose to ignore it and shut it in, while what they really need to do is open up, accept it, and let other people help carry some of the weight. It can be considered the same for rape and abuse. Ignoring the issue and trying to live life happily while having such a dark presence in your life can drain and harm you. In the novel, Clarisse was ignored by the community and she herself ignored her feelings. At the time, nobody cared nor noticed too much, and they lived in an ignorant bliss. This all changed when the society learned of Clarisse taking her own life. Now, both the citizens and the government had to live with her suicide on their conscious. Montag, Beatty, and Faber all struggled with ignorance. Montag and Beatty were both ignorant towards how the government was brainwashing the citizens, but as the storyline progressed, Montag began to accept what was happening and acted to make a change. Beatty, on the other hand, chose to live his life in his so-called “bliss” and refused to accept or try to change what was happening. He complied to the government and did not fight back for his rights even though he knew that what was happening was wrong. As a result, he died for his ignorance. He let his pride get the better of him and died during a book burn that he knew was wrong and unjust. He was biased as a government worker and was unable to see the damage caused. Faber also knew that everything that was happening was wrong, and he truly did want to make a change and start a revolution, but the fear of failure overpowered his want to start a change. So, Faber continued to live in his bliss, even though he recognized it was false and continued to live in pain and loneliness without books or knowledge. The evidence concludes that people can choose to live in ignorance, but it may not be a true bliss.
To conclude, Fahrenheit 451 had a large tension between knowledge and ignorance, and every character dealt with it in their own ways. Knowledge was something learned to be crucial for the whole society, while they also learned ignorance is not always something that is blissful; moreover, something that can have devastating effects on people and society as a whole. “Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.” - William Shakespeare