The Pursuit of Happiness in Fahrenheit 451 :: Fahrenheit 451 Essays

Happiness plays an important and necessary role in the lives of people around the world. In America, happiness has been engrained in our national consciousness since Thomas Jefferson penned these famous words in the Declaration of Independence: â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness† (Jefferson). Since then, Americans have been engaged in that act: pursuing happiness. The problem however, as Ray Bradbury demonstrates in his novel Fahrenheit 451, is that those things which make us happy initially may eventually lead to our downfall. By examining Guy Montag, the protagonist in Fahrenheit 451, and the world he lives in we can gain valuable insights to direct us in our own pursuit of happiness. From Montag and other characters we will learn how physical, emotional, and spiritual happiness can drasti cally affect our lives. We must ask ourselves what our lives, words, and actions are worth. We should hope that our words are not meaningless, â€Å"as wind in dried grass† (Eliot). History Before we look into specifics, we’ll examine the history and development of â€Å"happiness† as a philosophy. Of course, the emotion of happiness has always existed, but it began to be seriously contemplated around 2,500 years ago by philosophers like Confucius, Buddha, Socrates and Aristotle. Shortly after Buddha taught his followers his Noble Eight Fold Path (which we will talk about later), Aristotle was teaching that happiness is â€Å"dependent on the individual† (Aristotle). Probably more than any of the early philosophers, Aristotle promoted happiness as a central component of human life. The Greeks used a term, eudaimonia, which is often used as the Greek word for happiness. However, most scholars translate it as â€Å"human flourishing† or â€Å"well-being of the spirit.† Along with eudaimonia, terms like arete, â€Å"virtue†, and phronesis, â€Å"practical or moral wisdom†, are at the core of Greek philosophy. So if you could have asked Aristotle â€Å"What components or values must a person have in order to live a fulfilling life?† He probably would have answered, â€Å"Virtue, wisdom, and spiritual well-being.† Would Aristotle have been pleased with the futuristic world of Fahrenheit 451? Probably not. Certainly, the lack of virtue, learning, and the false sense of happiness would have astonished any of the early philosophers. Physical Happiness