A Worldwide Shift of Focus

In Beatty’s monologue, he speaks of the many things that contributed to the downfall of books. The age of politically correct censorship was rampant at the time Fahrenheit 451 was written, and classics cherished forever were in danger of being rewritten, converted, torn apart, destroyed. The subconscious replies Montag gave covered his racing mind, thinking of the fate that awaited him if his crimes were revealed. By this time he was addicted to knowledge, as will any person become when given it after being starved for so long. It’s like a point of hunger at which you lose clear thought, and don’t even know why you’re hungry, but if you taste a small morsel, the craving comes back in an instant. He knew he had to find something to spare these treasures, but the only thing that could preserve them forever was a shift of paradigm of the whole world, from material possessions to knowledge, or true happiness.