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__________________________________________________________________
Cecil
E
.
Bohanon
and
W
.
Allen
Hutson
The
Economics
of
Ray
Bradbury
’
s
Fahrenheit
451
Introduction
This
paper
reflects
on
Ray
Bradbury
’
s
1953
dystopian
science
fiction
novel
Fahrenheit
451
from
an
economic
perspective
.
To
be
sure
,
there
is
little
in
the
novel
that
gives
hint
to
how
the
economy
is
organized
or
how
resources
are
allocated
between
competing
uses
in
the
novel
’
s
futuristic
world
.
Nor
are
there
many
salient
examples
of
standard
economic
principles
such
as
the
law
of
demand
,
elasticity
,
market
equilibrium
or
the
other
topics
in
neo-classical
economic
analysis
.
Yet
there
is
much
discussion
in
the
novel
of
happiness
.
The
novel
’
s
protagonist
chooses
to
make
a
radical
break
with
society
after
he
comes
to
recognize
his
own
unhappiness
.
In
neo-classical
economic
terms
,
new
information
changes
tastes
,
which
in
turn
changes
behavior
.
Case
closed
.
What
is
there
to
discuss
?
However
,
the
more
philosophical
analysis
of
both
Ludwig
von
Mises
’
Human
Action
and
John
Stuart
Mill
’
s
On
Utilitarianism
do
provide
an
economic
lens
from
which
to
assess
the
novel
.
Guy
Montag
,
the
hero
of
the
novel
,
acts
in
Cecil
E
.
Bohanon
is
Professor
of
Economics
,
Ball
State
University
,
Muncie
,
Indiana
.
W
.
Allen
Hutson
graduated
from
Ball
State
in
2008
.
An
earlier
version
of
this
paper
was
presented
at
the
Annual
Conference
of
the
Association
of
Private
Enterprise
Education
(
APEE
),
April
8
,
2008
,
Las
Vegas
,
Nevada
.
a
way
consistent
with
Misesian
analysis
.
To
put
it
another
way
,
Misesian
analysis
does
not
render
Montag
’
s
choices
as
a
“
trivial
”
or
“
mechanical
”
maximization
problem
,
but
rather
as
an
active
,
groping
and
near-entrepreneurial
quest
for
personal
fulfillment
in
a
constrained
world
.
The
Misesian
framework
is
a
way
of
making
Montag
’
s
action
interesting
and
meaningful
.
In
the
same
vein
,
John
Stuart
Mill
’
s
reflection
on
happiness
in
his
essay
On
Utilitarianism
offers
a
normative
economic
approach
to
understanding
both
Montag
’
s
search
for
happiness
and
the
constraints
he
faces
in
the
search
.
All
this
is
not
a
particular
critique
of
neo-classical
economics
as
much
as
an
argument
that
the
framework
and
rhetoric
of
Austrian
and
classical
economics
is
better
suited
to
the
task
of
considering
issues
in
literature
than
the
standard
neo-classical
approach
.
1
1
Tyler
Cowen
(
2008
)
argues
that
economic
models
and
novels
have
more
similarities
than
is
usually
imagined
.
Both
specify
a
set
of
initial
conditions
that
are
subsequently
modified
.
Both
examine
the
consequences
of
the
subsequent
modifications
.
In
the
case
of
the
model
the
consequences
flow
from
the
model
’
s
internal
logic
.
In
the
case
of
the
novel
the
consequences
flow
from
the
author
’
s
imagination
.
That
the
author
has
an
implicit
“
model
”
of
human
behavior
in
mind
is
not
farfetched
!
Indeed
,
literary
criticism
often
attempts
to
spell
out
the
author
’
s
implicit
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The
paper
proceeds
in
the
following
fashion
.
First
,
a
simplified
plot
summary
is
presented
.
The
next
two
sections
will
consider
the
novel
from
the
perspective
of
Human
Action
and
On
Utilitarianism
.
A
penultimate
section
focuses
on
the
author
,
Bradbury
,
and
the
final
section
offers
conclusions
and
insights
.
Plot
Summary
templative
activities
.
The
signature
of
the
society
is
the
total
criminalization
of
books
.
If
an
individual
is
found
to
possess
books
he
or
she
is
arrested
,
the
fire
department
is
contacted
,
and
the
books
are
publicly
burned
.
The
title
Fahrenheit
451
is
the
temperature
at
which
paper
combusts
.
As
homes
and
buildings
have
been
fireproofed
the
only
job
of
the
fire
department
is
to
burn
books
as
“
custodians
of
our
peace
of
mind
”
(
p
.
59
).
The
novel
is
set
in
a
futuristic
world
that
is
simultaneously
militaristic
,
prosperous
and
highly
controlled
.
As
mentioned
before
,
there
is
little
hint
of
the
economic
system
in
place
.
That
a
prosperous
economy
is
consistent
with
strictly
controlled
flows
of
information
is
implausible
to
mainstream
economic
thinking
today
.
Yet
recall
the
novel
was
written
in
the
early
1950
’
s
,
long
before
the
freedom
and
prosperity
nexus
was
as
well
understood
as
it
is
now
.
In
any
case
,
in
Bradbury
’
s
vision
direct
government
repression
was
not
the
reason
freedom
of
inquiry
was
destroyed
.
Rather
,
government
manipulation
of
media
and
entertainment
so
dulled
the
senses
of
the
population
that
tyranny
was
a
natural
byproduct
.
Allusion
is
made
to
two
nuclear
wars
in
the
1990
’
s
that
the
society
won
.
It
is
reported
that
the
domestic
population
is
well
fed
and
well
entertained
while
other
parts
of
the
world
are
impoverished
(
p
.
73
).
Information
and
media
channels
are
totally
controlled
by
the
state
and
dedicated
to
its
praise
and
(
quite
crucially
for
Bradbury
’
s
thesis
)
to
the
entertainment
of
the
population
.
Quick-paced
entertainments
are
heavily
subsidized
and
encouraged
so
as
to
preclude
more
conmodel
of
the
world
.
Correspondingly
,
models
are
at
their
core
“
imaginative
stories
”
about
the
nature
of
the
world
.
The
plot
is
rather
thin
.
Guy
Montag
is
a
30
year
old
fireman
.
Through
a
series
of
events
he
becomes
a
book-loving
dissident
.
He
meets
an
almost
17
year
old
girl
,
Clarisse
McClellan
,
who
is
from
a
family
of
dissidents
.
Through
conversations
with
her
he
becomes
unhappy
and
begins
to
show
an
intellectual
interest
in
the
very
books
he
has
spent
the
last
decade
burning
.
His
wife
,
Mildred
,
is
shallow
,
totally
engrossed
in
the
society
’
s
pursuit
of
banal
pleasures
,
and
completely
appalled
by
her
husband
’
s
newfound
inquisitiveness
.
Guy
’
s
immediate
work
supervisor
,
Fire
Chief
Beatty
,
is
a
disaffected
intellectual
who
is
familiar
with
the
content
of
many
of
the
books
he
burns
and
absolutely
dedicated
to
their
destruction
.
Beatty
’
s
cynical
monologue
which
attempts
to
convince
Guy
of
the
social
necessity
and
desirability
of
book
burning
is
a
central
passage
of
the
novel
(
pp
.
54-63
).
Beatty
eventually
entraps
and
arrests
Guy
,
who
in
turn
becomes
a
criminal
as
he
kills
the
Captain
to
escape
arrest
.
Beatty
’
s
counterpoint
is
the
60
+
year
old
retired
Professor
Faber
,
who
forty
years
ago
worked
at
one
of
the
last
liberal
arts
colleges
.
Having
made
a
living
speculating
on
the
stock
market
(?)
he
becomes
Montag
’
s
mentor
and
coconspirator
.
Faber
’
s
monologue
to
Montag
is
another
central
passage
(
pp
.
80-91
).
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After
killing
Beatty
,
Guy
flees
to
the
countryside
undetected
.
He
manages
to
join
up
with
a
group
of
intellectuals
,
each
of
who
memorize
certain
books
.
A
war
starts
simultaneously
with
Montag
’
s
escape
and
destroys
the
urban
area
from
which
he
escapes
.
There
are
many
inconsistencies
in
the
framework
.
The
story
is
neither
a
detailed
or
well-conceived
model
of
a
totalitarian
society
nor
an
accurate
blueprint
of
how
such
a
society
would
emerge
.
Bradbury
’
s
speculation
of
an
entertaining
but
minddulling
government-run
media
being
a
linchpin
in
maintaining
a
totalitarian
society
is
an
interesting
and
provocative
theme
.
The
story
can
also
be
seen
as
one
man
’
s
discovery
of
intellectual
life
in
a
society
that
both
overtly
and
covertly
discourages
such
endeavors
.
Fahrenheit
451
from
Human
Action
’
s
Perspective
Guy
’
s
actions
can
be
“
shoe-horned
”
into
a
neo-classical
microeconomics
.
Consider
a
society
with
two
sets
of
goods
:
vector
X1
,
X2
…
Xn
which
are
a
set
of
basic
goods
and
“
fast
paced
pleasures
”
with
prices
p1
,
p2
...
pn
;
and
vector
J1
,
J2
...
Jn
which
are
a
set
of
“
contemplative
intellectual
pleasures
”
with
prices
h1
,
h2…
hn
.
Montag
has
a
utility
function
U
=
U
(
X1
,
X2
…
Xn
;
J1
,
J2
…
Jn
)
and
an
income
of
Ym
.
Montag
maximizes
his
utility
function
subject
to
his
income
constraint
.
Montag
’
s
preferences
are
such
that
in
his
initial
state
he
exclusively
consumes
from
the
X
vector
of
goods
.
Upon
interactions
with
Clarisse
,
Montag
’
s
preferences
change
so
that
his
desired
consumption
bundle
now
includes
items
from
the
J
vector
of
goods
as
well
.
Tyler
Cowen
’
s
(
2008
)
insight
is
quite
appropriate
:
“
Utility
maximization
may
describe
the
behavior
of
(
literary
)
characters
ex
post
,
but
it
does
not
help
us
understand
or
predict
their
behavior
very
much
.”
One
could
offer
a
more
specific
functional
form
for
Montag
’
s
utility
function
and
examine
the
changes
in
parameter
values
necessary
to
generate
the
described
results
,
but
the
spirit
of
Cowen
’
s
remark
still
holds
:
formal
utility
theory
is
a
rather
sterile
way
of
expressing
behavioral
changes
.
Now
compare
this
to
the
basic
framework
outlined
by
Ludwig
von
Mises
in
Human
Action
:
Acting
man
is
eager
to
substitute
a
more
satisfactory
state
of
affairs
for
a
less
satisfactory
state
.
His
mind
imagines
conditions
which
suit
him
better
…
.
The
incentive
that
impels
a
man
to
act
is
always
some
uneasiness
…
.
But
to
make
a
man
act
,
uneasiness
and
the
image
of
a
more
satisfactory
state
alone
are
not
sufficient
.
A
third
condition
is
required
:
the
expectation
that
purposeful
behavior
has
the
power
to
remove
or
at
least
to
alleviate
the
felt
uneasiness
.
In
the
absence
of
this
condition
no
action
is
feasible
.
Man
must
yield
to
the
inevitable
.
He
must
submit
to
destiny
.
Mises
is
outlining
a
framework
and
a
process
by
which
action
takes
place
.
This
framework
is
simply
a
richer
format
for
explaining
the
behavior
of
a
literary
character
,
as
we
shall
see
with
Guy
Montag
.
Fahrenheit
451
describes
Guy
’
s
journey
from
happiness
to
uneasiness
,
to
imagining
a
better
state
and
finally
to
a
plan
of
action
that
attempts
to
overcome
his
dissatisfaction
.
Each
of
these
Misesian
steps
can
be
found
in
Guy
’
s
major
actions
in
the
novel
.
Guy
’
s
journey
begins
as
he
sets
a
room
full
of
books
on
fire
.
Bradbury
de-
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scribes
how
he
feels
about
his
job
:
“
He
knew
that
when
he
returned
to
the
firehouse
,
he
might
wink
at
himself
,
a
minstrel
man
,
burnt-corked
,
in
the
mirror
.
Later
,
going
to
sleep
,
he
would
feel
the
fiery
smiles
still
gripped
by
his
face
muscles
,
in
the
dark
.
It
never
went
away
,
that
smile
,
as
long
as
he
remembered
”
(
p
.
2
).
He
is
satisfied
with
his
job
,
and
he
does
not
seem
willing
to
change
anything
about
his
life
.
Yet
on
his
way
home
that
night
a
series
of
events
begins
that
eventually
cause
his
behavior
to
change
.
anyway
,
and
he
does
,
killing
the
old
woman
.
Guy
is
upset
and
perplexed
.
Why
would
anyone
kill
themselves
for
a
collection
of
books
?
Guy
also
manages
to
slip
a
few
books
under
his
uniform
.
When
Guy
comes
home
he
realizes
he
does
not
love
his
wife
and
he
would
not
cry
if
she
died
.
This
realization
drags
Guy
down
even
further
.
Guy
’
s
unease
is
at
its
peak
when
he
exclaims
to
himself
:
“
How
do
you
get
so
empty
?
…
Who
takes
it
out
of
you
?”
(
p
.
44
).
Guy
stumbles
upon
a
teenage
girl
who
lives
in
a
house
next
to
his
,
and
she
fascinates
him
.
Unlike
his
wife
,
Clarisse
is
imaginative
,
does
not
watch
television
or
participate
in
the
other
mass
entertainments
common
in
the
society
.
Before
going
home
she
startles
Guy
by
asking
,
“
Are
you
happy
?”
On
that
same
night
he
finds
his
wife
overdosed
on
sleeping
pills
.
He
solicits
and
obtains
successful
emergency
medical
treatment
for
Mildred
,
who
sleeps
through
the
rest
of
the
night
.
He
is
attracted
to
Clarisse
’
s
house
,
where
she
and
her
family
are
in
conversation
,
notices
the
family
’
s
“
laughter
...
relaxed
and
hearty
,”
and
longs
to
be
part
of
their
socialization
but
he
returns
to
his
house
.
Lying
in
bed
after
these
events
he
says
aloud
,
“
I
don
’
t
know
anything
anymore
.”
The
reader
readily
discerns
his
initial
sense
of
unease
and
its
source
.
Guy
talks
to
Clarisse
at
least
two
more
times
,
and
his
fascination
with
the
girl
increases
as
does
his
sense
of
alienation
from
his
world
.
Guy
’
s
unhappiness
swells
after
he
engages
in
an
unusual
book
raid
.
Unlike
other
raids
,
where
the
recalcitrant
book
owner
had
fled
or
been
arrested
and
carted
off
,
in
this
instance
the
book
owner
is
still
at
her
residence
.
They
tell
the
woman
to
leave
,
but
she
refuses
.
Beatty
tells
Guy
to
set
the
blaze
The
woman
’
s
love
for
books
sparks
Guy
’
s
imagination
.
If
she
were
a
normal
person
and
books
made
her
happy
,
then
books
may
be
able
to
help
Guy
too
.
He
tells
Mildred
,
“
She
was
as
rational
as
you
and
I
,
more
so
perhaps
,
and
we
burnt
her
”
(
p
.
51
).
A
few
pages
later
Guy
announces
his
unease
and
proposes
a
solution
to
Mildred
:
“
…
I
don
’
t
know
what
it
is
.
I
’
m
so
damned
unhappy
,
I
’
m
so
mad
,
and
I
don
’
t
know
why
...
and
don
’
t
know
what
.
I
might
even
start
reading
books
”
(
pp
.
64-
65
,
emphasis
added
).
Guy
now
has
both
Misesian
prerequisites
to
action
:
uneasiness
and
the
image
of
a
better
state
,
and
a
plan
for
purposeful
behavior
to
alleviate
the
unease
.
The
story
then
unfolds
the
details
of
Guy
’
s
actions
:
he
begins
reading
forbidden
books
,
seeks
a
professor
with
whom
to
learn
from
,
and
plots
a
revolution
of
sorts
.
All
of
the
actions
stem
from
Guy
’
s
uneasiness
and
the
expectation
that
those
actions
might
alleviate
it
.
Mises
’
basic
principles
of
human
action
describe
Guy
’
s
behavior
,
and
can
be
applied
to
any
main
character
in
almost
any
novel
.
This
framework
gives
wide
berth
to
different
action
in
novels
as
he
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Laissez-Faire
26
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