<span>Beatty tells Montag that the decline of books started around the Civil War. People became more interested in gossip and television, and books were condensed. Also, since some authors argued about the Civil War and had different opinions, there was conflict, and it was thought that in order to get rid of that conflict, it would be better to do away with the books. My reaction is that people became more interested in human interest and short ways to get news and entertainment instead of reading a thought-provoking book. It seemed that people didn't want to involve themselves in any of the difficult decisions anymore, they would rather push it to the back of their minds and enjoy the entertainment of television instead of going through the work of reading a book.</span>
