Effects of technology
The overuse of technology has affected man’s willingness to be successful for centuries. This overuse has it caused a lack of communication between humans as well as reaffirming man’s reliance on technology. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury displays how the overuse of technology can lead to the lack of knowledge and communication in society.
There are many contributing factors to why the overuse of technology has led to the lack of communication in Montag’s society. When Montag, the protagonist in the story, is burning his house after getting caught with books, : “...he had lived here in this empty house with a strange woman who would forget him tomorrow, who had gone and quite forgotten him already, listening to her Seashell
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The lack of communication displays how Mildred’s overuse of technology has lead to little interaction between them, which makes Montag believe he is living with a stranger. When Montag is taking with Mildred before they go to sleep: “Millie. . .?’ he whispered. ‘What?’ ‘When did we first meet?And where?’ ‘When did we meet for what’ she asked. ‘ I mean-- originally.’ He knew she must be frowning in the dark. He clarified it. ‘ The first time we ever met, where was it, and when?’ ‘ Why it was at--’ she stopped. ‘I don’t know,’ she said. He was cold ‘Can’t you remember’” (40). When Montag gets home from work, he tries interact with Mildred because he feels very distant from her and wants to connect with her in some way. This portrays how Montag is questioning his relationship with his wife because he realizes how distant they are when it comes to communicating with each other. When Montag is questioning Mildred about the sleeping pills: “‘ Heck,’ she said, ‘ ‘what would I want to go and do a silly thing like that for’. ‘I don’t know,’ he …show more content…
When Clarisse, Montag neighbor, talks to montag: “she laughed at this, ‘Good night!’ She started up her walk. The she seemed to remember something and came back to look at him with wonder and curiosity. ‘Are you happy’ she said. ‘Am I what?’ he cried. But she was gone- running in the moonlight. Her front door shut gently.” When Clarisse is about to go inside her house, she turns around and says to Montag “Are you happy”. This starts a chain reaction in Montag's mind and at first, he laughs at the idea, yet later on, he realizes he is not happy and starts to question his life: his wife, his job, the society he lives in. This is important because it displays how through all of his life, Montag just accepts things for the way they are and does not put any thought into it; however this time he starts to question something which he has never done before. In addition, when Montag and Mildred are reading books together: “He opened another book. ‘That favorite subject, Myself.’ He squinted at the wall. ‘That favorite subject, Myself.’ I understand that one,’ said Mildred. Montag and Mildred are looking through books one day when Montag finds a book titled That Favorite Subject, Myself. When he is looking through the book, Mildred says that she can relate to that title. This is very ironic to Montag because Mildred, doesn’t even care about herself. All she wants to do is watch the
Montag questions his love for Mildred, and hers in return. He realizes that if Mildred were to die, he would not even be sad. All she seems to care about is her ‘family.’ When they try to remember when, where, and how they met [and realize they can’t remember], Montag starts to realize that he is in a loveless marriage.
When Clarisse asks Montag about the rumor of firefighters putting out flames, he laughs at her and says to her “You are an odd one.” After this encounter, Montag becomes more aware of what is going on, so he talks to his wife, Mildred. During this talk, Montag shares his inquiries with Mildred hoping to make sense of what
The character of Mildred is depicted in the novel as shallow, baseless, and performing perfunctory tasks that offer no stimulus to her husband, Montag. Montag seems to seek a stimulus as evidenced by his dialogue with Clarisse. Clarisse is a catalyst who incites Montag’s newfound perfidy towards this dystopian society. However, Mildred’s character and identity in the novel is essential since she is a glimpse into the society that Bradbury typically keeps hidden. She surrounds herself with her “parlor-walls,” and is comfortable with vicariously living through television as depicted through said walls.
Regularly, Montag refers to Mildred as stone and a wax doll, implying that she is cold and callous. There is an obvious lack of communication between Montag and Mildred, and when there is conversation it is usually an attempt to compromise with each other. For example, Montag says after he hides the books in their home, “If you love me at all you’ll put up with this, twenty-four, forty-eight hours, that’s all I ask, then it’ll be over, I promise, I swear!” (64). Later in the book, Mildred in addition to her friends call the alarm in on Montag for hiding and reading books in their house.
Through the course of the book Montag learns he is lonely, unhappy and conflicted. Montag is usually stuck at home with his wife Mildred who ignores him all day or he is at work with the other fireman waiting anxiously for a call about someone with books. When Montag meets a 17 year old girl named Clarisse she opens his eyes up to the harsh reality of the world and makes him realize that he is unhappy with his life. At the beginning of the book he tells us “It never went away, that smile, it never went away, as long as he remembered.
“ But in general it made him think about his life and if he was happy. • When saying think about life in general I am referring to that it made him think about the past and how most of society was afraid of it and what it might uncover. • Continuing with how it affects the whole novel, if Montag remained in the same mind-set then he wouldn’t have stolen the books which would take the entire current story line away. • This would make the novel a completely different
(Bradbury 40). Mildred has unknowingly shared her priorities with Montag. Based on Montag’s reaction, it can be inferred that he cares about these details because he gets upset when Mildred can not
Throughout Montag’s self-realization journey, he began to recognize the flaws of his technology-driven society, and felt the need to repair the shattered ideals of a ethically stable civilization. As he burrowed himself deeper into his craving for knowledge, he not only realized the brokenness of the world around him, but even the brokenness of his relationship with his own wife. The more extroverted he became, the more he saw how devastating both Mildred’s mental and social states are. When Montag confronted her with his concerns, asking “does your ‘family’ love you...love you with all their heart and soul[?]” she disregards him completely and shifts to a different subject (73). Through books, even with his newly acquired trauma, Montag finally discovers himself and continues his journey as foreshadowed and shown at the end of the novel.
Montag does his job well and he thinks he enjoys he it until he meets someone who changes him. He soon discovers that he is not as happy as he thought and he had been wearing a mask to hide all his true emotions. He also realizes that the society he lives in is not perfect and he becomes very confused. He is on the bed about to go to sleep, “ ‘I don’t know anything anymore’ ”,he said”, as he was thinking about how Clarisse had acted.
She tells him this after she rubs the dandelion under his chin and none of the yellow came off onto him. This, again, helps him realize how he isn’t happy in his life, and he doesn’t hold any affection for his wife. After Montag realizes he isn’t in love with his wife, he then realizes that he cannot even remember where he and Mildred
Clarisse looks through Montag as if he was a clear window and simply tells him that he's not happy. Montag denies the fact that he isn't happy, until he thought deeper and longer about his happiness. ¨He felt his smile slide away, melt,
She is dehumanized by the world is in modern times. Mildred cannot even remember when or where she met Montag because society is now a thoughtless world. Montag asks her in these words “ The first time we ever met, where was it and when?” Mildred responds with “Why, it was at- I don’t know.”
Mildred’s friends, much like Mildred, were very absorbed in talking about themselves. When Montag came home to see her friends, it was evident that they were afraid of Montag; trying to please Montag by talking about politics (Bradbury, 96). However, when Montag grabbed a book to read, they all questioned him, causing Montag to be angry and forcing them to listen to the poetry (Bradbury, 98). This caused Mildred’s friends to call the fire station and told them that Montag had been keeping books. This caused his house to be burnt down; “Was it my wife turned in the alarm?"
This makes Montag think if people truly care about others and he starts to rebel by thinking about how maybe people should care and talk to others and find true happiness instead of racing around. Later in the book Montag starts to be daring and questions mildred. “How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?” (Bradbury 49).
The first line of dialogue that Montag says is “it was a pleasure to burn”(pg. 1), which elucidates that he is just like the rest of the society. Bradbury introduces both of these characters as ignorant so the reader is able to draw a similarity between the way Montag is illustrated in the first page and how Mildred is characterized throughout the novel. This aids in tracing Montag’s coming of age journey because as he gets enlightened, the reader is able to distinguish how his mindset starts to diverge further away from Mildred’s. At the very end of the second chapter leading into the beginning of the third chapter, Beatty orders Montag to burn his own house, and as Beatty is speaking to Montag, Mildred runs past them “with her body stiff”(pg. 108). Through the employment of body language, Bradbury implies that Mildred is the one that turned Montag in to