Examples Of Technology In Fahrenheit 451

Did you know that an overuse of machinery has been shown to cause a loss of empathy? (Duckley). The technology-obsession is maximized to the point where they don’t ever socialize. An exaggerated use of electronics caused the society to forget what’s actually important. There are still Clarisse and Montag who have been able to see the stupidity in the society’s ways. Ray Bradbury’s message in Fahrenheit 451 is that an obsessive use of technology takes away a person’s true humanity, turning them into their own robots.

In Fahrenheit 451, mechanical objects take over the lives of the characters. Throughout the novel, the society obsessively uses electronic devices instead of socializing with each other. The society barely 7 communicates with

Clarisse sees how other kids her age act and she knows that she shouldn’t act like them, even if it’s not the norm. Clarisse is able to teach Montag about all of the beautiful things in nature he doesn’t notice, “‘Bet I know something else you don’t. There’s dew on the grass in the morning’” (Bradbury 7). With everyone minding their own business, not noticing what surrounds them, they can’t see all the great little details they miss. Clarisse stops to smell the roses while everyone else runs to catch ‘The White Clown’. Clarisse admits that she doesn’t agree with how the other kids her age act, “‘I rarely watch the ‘parlor walls’ or go to races or Fun Parks. So I’ve got lots of time for crazy thoughts, I guess’” (Bradbury 7). She says that because she isn’t in front of a screen all the time, she has creativity. She has been saved by her creativity to not turn into a minion. Montag doesn’t see all the special little things until Clarisse shows him,“‘And if you look’-she nodded at the sky-’there’s a man on the moon’ He hadn’t looked for a long time” (Bradbury 7). Clarisse is able to make Montag realize that he is living in a world full of robots, with him as one. She eventually leads him to change into a real, rebellious human being. Montag starts to see how everyone acts like robots, and sees the few humans that haven’t transformed. At first, Montag doesn’t understand the ways of Clarisse’s family. “When they reached her house all its lights were blazing. ‘What’s going on?’ Montag had rarely seen that many house lights. ‘Oh, just my mother and father and uncle sitting around, talking. It’s like being a pedestrian, only rarer. My uncle was arrested another time-did I tell you?-for being a pedestrian. Oh, we’re most peculiar.’ ‘But what do you talk about?’” (Bradbury 7). He doesn’t