Fahrenheit 451 Technology Analysis

In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury disparages the misuse of science and technology through the Mechanical Hound, television parlors, and nuclear weapons. At the beginning of the story, the protagonist, Montag, is a fireman who loves to burn books. Later on, he realizes that science and technology is breaking his emotionless society apart. As the story progresses, Montag begins to realize that his society is deteriorating through the government’s misuse of new technology such as the Hound, TV, and nuclear weapons.
Bradbury criticizes the misuse of science and technology by displaying the dominance of the Mechanical Hound throughout Fahrenheit 451. The Hound’s job is to hunt and track down rebels who have broken the law by reading books. The Hound sniffs

Montag’s society is filled with people who are obsessed with television. Montag's wife, Mildred, exemplifies the society; her only wish is to constantly indulge in the entertainment that new technology offers. Television is one of the technologies filled with mindless violence that leads Mildred to her downfall. ‘“Millie? Does the White Clown love you?’ No answer. ‘Millie, does—’ He licked his lips. ‘Does your “family” love you, love you very much, love you with all their heart and soul, Millie’...’Why’d you ask a silly question like that’” (Bradbury 79)? Due to Mildred’s thought of pleasure, she believes that television is her cure from sadness and depression, but in reality, it is hurting her more than ever realized. Bradbury is also able to distinguish the horrors of television through the White Clown. The White Clown is a television show that expresses intense violence and silliness. Through watching the White Clown, Millie is still not able to foresee the problems that are embedded in television. “A minute later, Three White Cartoon Clowns chopped off each other's limbs to the accompaniment of immense incoming tides of laughter. Two minutes more and the room whipped out of town to the jet cars wildly circling an arena, bashing and backing up and bashing each other again. Montag saw a number of bodies fly in the air” (Bradbury 96). Mildred