Technology In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

familiar, huh? Or how about independent thinker being harassed by everyone for not being the same or “ blending in”. Also sounds familiar, right? This is seen today. Would you believe me if I said a book written almost 60 years ago effortlessly predicted our future? Well, Ray Bradbury accomplished this in one of his well known novels, Fahrenheit 451. This novel consisted firemen who burned books for the fun of it due to them being illegal and how a society basically conformed to this way of living with the help of depending straight on technology. Books were illegal, and infact stopped being published altogether. In Bradbury's novel, the lack of communication and relations between people due to the increase of technology destroys their society

Bradbury accomplishes this with many aspects ranging from a world being so quick and not knowing how to have a simple conversation with a stranger to treating technology as family. For example our protagonist Montag is trying to get his wife's attention but she avoids him by saying she is preoccupied with her family from the TV program. “ Will you turn the parlor off?” he asked. “That’s my family.” (Bradbury, 48-49) . This is showing how media in the novel is destroying the society perception on reality. Montags wife treats the people through the T.V. more like family than her own husband or those around her. Moreover, Bradburry shows how we crave technology. There is always a want for the newest, fastest, and biggest technology. “It’s really fun. It’ll be even more fun when we can afford to have the fourth wall installed. How long you figure before we save up and get the fourth wall torn out and a fourth wall-TV put in? It’s only two thousand dollars.” “That’s

I hate say it but I’m a prime example of what Bradbury was talking about just not as extreme. The people in Fahrenheit 451 only gained information from television screens and radios. T.V.’s were present in every single home in the story. The environment was pretty extreme but is very similar to today. Most people have at least 1 t.v. in their home. Usually, these T.V’s are capable of hanging on the wall and playing in full color, just like in Bradbury’s novel. For some, videos has become a prefered way of learning. “An hour of TV class… we never ask questions…” (Bradbury, 29). Though books are still available today most opt. for kindles, ebooks, nooks, etc. Many bookstores have closed due to the demand for this technology. Phones. Phones are an example of how dependent we are on technology. Imagine if I took your phone and broke it… you would be very upset, maybe livid to the point of wanting to hit me.. What about if I stole your phone? We view our phones like how Montag wife viewed her TV, maybe just as extreme as she treated hers. Why? Well, because our phones have some of the most important things to us. From pictures to credit card numbers and personal information. We rely on technology to the point where it could kill us and this is what Bradbury explained in Fahrenheit