The Role Of Technology In Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury’s novel ‘Fahrenheit 451” depicts a dystopian society where books are burned and knowledge is unattainable. No one in this society is truly “happy”, although they all convince themselves that they are. Everyone has become a mindless conformist to society. It is a society where it is a common thing for people to overdose on sleeping pills. Technology is a vital part of everyone's lives and everyone's “happiness”. Fahrenheit 451 was written to warn people about what the future would look like for us if censorship was to become permanent and widespread. Anytime you ban something, it has a negative effect on people. In the novel, books are burned so that everyone will be on the same intellectual level and no one can be better than

The major relationship shown in the novel is that of Montag and his wife of many years, Mildred. They don’t really communicate with each other. They’re distant, and are too wrapped up in their own things. Mildred acts very uninterested in anything that Montag has to say, in fact she doesn’t really listen to him; she is listening to something coming from her seashell radios and is reading Montag’s lips. Mildred’s life is consumed by technology. She spends all her time on the parlor walls, and when she isn’t doing that she has her seashells in. She has isolated herself from Montag and from the rest of the world, she is addicted to technology. For her, and the majority of society, technology has become the substitute for personal relationships and happiness. Mildred’s life revolves around technology and hers & Montag's relationship suffers for it. On page 42, Montag realizes how disconnected from Mildred he really is; “And suddenly she was so strange he couldn't believe he knew her at all. He was in someone else's house...” At one point in the novel, Montag begins to cry at the thought of Mildred dying, not because he would miss her but because he doesn’t think he’d feel anything. He realizes he has a loveless marriage and his emptiness saddens him. On page 43, they became aware of the fact that neither of them could remember where and when they met; “...”The first time we ever met, where was it, and when?...”I don’t know she said””. Another important relationship in the novel is Montag and Clarisse. Clarisse and Mildred are meant to juxtapose each other. They are two extremely different people. Unlike Mildred, Clarisse listens to everything Montag has to say. She makes him think about things. They act like real people and talk about real things. They have a healthy relationship. After Montag meets Clarisse, we start to see a change in him. She makes Montag realize that he is