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Theme Of The Mechanical Hound In Fahrenheit 451

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Fahrenheit 451 Essay A dog is man's best friend, an affable, domesticated animal that can aide its master in hunting or provide joy and companionship. Dogs symbolize man's complex relationship with animals, they partake in a camaraderie that stretches back to the dawn of man. However, in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, the only creature that bares any semblance towards dogs is the Mechanical Hound, a metallic octopod used as an execution tool. It "lives" in a paradoxical state, and is used only for killing and destroying. The Hound is treated as an unfailing, quick fix to those that have gone astray from society's life guidelines. The Mechanical Hound is the prime example of society's perversion of natural life, as it distorts the image of an amiable family dog into a robotic murder machine that will never feel any of the emotions a real, living dog does. The Mechanical Hound is trapped in a perpetual state …show more content…

As Guy's society began to rely on meaningless technology to replace the daily components of life, the previous aspects of life were abandoned. Technology and entertainment replaced books, and the Mechanical Hound replaced dogs and animals so it could serve a sole purpose as capital punishment to those that defied society. People can not lose sight of the relationships that bind them with the natural world, because then its only purpose becomes to serve society's every beck and call. In the case of Guy's society, it is to destroy whatever is seen as a threat. A dog can kill, but it can also love a human. The Hound can not. Instead of a dog, the Mechanical Hound is a robot, a machine that is only capable of carrying out complex actions through programming, and it can not mimic feelings and

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