Examples Of Dehumanization In Fahrenheit 451

Tanvi Kurupati

Mr. Buonadonna

English 1 Honors Period 6

3 March 2023

How Fahrenheit 451 Demonstrates Dehumanization Caused by Modern Technology

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury depicts a world in which technology is extremely advanced and in which people have no responsibilities. He explores how censorship of any media that could be considered “offensive” can change society and human nature. Through Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury tried to prove that the complex, industrialized, affluent, educated, safe, socially advanced, and technologically advanced world of modernity is dehumanizing and must be abandoned because the conditions in which people live in are making people deeply depressed and suicidal through the lack of uniqueness, peoples’ relationships

He had reason to be happy, considering that he was married, had a respectable job as a fireman, and led a peaceful life. But after seeing that Mildred had tried to end her own life, he came to the realization that “He was not happy… He recognized this as the true state of affairs. He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back” (Bradbury 10). Him describing his “happiness” as a “mask” shows that although he

In addition to Montag’s realization of the fact that he was not happy in the world he lived in, Bradbury also showcased to the reader how common depression is in the novel through Mildred’s suicide attempt. Mildred, who is Montag’s wife, can be considered a “model citizen;” she watches television all day, does not have a job, and never questions why things are the way they are. However in just the first few pages of the book, she commits suicide by overdosing on her medication while her husband is at work. Montag calls emergency services for help, but is surprised when he finds that “handymen” had come to save Mildred rather than doctors. When Montag asked why, the handyman responded with, “We get these cases nine or ten a night. Got so many, starting a few years ago, we had special machines built You don’t need an M.D., case like this; all you need is two handymen, clean up the problem in half an hour” (Bradbury 13). The handymen said that suicide attempts were so common that machines were even built to help bring people who committed suicide back to