Examples Of Excessive Use Of Technology In Fahrenheit 451

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury suggests that excessive use of technology is the most responsible for the destruction of Montag’s society.

Some people argue that excessive use of technology is beneficial to Montag’s society because it creates a distraction from their own personal problems. One example from the text causes them to feel this way is when Mildred overdosed the night before and Montag was trying to discuss it with her and she used the script to avoid talking about it. However, that same scene actually demonstrates that excessive use of technology is harmful to Montag’s society because it pushes away their personal problems, but doesn’t solve them at all. The conversation starts off when, Montag mentions her attempted suicide and

Then, she returns back to the script. Mildred responds, “I didn’t do that”. Then, she continues with the script. “‘That’s what the lady said.’ She turned back to the script.” “She didn’t look back up from the script again.” (Bradbury 68-69) When Montag tries to talk to Mildred about her attempt at suicide, Mildred continues to say, “I didn’t do that.” Mildred continues to turn “back to the script” She stops addressing the problem. She never really solves her drug use, but she pushes it away and focuses on “what the lady said.” “She didn’t look up from the script again.”, which shows that she was using the technology excessively because she only looks at what is going to start on the parlor walls. She repeatedly “returns back to the script”, which shows she continues to use the technology over and over again. If people like Mildred continue to push away their problems with technology, then the number of problems they have will increase. The more and more

A scene that supports this occurs when Montag was trying to talk to Mildred about her overdose the previous night, but she was just nodding because she was on her seashells. As Montag walked into the room, he saw that, ”She had both ears plugged with electronic bees that were humming the hour away. She looked up suddenly, saw him and nodded. ‘You all right?’ he asked. She was an expert at lip reading from ten years of apprenticeship at seashell ear-thimbles. She nodded again.” (Bradbury 65) Social skills consists of communication and interaction. When Montag asks,”You all right?”, people with social skills would respond verbally and make eye contact. Mildred; however,”nodded” and was humming. she did not communicate, therefore she has no social skills. “Both ears were plugged” with seashells shows that Mildred’s full attention was on the seashells. Bradbury also states that the “electronics bees were humming the hour away”, which means she was spending a significant amount of time on her seashells. If people continue to abuse technology, all their social skills and daily skills will be destroyed. If they lost those skills, communication issues will arise and cause social problems, which can lead to misunderstandings. That can cause unnecessary harm to people. Technology destroys people’s social skills, which can lead to the destruction of