The most significant characteristics of human nature are independent thinking, social interaction, and emotional response. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury chronicles the life of Guy Montag, a firefighter whose sole responsibility is to burn books within the community. As Montag struggles with the monotony of life, he engages with a book and begins the journey to free society from its self-destruction. Bradbury, throughout the novel, develops the themes of the dangers of suppression of information, the negative impacts of rapid tech growth, and the importance of independent thinking to foreshadow the dangerous impact and negative consequences when society is void of individual thinking and emotion.
Any society that controls the way that information
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Faber states, “Books were only one type of receptacle where we stored a lot of things we were afraid we might forget. There is nothing magical in them at all. The magic is only in what the books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us" (79). This quote supports the idea that any society that controls the way that information is circulated and history is taught ultimately controls the thoughts and actions of its citizens. This can be compared to today's society, where books aren't banned and the ability to read about our past mistakes highlights the importance of books in society and the effect they have on it. In many states across the United States, politicians and important figures are trying to ban parts of history like “critical race theory”. If such laws pass, the past mistakes in our history could rewrite themselves and result in a world like Fahrenheit 451. Montag is aggravated about the amount of noise in the sky over the house and states, "Every hour, so many damn things in the sky! How in hell did those bombers get up there every single second of our lives! …show more content…
Montag is having a rant about the problems technology has caused in his mental life. "Nobody listens any more. I can't talk to the walls because they're yelling at me. I can't talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough, it'll make sense. And I want you to teach me to understand what I read" (74). Montag's anger towards the way technology has taken over the world can be compared to today's society, where rapid technological growth like the iPhone has had an impact on many people's lives. The rapid growth of technology can be seen in everyday life, such as in tik tok. Tik Tok, a social media company like YouTube, specializes in short 3 minute videos. These videos have effects like shortening attention spans and creating mindless entertainment. It also desensitizes your surroundings and warps reality. Montag had called the paramedics because his wife, Mildred, had overdosed. "They had this machine. They had two machines, really. One of them slid down into your stomach like a black cobra down an echoing well, looking for all the old water and the old time gathered there" (11). This quote is an example of how, because of rapid technological growth, many jobs that require someone to be trained have been replaced with machines that can do