How Is Technology Used In Fahrenheit 451

Author of Master of Stupidity, Toba Beta once said, “Be careful with too much joy, it can make you numb in life.” In science fiction, the element of dystopian societies is used to warn readers. Authors like Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut are well known for dystopian stories that possess the ability to affect society in the future. In Fahrenheit 451, the society is vulnerable to influence easily due to a certain numbness of the mind. The people living in the society of Fahrenheit 451 have become almost emotionless unless the people have to use their brain too much which is when the people get emotional. Similarly, advanced technology influenced the protagonists in The Pedestrian and Harrison Bergeron. Ultimately, the dystopian science fiction

In The Pedestrian, the narrator uses figurative language to allude to the state the people are in: “The tombs, ill-lit by the television light, where the people sat like the dead, the gray multicolored lights touching their faces, but never really touching them” (Bradbury 2). Technology gives people small doses of quick happiness, not allowing them to feel the full rush. Many times people are too absorbed in what is on their television sets than being pumped that the weather is nice enough to take a walk in like Leonard Mead did. What they do not realize though, is that they are being influenced and manipulated by technology. Technology also confuses people causing them to become easy targets. Furthermore, on page 2 of Ray Bradbury's The Pedestrian, the main character, Leonard Mead, then asks the talking police car where he is being taken to, which the car responds "‘To the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies’” (Bradbury 2). The self-driving, talking car convinces Leonard Mead that he is crazy for not having a television and a wife upchucking an emotional response in Leonard Mead's mind to become vulnerable to the influence of the car. Due to vulnerability, the car was able to control Mr. Mead without suspicion, by making him feel guilty for being so

For instance, in Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, the narrator narrates “And he remembered thinking then that if she died, he was certain he wouldn’t cry” (Bradbury 19). Guy Montag's wife Mildred is used to her seashells to the point where she is emotionless causing an estranged relationship with her husband, Montag. Technology caused Mildred to become distant to the point that they barely know each other anymore. Not only was Mildred able to be easily influenced, but so was Montag. In the society of Fahrenheit 451, “He suddenly couldn’t remember if he had known this or not, and it made him quite irritable” (Bradbury 3). In this society, people do not read books, they watch television shows, so firefighters burn books. The people only know the necessary information. Therefore, when they have to think for a long time about something after being dumbed down by televisions after awhile, they get irritated since they are accustomed to thinking for a short span of time. It is common for conflicting emotions get in the way, but in this society, it is the oh-so-precious-and-useful technology that is affecting people’s