Medical Technology In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

9.6 out of 1000. This was the crude death rate in 1950. However, with advancements in medical technology, the death rate was down to 8.475 in 2016. Many technological advancements in medical technology help decrease the death rate steadily and keep the population alive today. Fahrenheit 451 is a book written by Ray Bradbury about a futuristic dystopian society where books are prohibited and burned by “firemen” in order to create “peace” and eliminate thought. However, most characters in the book are in despair and suicide rates are high. Despite this, American author Ray Bradbury depicts medical technology in a negative light in the book Fahrenheit 451, due to the medical technology in the 1950’s and despite technological advancements today

Personally, if I were to get sick, I would want to be sick today. According to the CDC, The continental population of the United States in 1950 was 151,132,000 approximately. In that year, there were 1,452,454 deaths in total. The University of Pennsylvania says the mortality rate in 1955 per 100,000 population was 1,332. In contrast, The age adjusted mortality rate was 732 in 2013. In addition, the life expectancy rate also increased from 66 years for men and 72 years for women in 1956 to 77 for men and 80.5 years for women in 2020. In the 50s, cardiovascular diseases were the leading cause of death in 50s. According to Global News and BBC, there was no treatment for heart diseases. There was no “coronary care unit in the hospital, stents, angioplasty, or pacemakers”. According to BBC news a man named Robert came home to find his father dead of a heart attack.“If they survived, victims were confined to a hospital bed, given painkillers and told to take complete rest. If they died in their 50s or 60s, like Robert's father, it was considered a fact of life” (Roxby). However today, we have technology like pacemakers and stents that help with cardiovascular diseases and all in all decrease the death rate. We are able to

A character named Montag calls two doctors from the hospital because he has discovered that Mildred has taken pills to commit suicide and she is unresponsive. When at the house a technicians says “We get these cases nine or ten a night. Got so many, starting a few years ago, we had the special machines built” (Bradbury,12) to Montag. Montag also refers to the stomach pump used to save Mildred’s life as a the “snake”. Snakes are normally referenced in a negative connotation. The response also highlighted how common suicide is in this society which may be the reason death rates are high. Bradbury’s prediction of suicide being the leading cause of death in the future is correct in a way. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death today. Superficial happiness is also masked with materialistic things like technology e.g. Apple products and causes celebrities or normal people to have depression which can lead to suicide. In the book, A firemen also kills himself and also a woman who is caught with books, which are banned and burned when found, chooses to be burned with her books instead of live. Another instance of this is when Mrs. Phelps tells of the conversation she had with her husband. She says “...Pete and I always said, no tears, nothing like that. It’s our third marriage each and we’re independent. Be independent, we always said. He said, if I get killed off, you just go right ahead