F451 reflects a distorted, yet similar, version of modern society where people depend on instant pleasure and censorship is prevalent. The story follows the journey of Guy Montag, a firefighter tasked with burning books, as he discovers the true nature of his job and the society around him. He finds an abundance of violence, mass addiction to content, and the censorship of negative emotions. As Montag strays further away from censorship and the superficialities of technology, he becomes an outcast and radicalized by his peers. Fahrenheit 451 warns about how the sacrifice of humanity for the pursuit of happiness, comfort, and conformity in society, leads to an ambitionless life and the death of authentic interpersonal relationships. The unanimous …show more content…
Self-censorship is often caused by obliviousness and apathy towards environmental awareness. When people disconnect themselves from reality, they live in disillusionment and bliss, powerless and unaware of the issues that plague society. As the masses typically gravitate towards more comfortability and escapism, censorship is achieved systematically without outside intervention. The detrimental effects of technology on society show how the over-dependence on technology over relationships causes an inability to express emotion and grief properly. When Mildred and her friends are talking about the war, Mrs. Phelps describes the relationship she has with her husband, “He said, if I get killed off, you just go right ahead and don’t cry, but get married again, and don’t think of me.” (Bradbury, 109) Mrs. Phelps’s relationship with her husband is very distant and insubstantial to the extent that each other’s death doesn’t matter. When someone replaces their loved ones with artificial relationships and technology, the connection between humans loses value. The constant idealistic relationships shown in media cause people to have a more superficial understanding of a