Ray Bradbury's Use Of Technology In Fahrenheit 451

While Ray Bradbury’s novels are known to intertwine in many ways, it is distinctly seen in his interpretation of technology in The Illustrated Man and Fahrenheit 451. These texts both contain literary devices that convey the negative effects of technological advancements on relationships.
Bradbury presents the idea of technology leading to the downfall of society most prominently in his novel Fahrenheit 451 by blatantly alluding to the comfort and reliance the modern reality’s population takes in technology. He does this by portraying a society plagued by these advancements to the extent that individual intellect is cast out. For example, the action of mere intelligent conversation is torn from society with the introduction of parlor rooms

In his novel Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury exerts caesura when Montag first meets Clarisse McClellan in the line “’I don’t know.’ He started to laugh again and stopped. “Why?” (8). Bradbury’s utilization of caesura here illuminates the deficiency of substance and mindlessness that inhabits typical modern conversation in the novel. Montag’s purposeless laughter represents an artificial friendliness. This emphasizes the negative effect of technology on human relationships because it shows how in a world of increased computerization, conversation and communication are on a downfall in society and are pushed to a state of unimportance. Within the same text, irony is established within the extraction “’Oh just my mother and father and uncle sitting around talking. It’s like being a pedestrian, only rarer.’” (9) This is ironic because talking is a basic principle in today’s society next to being a pedestrian whereas in the novel, these things are inexistent concepts. With the use of irony, Bradbury clarifies the scarcity of conversation within a family and household. The emotional separation of family members stems from the limitless technology that preoccupy them in their day to day lives. This connects to the theme of technology’s effect on familial relationships because it shows how technology takes away from basic human behavior and extinguishes the social side of humanity. Diction is found in Montag’s response “’But what do you talk about?’” (10). The use of italicization emphasizes the idea that Montag is clearly taken aback by the concept of lengthy, genuine, communication. Bradbury italicizes the word to signify to the reader truly how unheard of it is, to the main character, to speak to one another. The theme is better elaborated here because again, the basic principles of human life are