Technology In Fahrenheit 451, By Ray Bradbury

According to Pew Research, 92% of teenagers own a cellphone in America. In Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the characters are surrounded by technology that controls their lives. In this society, books are banned from all households. If caught, your house will be burned down by the city’s firefighters, which the main character Guy Montag is apart of. Guy Montag learns more about knowledge and the need for it throughout the book. He works to convince people in his community to change their technology use and consider the importance of knowledge. While reading the book, the culture, characters, and themes have been analyzed. The culture in Fahrenheit 451 is considered a dystopian society because of their advanced technology and the way they

Mildred is not the only one that would rather talk to the parlor walls than go out in the city and have a real conversation with other humans; that depicts the whole city. The advancement of technology is creating laziness throughout the society. In the mornings, Mildred relies on the spider-like machine to make her toast and deliver it to her at the table. The culture in Fahrenheit 451 does not want to work for anything; they expect it to happen for them. Although the people enjoy being lazy, they feel like they need to be connected to the outside world. Mildred constantly has seashells in her ears no matter what time of day or where she is in the house. Since Mildred uses her seashells everyday, “She was an expert at lip reading from ten years of apprenticeship at Seashell ear-thimbles” (Bradbury 16). When Mildred listens to her seashells she feels connected and at peace because she is in contact with the advanced technology that is emerging in their society. While technology is advancing at a rapid pace in Fahrenheit 451, the society’s moral towards human life is declining. The kids in this city play a game together were they drive around the city and

The significant technology use in the book is causing some social effects that are disrupting the function of society. The book shows us in a unique way that people are getting more uncomfortable with having a face-to-face conversation, they prefer to text. Bradbury was able to show us this when he said, “’Let’s talk.’ The women jerked and stared” (Bradbury 92). This statement by Guy startled the women because in their society that is not the norm. Life in the Fahrenheit 451 society, is undoubtedly fast paced; everyone focuses on what is next and not what is in front of them. When no one in the society focuses on the details around them, they lose their ability to think creatively. With the loss of creativity, life becomes boring and creates a concrete routine that often times would like to be avoided. Not only does technology take away from social interactions, it also affects our happiness. When people are so focused on their technology, they forget what is going on around them and they lose their happiness. Faber tells Guy that happiness is key to success in life and everyone needs it if they want to succeed. Faber tells us, “Number one, as I said, quality of information. Number two: leisure to digest it. And number three: the right to carry out actions…” (Bradbury 81). Faber believes with those three pieces, anyone has the right to go after happiness. Happiness is