Technology In Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451'

Humans have an especially intriguing propensity for envisioning what 's to come. While the vast majority have taken a couple of minutes to consider where they 'll be in a couple of months, years, or even decades, others have dedicated their opportunity to envisioning about what will look like for all of humanity. Ray Bradbury, a prolific author, is one such visionary. The society depicted in Bradbury 's Fahrenheit 451 is so dependant on technology that the reliance on devices is obscuring their perspective on the world, turning them into selfish and inhuman individuals. In fact, the entertainment is not only a illusion, but a way to control people 's behaviors, thoughts, and interactions by replacing human connection; therefore, destroying

Being sucked into technology is like only seeing straight ahead, and not aware that the entire world is there. When someone is so focused in their own world it makes people become distant and not aware of other people, and being aware of people starts conversation and communication, which has been lost between nearly every citizen living in their society. Montag remembers, “One time, as a child, in a power failure, his mother had found and lit a last candle and there had been a brief hour of rediscovery, of such illumination that space lost its vast dimensions…and they, mother and son, alone, transformed, hoping that the power might not come on again too soon” (5). Technology pulls people apart, and when technology is not operational, people come together again and the feeling changes the perspective from which one views technology. The technology, in addition, is creating an “illusion bubble” which causes people to think that they are safe and content, but in reality, however, there is an atomic war happening, and technology causes people to think that their “bubble” is reality; they cannot tell what is real and what is not. Mildred says, “‘My family is people. I laugh. They laugh. And the colors!’” Mildred’s “family” are considered the most precious things in Mildred’s life due to her constant screen time, and she cares for nobody else because of them. The propaganda which keeps people ignorant is also distributed through technology, and the “news” contains useless

Granger and his men, however, who Montag gets the chance to meet at the end, have given up living with technology and are very much like a family, something Montag really never got the chance to experience due to Mildred’s addiction to her parlor walls. When Montag when Montag is running from the hound, towards Granger, he uses the river to get rid of his scent and similarly his sins. It seems like Montag is reborn: “... splashed his body, arms, legs, and head with raw liquor;drank it and snuffed some up his nose. Then he dressed in Faber’s clothes. He tossed his own clothing into the river and watched it swept away” (133). Montag becomes a different person after finally wading into the river because it washes away his old life, letting him start a new one. Living without technology allows the men to think for themselves and set goals too. Granger states,“‘Every man must leave something behind when he dies’” (149). Though a simple statement, it causes Montag to regret the awful burnings and do something that he will be remembered for. Nature can unlock someone’s purpose because it lets others see what the world has become an what they want to make it. It can also bring people together as Montag recalls, “And on either side of the river was there a tree of life which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded fruit every month; And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (158). The leaves are the bonds between people that let countries heal and reconcile.