What Is Fahrenheit 451 Obsession With Technology

Technology made everybody's life easier much easier, but it has also made the world a place where stupidity reins king. This obsession with technology is also depicted in Ray Bradbury's novel, Fahrenheit 451 that is set in the dystopian world of future technology. The book has a protagonist named Montag, a fireman whose job is to burning books because in this society, firemen burn books rather than protecting people by putting out fire. The government of this society is trying to make everyone more like zombies by destroying the knowledge that people have. In this novel, Bradbury warns readers about the dangers of technology and the way it has made people into passive (receivers) rather than active participates in their lives society uses to

First Montag thought that government was doing the right thing but after a while he starts to question himself about how his hands were doing everything. "Montag had done nothing. His hands had done it all, his hand, with a brain of its own, with a conscience and a curiosity in each trembling finger, had turned thief" (37). Montag was stealing books but actually it was his hands what we're making him do everything like burning books with the flame thrower and stealing books from people' houses. Montag started to acquire all the clues about why people weren't allowed to read books, but before Montag had figured out everything, the mechanical hound detected Montag reading books. The mechanical dog is a destructive, manmade monster that is like a hound unlike the firehouse dogs which are used to rescue people, but instead the mechanical hound can insert fluid through a needle in the victim's body which can either kill the victim or paralyze the victim. "Finding, holding its victim, inserting the needle and going back to its kennel to die as if a switch had been turned" (25). This quote tells how the mechanical hound uses its technique to insert the needle in victim's body. Montag himself was scared by that piece of technology. "No, no, boy, said Montag, his heart pounding. He saw the silver needle extend upon the air an inch pull back, extend, pull back. The growl simmered in the beat and it looked at him" (26). Most people's routine for everyday was getting changed because many people stopped reading books so mostly everyone was getting more reliant on technologies like television and radios. The mechanical hound and the fear it causes is is very similar to today and the technology that we have. Many people are afraid that technology will soon reach a point where it can start to think and act on its own and will be able destroy the human race. Bradbury