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The Overuse Of Technology In Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury

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The novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, is a dystopian society where firemen are tasked with burning any books they find. The protagonist, Guy Montag, is a complacent fireman who eventually finds purpose in society and uncovers the truth of the world he lives in. Bradbury touches on numerous aspects of life, but two stick out. Bradbury wants to modify how people are taught and the availability of knowledge and the overuse of technology which has negatively affected human connection. How people are taught and the availability of knowledge is something that is believed shouldn’t exist in the society of Fahrenheit 451. Beatty tells Montag that “A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon” (Bradbury …show more content…

Montag is talking with Mildred about what he’s experiencing “We need not be left alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long has it been since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?” (Bradbury 52). Montag is finally starting to realize that the world he lives in is not what it seems, and he is trying to convey that to his wife, Mildred. “How long has it been since you were really bothered?” Bradbury is not trying to show us the literal answer to Montag's question but show that in Montag's society, no one ever gets bothered by questions or bothered by other people’s opinions because they do not think at all. They do not think because they’re too busy rotting their brains with technology like TVs and other button pressing devices. People are busy isolating themselves around a screen that no one bothers to talk to one another and share thoughts and opinions. Montag once again is trying to open Mildred’s mind and trying to have her see the bigger picture "School is shortened, discipline relaxed, philosophies, histories, languages dropped, English and spelling gradually neglected, finally almost completely ignored. Life is immediate, the joy counts, pleasure lies all about after work. Why learn anything save pressing buttons, pulling switches, fitting nuts and bolts?” (Bradbury 55-56). Montag is trying to explain how school and its subjects within are neglected. All of the important aspects of school are being taken away and being completely dropped and forgotten. These subjects that are being neglected are the key foundations for people across the board and they provoke thought and make people think. Instead Montag says that life is immediate and people want joy instantly. Montag is trying to tell Mildred that you don’t need all of the button pressing and pulling switches ( tv watching, computers, remotes) or any

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814 Words | 4 Pages

Foremost, Mildred helps Montag find himself. When Montag first realizes that there is no connection between him and Mildred he loses feelings for her. He soon realizes that their relationship is pushing each other apart. “And he thought of her lying on the bed with the two technicians standing straight over her, not bent with concern, but only standing straight, arms folded. And he remembered thinking then that if she died, he was certain he wouldn’t cry”(Bradbury 41).

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302 Words | 2 Pages

Montag is starting to realize his lack of knowledge in his own world. He starts to realize it even more later in the book. After Mildred got a phone call, she knew what it was for. She said “Ann”. she laughed.

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796 Words | 4 Pages

Previously, Montag had been yelling at her and her friends about the flaws in their society, as well as reading a part of a poem, which was considered illegal. “‘Was it my wife turned in the alarm?’ Beatty nodded,” (Bradbury 117). By turning Montag in to the authorities, Mildred had finally put her foot down and made one of the first real decisions in her life. The reader still pities Mildred, even though her actions harmed her husband, because Bradbury has built her character to show how her actions reflected upon her battle between choosing her society or her family.

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827 Words | 4 Pages

Montag and Mildred have been married for years, but Montag still feels as if he doesn’t know the woman he’s married to. In the text, Bradbury states, “And [Montag] [remembers] thinking then that if [Mildred] dies, he [is] certain he wouldn’t cry. For it would be dying of an unknown, a street face, a newspaper image, and it [is] suddenly so very wrong that he [has] begun to cry, not at death but at the thought of not crying at death, a silly empty man near a silly empty woman,

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635 Words | 3 Pages

They choose to ignore others. And they choose to become emotionally isolated. Mildred is using technology for herself, while Montag would like to become educated to help others. He knows that there are others that are like him, and he could possibly help them. However, when Mildred is portrayed as Montag’s foil and as a representation of how society has been reduced to a bunch of mindless clowns, Ray Bradbury portrays the element of emotional

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824 Words | 4 Pages

In the story the main character Montag is one of these government workers while his wife Mildred mostly stays at home as a housewife. At the beginning of the book Montag starts to develop an interest in literature. " Last night I thought about all the kerosene I've used in the past ten years. And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of the books" (Bradbury, 49).

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579 Words | 3 Pages

Montag was never really happy with Mildred, his happiness was a mask he didn't know about. The mask had been taken off when Montag's true colors were shown. Mildred wasn't much of a wife, or friend, to Montag. Mildred was only an acquaintance to Montag, as Montag didn't feel devastated for long. ¨Mildred, leaning anxiously nervously, as if to plunge, drop, fall into that swarming immensity of color to drown in its bright happiness.¨ (Bradbury 152)

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1909 Words | 8 Pages

Mildred is the epitome of what technology can do to someone in this society, as she refers to her family as the "people on the parlor walls. "As Montag is left looking at Mildred he's left to realize that the

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756 Words | 4 Pages

The first line of dialogue that Montag says is “it was a pleasure to burn”(pg. 1), which elucidates that he is just like the rest of the society. Bradbury introduces both of these characters as ignorant so the reader is able to draw a similarity between the way Montag is illustrated in the first page and how Mildred is characterized throughout the novel. This aids in tracing Montag’s coming of age journey because as he gets enlightened, the reader is able to distinguish how his mindset starts to diverge further away from Mildred’s. At the very end of the second chapter leading into the beginning of the third chapter, Beatty orders Montag to burn his own house, and as Beatty is speaking to Montag, Mildred runs past them “with her body stiff”(pg. 108). Through the employment of body language, Bradbury implies that Mildred is the one that turned Montag in to

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1119 Words | 5 Pages

This shows that the government is trying to censor all media and it is this very lack of things to choose from that leaves Montag looking for social interaction and wanting to read books for more options. Montag wants to talk with his wife and have a real conversation. He noticed they have drifted so far apart from each other but all Mildred

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428 Words | 2 Pages

Once he’s gained this knowledge, he tries to share it with others. In a discussion with Mildred, Montag asserts, “We need not be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered?” (Bradbury 49)

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991 Words | 4 Pages

Mildred's lack of concern starts to affect others. Montag starts to get concerned about Mildred's lack of concern for the society they are in. Montag feels Mildred doesn't care for anything serious and does not address much because she's always unbothered. “How long has it been since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?”(49).

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1161 Words | 5 Pages

To start with, Ray Bradbury utilizes the characterization of Montag who wants to escape the distraction and conformity of society. Montag who sees the uniqueness of the girl Clarisse starts to form his individuality. Montag questions many things in life as he tells his wife Mildred, “ We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long was it since you were really bothered?

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1672 Words | 7 Pages

Although it may not be pleasant, part of being human is experiencing the ups and downs of life, as getting yourself through the bad parts always means that there is light waiting at the end of the tunnel. The main character of the novel, Montag, displays this issue to his wife Mildred towards the middle of the novel when it states, “We need not be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long has it been since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?”

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515 Words | 3 Pages

When Montag reveals his hidden books to Mildred, she does not take time to understand them. “‘It doesn’t mean anything!’” (Bradbury 65).  She, instead, worries about how it might affect her image if they are found out. “He could hear her breathing rapidly and her face paled out and her eyes were fastened wide” (Bradbury 63).

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