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Theme Of The Mechanical Hound In Fahrenheit 451

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Fahrenheit 451 Essay A dog is man's best friend, an affable, domesticated animal that can aide its master in hunting or provide joy and companionship. Dogs symbolize man's complex relationship with animals, they partake in a camaraderie that stretches back to the dawn of man. However, in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, the only creature that bares any semblance towards dogs is the Mechanical Hound, a metallic octopod used as an execution tool. It "lives" in a paradoxical state, and is used only for killing and destroying. The Hound is treated as an unfailing, quick fix to those that have gone astray from society's life guidelines. The Mechanical Hound is the prime example of society's perversion of natural life, as it distorts the image of an amiable family dog into a robotic murder machine that will never feel any of the emotions a real, living dog does. The Mechanical Hound is trapped in a perpetual state …show more content…

As Guy's society began to rely on meaningless technology to replace the daily components of life, the previous aspects of life were abandoned. Technology and entertainment replaced books, and the Mechanical Hound replaced dogs and animals so it could serve a sole purpose as capital punishment to those that defied society. People can not lose sight of the relationships that bind them with the natural world, because then its only purpose becomes to serve society's every beck and call. In the case of Guy's society, it is to destroy whatever is seen as a threat. A dog can kill, but it can also love a human. The Hound can not. Instead of a dog, the Mechanical Hound is a robot, a machine that is only capable of carrying out complex actions through programming, and it can not mimic feelings and

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The other firemen used this “dead… living beast” as a source of entertainment, betting on the machine and its vicious kills (22). One night, Montag curiously reached out to touch the muzzle of the Hound, and receives a negative response from the beastly creature. At his touch, the Hound growls ferociously, its voice sounding like “a frying sound [and the] scraping of metal,” (23). The fireman is overcome with fear, and even starts to believe that the Hound dislikes him, despite it being programmed without emotion. He discusses this with the Captain, but is told that the Hound “doesn’t think [about] anything [they] don't want it to think,” and that there was nothing for him to worry about, even with his doubts.

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Russell Westbrook was selected to play the role as the Mechanical Hound for many reasons. Russell Westbrook and James Harden on the Thunder seemed very tense, just like Guy and the Hound were at the firestation. Montag felt very nervous because of how powerful and frightening the Hound was. Once James Harden left the Thunder for the Rockets, Westbrook has been on a journey to beat him at every chance he gets when he plays Harden. That is just like when the Mechanical Hound is sent to find and kill Montag when he disobeys the law and he kills Beatty.

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140 Words | 1 Pages

In the book Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury criticizes the misuse of science and technology, such as the parlor walls, the mechanical hound, and the overdose of pills . Everyone in the town has parlor walls just like Mildred the main character's wife, and she watches the parlor wall everyday. Everyone watches the parlor walls everyday and they watch the same show every day one show is about three clowns who cut off their limbs for fun and Mildred and her friends think it’s funny. The mechanical hound is like a robot dog with eight legs and can sniff out books. The hound is also very dangerous because it can inject people with morphine.

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298 Words | 2 Pages

Under those circumstances, the government has the ability to over top the people of the society, and cause them to be afraid of owning books. Secondly, the Hound’s purpose

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537 Words | 3 Pages

The author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury, was an American creator that wrote many pieces of work including short stories, novels, plays and more in the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror (Weiner 79). Bradbury was a master of creating allusions and other literary devices, including the novel’s title itself throughout his writing,

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951 Words | 4 Pages

The hound serves as a warning using symbolism where Wall-E shows it directly. The Mechanical hound follows the government where the autopilot tries to overthrow it. No matter which way they show it, both are a warning about the over reliance on

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1131 Words | 5 Pages

He kept a large number of hounds.” The term “bloodhounds” is used here as it was colloquially in the nineteenth century in reference not to a particular breed of dogs, but rather to any dog employed in the purpose of pursuing human fugitives. Also known as “negro dogs,” these animals were scent dogs of a variety of breeds. Their specialized training for the pursuit of enslaved people could entail their trainers dispatching enslaved people to serve as objectives for the dogs in practice chases. Successful slavecatchers like Butler would have taken great pride in the prowess of the dogs, a factor measured by the speed in which they could capture runaways.

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Hounds are made to kill anyone that breaks the law. The government doesn 't care if violence is used, its part of life. “A four inch hollow steel needle plugged down from the proboscis of the Hound to inject massive jolts of morphine and procaine.” (Bradbury 22).

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A new mechanical Hound has been brought from another district-” (Bradbury, 126) The announcement made had demonstrated the government's easy way to get to the citizens through technology. They can show or censor anything they want just with the push of a button, sending messages to all the homes of

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In the novel, it chases Montag after he kills Beatty and flees to Faber’s house. Montag luckily lost the hound by jumping into the river, which didn't allow the dog to continue following Montag’s scent. Even though the setting and its surrounding can change a story, the plot can change it much

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Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is a uniquely shocking and provocative novel about a dystopian society set in a future where reading is outlawed, thinking is considered a sin, technology is at its prime, and human interaction is scarce. Through his main protagonist, Guy Montag, Bradbury brings attention to the dangers of a controlled society, and the problems that can arise from censorship. As a fireman, it is Guy's job to destroy books, and start fires rather than put them out. After meeting a series of unusual characters, a spark is ignited in Montag and he develops a desire for knowledge and a want to protect the books. Bradbury's novel teaches its readers how too much censorship and control can lead to further damage and the repetition of history’s mistakes through the use of symbolism, imagery, and motif.

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702 Words | 3 Pages

The Hound is the way Montag sees that censorship is a poor choice. The Hound was a motivating factor towards Montag when he realized that things in his society weren 't right. This motivates him to create the change that leads to overcoming

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698 Words | 3 Pages

In the story Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses the dog to represent loneliness of Candy. The men in the bunkhouse where complaining about how bad the dog stunk so Carl said let me do it he won’t even feel a thing. Curly says, “ I had him since he was a pup though”(Steinbeck #44). Steinbeck is trying to show that because the dog has been with Curly all this time he is going to be lonely once Carlson kills him. Curley won’t have a person or a dog to wake up to and talk to or attend to the dog.

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1291 Words | 6 Pages

Bradbury uses machines and mechanisms like the hound to show how the people are kept in fear and hunted down if not in submission. As Montag has just finished killing Beatty, he is confronted by the mechanical hound, “It made a single last leap into the air before coming down at Montag from a good three feet over his head, its spidered legs reaching, the procaine needle snapping out its single angry tooth. Montag caught it with a bloom of fire, a single wondrous blossom that curled in petals of yellow and blue and orange about the metal dog, clad it in a new covering as it slammed into Montag and threw him ten feet back against the bole of a tree, taking the flame gun with him.” (Bradbury 114). The hound is described as this horrid creature

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837 Words | 4 Pages

Mark Twain believes that dogs are superior to man because out of all animals, man is the only one that is cruel enough to inflict pain on others just for the pleasure of doing it. Twain’s short story “A Dog’s Tale”, written in 1903, displays these beliefs and is done so from a dog’s point of view. This unusual take on the story is used to help convey the theme that one shouldn’t assume the others will do the same for them. The story includes literary elements such as characterisation, structural irony and a plot and conflict. It is a story of a loyal and heroic dog which unfortunately ends in an ironic twist of fate.

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