Themes In Fahrenheit 451

In 1953 American author, Ray Bradbury, published the novel Fahrenheit 451. Toying with his own technological fantasies, the idea of a negative future, and a sea of outlandish characters, he sees ahead of his time. Bradbury writes about a technologically driven, dystopian society. However, reflecting on the novel, the relevance and similarities between Bradbury’s world and ours become very plain to see. With that, the warnings and morals imbedded in the text are some that should be examined and noted. A recurring theme within Bradbury’s writing is, people are dispensable. Mildred Montag, the protagonist’s wife, is a morbidly depressed woman who is one of the many victims at the heart of this truth. With not much of a connection to her husband, she turns to technology to help numb her. She is constantly listening to her “seashells,” our equivalent of earbuds, blocking out who and what is happening around her or engaging with the television instead of spending time with real people. When she and her friends meet, they sit in her parlor, in front of the technology, and socialize that way, which highlights another important theme. The characters of

The world in this novel has fallen to shreds at the hand of technology and its unbreakable control over people. We live in a world now where we control the technology, while they live in a world that is controlled by the technology. The people are lost without their “seashells” and “families.” They don’t know how to make a genuine human connection and care for someone. That part of their human nature has been stolen by the technological advances that have taken over their minds, so much so that people will try to get one another killed just for the television entertainment. They’ll turn in their neighbor and watch their house burn down because there is just no civility