ISU Fahrenheit 451

Mathieu Roy

EAE4U

N. Richard

January 10th, 2019

The critiques of the advancements of technology in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451

Improvements of technology in the last decades have brought many changes on earth but it may have done more bad than good. In 1953, Ray Bradbury published a dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451 to critique the advancements of technology. Bradbury used his writing talent to warn our world about the dark side of technology but unfortunately, this piece of art is awfully close to reality. To understand the role of the newest technologies negatively affecting society, this essay aims to provide a discussion of the crave for entertainment and the lies spread on the media, the over reliance on technology and the indolence that it causes and lastly, the dehumanization of society due to the technology replacing human connections.

The current debate about the unfavorable improvements of technology identifies an interesting viewpoint on people’s addiction to entertainment and their belief towards everything that the government throws at them. The entertainment is seen as a way to control people, thoughts and interactions. It can be seen through the way Mildred dangerously drives a car and takes out her frustration on helpless animals as a form of amusement. “The keys to the beetle are on the night table. I always like to drive fast when I feel that way. You get it up around ninety-five and you feel wonderful. Sometimes I drive all night and come back and you don’t know it. It’s fun out in the country. You hit rabbits, sometimes you hit dogs.” (Bradbury, 61). Running over pedestrians is also a form of entertainment in this novel, teens see a stranger walking on the road and try to run him over for no reason. “A carful of children, out whistling, yelling, hurrahing, had seen a man, a very extraordinary sight, a man strolling, a rarity, and simply said, “Let’s get him’’(Bradbury, 122)” These evidences highlight that the search for entertainment can be dangerous and lead to the absence of appreciation for human life. In addition, the government uses the media to take advantage of the society and control the gullible citizens. For instance, the government loses the criminal (Montag) while the chase is streamed onto every citizen’s televisions, but they cannot admit it. So they find another suspect who isn’t guilty to replace the criminal and they kill him while making it seem that it is Montag. “They’re faking. You threw them off at the river. They can’t admit it. They know they can hold their audience only so long. The show’s got to have a snap ending, quick! They’re sniffing for a scapegoat to end things with a bang. Watch. They’ll catch Montag in the next five minutes.” (141) “The search is over, Montag is dead; a crime against society has been avenged.”(Bradbury, 142). The government tricks people with the technology to keep them from rebelling or committing a crime as they will be “found and killed” if they do so. Also, Guy’s wife thinks that books aren’t real because the government keeps reminding the citizens that they are not. “My wife says books aren’t real.”(Bradbury, 80). Once again, the government puts lies after lies in their people’s head to gain control over them. In short, humans are dependant on technology for it’s entertainment and are also gullible towards the people of power.

One aspect which illustrates the critiquing of the advancements of technology can be identified as the over reliance on technology and the laziness it brings into people’s lives. To begin with, there is an over consumerism of the newest technologies. For example, Mildred is overly obsessed with her technology, she spends most of her days in the living room where 3 of 4 walls are televisions (parlor walls). She asks her husband to buy her a fourth television for the last wall and not once does the expensive price cross her mind. ‘‘How long you figure before we save up and get the fourth wall torn out and a fourth wall-Tv put in?’’(18) Mildred is a typical over consumer, nothing will stop her from buying more and more useless pieces of technology. In the second place, people in Fahrenheit 451 prefer not to think,

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