Fahrenheit 451 Predictions

(AGG) Have you ever made a bet with someone, or tried to predict the future? The book Fahrenheit 451 does just that. (BS-1) Bradbury, the author, made many points about how political debates were all about visuals, and not 10 years later, Senator Kennedy won the first televised debate because he had better composure. (BS-2) Characters in Fahrenheit 451 suffer both short and long term memory loss and jitteriness due to their overexposure to technology, just like many teens today. (BS-3) Bradbury’s writing carries deep messages about the emptiness of technology and the loneliness of media, something often experienced today. (TS) Ray Bradbury makes many accurate predictions about technology and how it can impact our humanity.

(MIP-1) Bradbury

(SIP-A) You can find many examples of this all throughout Fahrenheit 451. (STEWE-1) One such example can be found as Montag is burning down his house, which has many differing devices inside. "He shot a bolt at each of the three blank walls and the vacuum hissed out at him. The emptiness made an even emptier whistle, a senseless scream. He tried to think about the vacuum upon which the nothingness had performed, but he could not. He held his breath so the vacuum could not get into his lungs. He cut off its terrible emptiness [and] drew back" (Bradbury 110-111). Through this piece of text, Bradbury shows us how empty he thinks that electronics can be. And it doesn't end there. (STEWE-2) When shown how messed up society is, one of Mildred’s friends, Mrs. Phelps, breaks down. “Mrs. Phelps was crying. The others in the middle of the desert watched her crying grow very loud as her face squeezed itself out of shape. They sat, not touching her, bewildered by her display. She sobbed uncontrollably. Montag himself was stunned and shaken. 'Sh, sh,' said Mildred. 'You're all right, Clara, now, Clara, snap out of it! Clara, what's wrong?' 'I-I,'sobbed Mrs. Phelps, 'don't know, don't know, I just don't know, oh oh...'" (Bradbury 97). When asked what is wrong, all she can say is “I-I don't know” (Bradbury 97). Her life is so empty, that she has no clue how to fix it when she realizes how foolish she is. (SIP-B) This, too, can be found in the real world, just like many of Bradbury’s bolder predictions. (STEWE-1) This can particularly be viewed in Ms. Charlene deGuzman’s video, “I Forgot My Phone”. In it, she makes a few jabs at our electronic ruled society."'I came up with the idea for the video when I started to realize how ridiculous we are all being, myself included, when I was at a concert and people around me were recording