Technology In Fahrenheit 451

A Plausibly Imperfect World

Imagine living in a world that frowned on genuine human interactions. A world where technology is loved and considered to be family more so than one’s own family. This seems almost unimaginable, but with the ever growing presence of technology in modern day society, it just may become a reality soon enough. In Ray Bradbury’s book, Fahrenheit 451, he describes a fictional universe, but, in addition, he may have also been describing our future world. The contents of his novel, indicate that he had a realistic view of the world and wrote his story to forewarn of what might become of us. He was insinuating that violence and wars will become routine and commonplace, but being social and partaking in real conversations

with other living people will be considered unwonted and anomalous. Bradbury identified certain issues in the world and incorporated them into his story, essentially turning his novel into a cautionary tale since he was warning about how the innumerable flaws of mankind will continue to impact the future of the world in appalling ways. Utilizing his writing skills, Bradbury desired to present at least a portion of the numerous flaws of man and the society they created in the hopes of something being done before it was too late. He wanted future generations to be able to grow up in a world that was a direct contrast from that of the one he described in his novel.
At the time Bradbury wrote his book, he observed the amount of violence going on around him. It is likely that there were frequent newspaper headlines filling one in on the latest mortifying events that had occurred, just as the TV news does today. He made violence ubiquitous in his book as to further exemplify how egregious it is and how truly abhorrent it would be if violence became so ordinary that no one was disturbed or concerned by it. This is illustrated when the protagonist, Montag, is explaining to his wife, Mildred, about how he feels appalled and sickened that he and his fellow firemen were the culprits behind the burning of a thousand books and the woman to which they belonged. Mildred responded by stating matter-of-factly, “She’s nothing to me; she shouldn't have had books. It was her responsibility, she should’ve thought of that. I hate her. She’s got you going and next thing you know we’ll be out, no job, no house, no nothing” (51). In writing this, the author is attempting to create repulsion within his readers. The fact that Mildred’s sole feelings about his confession were regarding her own life should be seen as abnormal and selfish, rather than ordinary and typical.
In fact, he wrote a majority of the characters to also have that mindset. They simply appear to no longer have the ability to have empathy or compassion for others. The unprovoked murders of acquaintances, family, and friends occur all too often, thus they have all become apathetic towards the subject. This callousness is demonstrated when Montag is discussing with his wife about their quirky, young neighbor girl of whom he had grown somewhat fond, to which Mildred replies, “Clarisse McClellan. McClellan. Run over by a car. Four days ago. I’m not sure. But I think she’s dead” (47). Mildred had known their neighbor was killed four days prior to this conversation and did not consider it important enough to even mention. The citizens in this novel do not find anything unethical about violence, since, for them, it is something with which they have been raised. At least in our society, as of now, we would care enough to tell a person that someone we both knew had died. Although, it is not completely incomprehensible once you consider the fact that violence in their society is omnipresent. However, the reason this quote is so significant is that it aids in Bradbury’s powerful message: We must cease committing such heinous crimes before a world where people killing other people is a norm and it becomes our reality. ENd SENTENCE
An additional dilemma both our and Montag’s society faces is war.

The time period in which Bradbury was writing his classic novel was the era following World War II. The Korean War concluded the year his book came out, but the preponderant Colder War still remained, thus the devastation and chaos these major wars were producing inspired him to incorporate this issue into his story. In Montag’s universe, hearing and espying jet fighters is a nearly everyday ordeal, emphasized by the quote “A bomber flight had been moving east all the time they talked, and only now did the two men [Faber and Montag] stop and listen, feeling the great jet sound tremble inside themselves” (87). This quote describes their original inattentiveness towards the jets since they were so accustomed to it, which exemplifies the fact that, like violence, it betides so regularly that it is no longer a surprise when jets fly over. This conveys how war has become so commonplace that it is scarcely of any major significance anymore, which in turn demonstrates that Bradbury was attempting to emphasize to the reader how odd it would be to barely notice such things. An additional quote that reinforces this is “Montag stood trying to make himself feel the shock of the quiet statement from the radio, but nothing would happen” (125). Following the declaration of yet another war, Montag, who was attempting to transform his perspective of the world, still could not muster any feeling for the consequential sentence,

and it can be inferred that virtually no one else even heeded the announcement upon hearing it on the news. War transpires so frequently in the novel that the citizens have become emotionless about the subject of war, which has gradually begun to occur among some in our society. Bradbury wrote about war to add on to his violence warnings. <<<<, end sentence?
The paramount problem our and Montag’s society faces is an unhealthy addiction to electronics.

Granted, the citizens in this novel are worse, but there is a reason for that. This issue presented to us in the form of a fictional society is just another premonitory warning from Bradbury, foretelling that interactions between humans would become less frequent whereas one-on-one time with one’s phone or TV would become orthodox. His version of this was the virtual talking walls in his story, which are first introduced when Mildred comments, “It’s really fun. It’ll be even more fun when we can afford to have the fourth wall-TV installed” (20). These TV walls represent how little time people wish to spend with other actual people. Mildred desires to completely shut the real world out and be entirely surrounded by fictional shows and people. Observing the way technology has rapidly begun to play a huge role in everyday life, it would not be surprising if talking walls become a real marketable item by 2050. We as a people are becoming less and less social as each year passes and new technology comes

out.
To truly emphasize how appalling it would be if we became as antisocial and technology-obsessed as Montag’s society, Bradbury included an additional quote about the TV walls in which Montag requests his wife to shut off the parlor, to which she responds, “That’s my family” (49). With this simple sentence, Bradbury revealed the true reason as to why electronics controlled their lives. Their generation, and perhaps numerous ones before that, has fooled themselves into believing that the family they see on screens are more important than their real ones. The aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews in the TV walls take priority over their real family. This leads to husbands and wives and various other family members feeling as Montag does. He admitted to himself that he would not feel mournful if his wife died, and in the end, he genuinely does not feel anything, except for feeling guilty that he does not feel anguished miserable. The inhabitants of the story do not create deep, meaningful connections or relationships with each other, regardless of their various affiliations with one another, tending to instead only focus on themselves and what will please them. Bradbury has no desire for any actual person to live in a world like this. He wishes for people to be able to continue living in a world wherein people are not astonished when others attempt to strike up an actual conversation.
Ray Bradbury addressed several issues with which the modern human race struggles. While writing his novel, he observed the violence and wars and uprising of TVs around him and found it to be depressing. Not only did he identify multiple flaws society had, and still has in this book, but he also generously provided a solution to the issues that are becoming progressively more dire as the years persist. Said solution is fairly simple and relatively facile to implement if people are willing to comply. Following the main action of the story, Bradbury implies that we just need to learn from our mistakes, to promote awareness about violence and wars, and, even though he did not know it at the time, to limit our constant use of cell phones so we instigate and take part in intelligent conversations with the people around us. We need to stop doing the detrimental things we have been doing and try something new. For Bradbury, for ourselves, for the future of mankind, let us start being good.