Fahrenheit 451 as a Comment on Modern Technology - Essay Example

Fahrenheit 451 is a comment on modern technology Fahrenheit 451 was written by Ray Bradbury in the 1950s andis one of the most famous works of the author. It depicts a dystopian society that is suffering greatly on the hands of technology. The theme of the novel revolves around the effect of technology and media on literature and the subsequent decline in the pursuit of literary endeavors. According to the author, the novel reflects upon the estrangement and distancing of the people due to media and technological advancements. The main character of the book is a fireman named Guy Montag, who is a book burner. The firemen in the novel are government employees who burn and destroy books (Beley 146). The story revolves around Montag’s struggle to appease his frustration for the conformist society he is part of and to resist the book-burning totalitarian regime (Monahan 54). One of the messages the author gives across is that the people are responsible themselves for the sorry state for affairs that they are in. Bradbury supports the idea that men should be self-thinkers and be able to understand what constitutes right and wrong rather than letting the government do the decision-making. He argues that this can be achieved by perusing of erudite texts that reflect upon the mistakes of the past and provide critical analysis of the different aspects of life like religion, politics etc. The author believes that the great value of books in our lives is to promote independent thinking and free thought (Piddock 66). The novel is a comment on modern technology. This notion is exemplified frequently at several places in the novel. One of the main ideologies of the book is that technology deprives individuals from indulging in activities like literary discourse, the thought process of reflection and promotion of individual consciousness. Bradbury has acutely portrayed a society that does not appreciate the worth of books. Firemen are actually book-burners, illustrating how technology has replaced literature from the lives of the common man. The novel paints a grave picture of the society where people drive fast, watch television day in and day out and listen to Seashell Radio sets. The symbolism associated with the use of these radio sets is the alienation of people. The author reveals in the book, “And in her ears the little Seashells, the thimble radios tamped tight, and an electronic ocean of sound, of music and talk and music and talking coming in (12).” The Seashell radios are an allusion to headphones now being used commonly in the modern world. In the novel, because people listened to the Radio all the time, they did not have any interaction with each other, thus undermining family values. The same happens in real world when people are cut off from families due to lack of interaction even though they are present in the same room. Also, in the novel, people are shown to have little or no feelings of compassion for each other. This is portrayed in the scene where an old woman is incinerated along with her house, and the firemen do not exhibit any feeling of pity or compassion for her, with the exception of Montag. There are no meaningful talks between the people to boot, as delineated by Montag’s relationship with his wife. In fact, Mildred, his wife, is shown as half dead and half alive and her absence and presence are the same as the author says that the room feels empty even when she is present. His lack of intimacy and understanding with his wife are depictive of the emotional chasm technology has created in the lives of these people. When Beatty gives Montag 24 hours to review the books, Mildred offers him no support, and shows more interest in watching television. His wife regards the television as her family- television has precluded fostering of family values. When Mildred’s friends come over to watch television, they superficially discuss the ongoing war, which angers Montag; he cites a verse from Matthew Arnold’ Dover Beach, a poem which expounds upon the emptiness of the hedonist Victorian era and the takeover of machines. Bradbury draws a comparison between the society he has depicted in the book and the Victorian era, and the fact that the women do not understand the poem illustrates the emptiness present in the lives of the society (Bowers 33). The novel also goes on to say that the society is bereft of humanity; the part where Mildred betrays him after raising the alarm. When Montag discovers that Mildred has taken sleeping pills, he feels very alienated. The writer uses the roar of jets overhead as a counterpoint to Montags scream, thus setting in opposition his characters human sounds and feelings against the roaring sounds of technology (Fahrenheit 451 Themes). The delineation of Mildred’s character is done on the line of depression and gloom that the society on the whole has become prey to due to lack of relaxing pursuits and mutual communion with nature. Another aspect that technology has had adverse effects on is the aesthetic sense of the people. People no longer appreciate the nature, and any one who did was not considered to be mentally sound. This is portrayed in Montag’s meetings with Clarisse and how he begins to realize the emotional and cognitive void he is in. She amazes him and creates ambivalence in his attitude. Clarisse, an independent thinker, appreciates the nature and comes from a family where people converse with each other and stroll around. Montag realized that the happiness he felt at being a reputable book-burner was nothing more than a pretense. Therefore he begins a journey of personal quest. The author has also emphasized that imbuement of technology into the lives of the people diminishes the sanctity for human life. Clarisse dies when she is run over by a speeding car. This idea surfaces also when Montag breaks away from imprisonment and sets fire on Beatty. Moreover, there is general brainwashing of the community, and the people are ready to accept blindly whatever is being told to them without critically evaluating it. The author stresses that technology impairs the thinking capacity of a society. Montag realizes what true thinking is when he meets Faber, who says that true awareness of life only comes from reading books and applying them into practice. Montag and Faber concoct a conspiracy to overthrow the status quo, and use a green bullet, which is a two-way earpiece, to communicate. Through the use of technologies like the Electric-eyed Snake and the Mechanical Hound, along with TV parlors and green bullets, and the live coverage of Montag’s escape from Faber’s house, the author establishes the extent to which technology has pervaded through the society and has eaten away the intuitiveness and reasoning of the people. Montag meets a group of intellectuals, named as the Book People, he decides to join them. He is assigned the task of memorizing the Book of Ecclesiastes, as an antithesis strategy to the war that has been declared. The novel is about the love for books (Ebert 403); the message that Bradbury is trying to get across is that books help nourish creative insight and wisdom in the people and by musing over the experiences of different people, one stay connected to the very essence of humanity. Bradbury says it best through Granger in the novel that if you pried my skull open, you will find my grandfather’s impression on my soul, thus highlighting the shared bondage (Tabb 18). That way, people will not feel lonely and estranged. Montag’s also realizes the importance of literature when he witnesses a woman burn to death with her books, as he says in the novel there must be something in books to keep a woman stay in a burning house (Williams and Rose 131). The novel also sheds light on the violence that becomes commonplace due to technology. Enemy jets that completely clothe the sky bomb the area; this is an allusion to the current state of the world and the potential use of technology in the future for war purposes. Here again the emphasis is on aggressiveness and lack of regard for human values. Bradbury has pointed out that competition in different forms of entertainment like the radio and television has decreased the value of literary pursuits in the lives of people. The seepage of sources of entertainments that give an adrenaline-rush like speeding and loud music is responsible for the low levels of participation in literary activities. Apathy is another factor that comes into play in the decay of the moral values of the society. The only contribution of the people is therefore in the maintenance and continuity of the existing state of affairs. The main ideology of the novel focuses upon the censorship of books and the impact of technological advances on literature and the society. Fahrenheit 451 is about a man deprived of the culture he could gain from books (Truffaut and Bergan 88). The adoption of frenzied entertainment has bereaved people of a quality lifestyle. Bradbury’s illustration of this dystopian society has a marked resemblance with the contemporary world, and the direction it is moving towards. Lack of human ethos, people devoid of spiritual substance, frenzied teenagers who worship technology, the surge of speeding and lack of relaxing entertainment encompass the modern world as well, leading to general alienation, indifference and passiveness amongst the people. Multitude of problems arises from television and technology: violence, depression and even suicide (Novel Analysis Fahrenheit 451). It is a novel that makes the people rethink in what they believe in and in what the world may end up in another few decades (Wolfe 5). Works Cited Beley, Gene. Ray Bradbury: uncensored! : the unauthorized biography. Nebraska: iUniverse, 2006. Print. Bowers, Kristen. Fahrenheit 451 Literature Guide. USA: Secondary Solutions, 2007. Print. Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: The Ballantine Publishing Group, 1979. Print. Ebert, Roger. Roger Eberts Four-Star Reviews 1967-2007. Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008. Print. “Fahrenheit 451 (Themes).” Answers.com. Answers Corporation, 2010. Web. 9 May 2010. Monahan, Torin. Surveillance and security: technological politics and power in everyday life. New York: CRC Press, 2006. Print. “Novel Analysis Fahrenheit 451”. Novelguide.com. Novelguide. 2010. Web. 9 May 2010. Poddick, Charles. Ray Bradbury: Legendary Fantasy Writer. New York: Gareth Stevens, 2009. Print. Tabb, Mark. Living with Less: The Upside of Downsizing Your Life. Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group, 2006. Print. Truffaut, François Truffaut and Ronald Bergan. François Truffaut: interviews. Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2008. Print. Williams, Pat and Peggy Matthews Rose. Read for Your Life: 11 Ways to Better Yourself Through Books. Florida: HCI, 2007. Print. Wolfe, Naomi A. Tennessee Gateway: High School Exit Exam in English Language Arts. New York: Barrons Educational Series, 2007. Print. Read More