A Dystopian Society in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

In present day, technology has helped in the ways of distributing news, stories, and general entertainment. In the book Fahrenheit 451, technology is still used for these purposes, however, it has a much more drastic role in the status quo of society. With technology such as the television and small ear-piece sized

The New York Times once printed, “We are closer to the twisted world of Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 than we care to admit.” This statement proves to be true in many ways. For example, in Fahrenheit 451, most of the characters are too wrapped up in their technology to comprehend what is going on around that. That can be proven true in today’s society, because many people are dependent on their technology, and are too absorbed in it to actually live in the moment of what is happening. Also, because of the technology, the families in the book are not very involved with each other. This also is becoming an issue in our society, because most families can barely get through dinner without being distracted by their cell phones. Violence is a major issue

Every day, everywhere people are using technology to check email, calculate tax, and talk with each other. Technology has greatly affected the social structure today and in Fahrenheit 451. Technology has effected how the TV controls our lives, how we communicate with one another, and how strong the social structure is In both the real world and Fahrenheit 451.

Over time people have gotten lazier and we have machines to blame. According to Ray Bradbury, “why learn anything save pressing buttons…”( Bradbury 53). In Bradbury’s society in Fahrenheit 451 people just sit back, relax, press a button, and watch a machine do the work for them. Much like in our society, people get lazy and just watch a machine do the work that they could be doing, and having no human interaction whatsoever. According to The Bottom Line, “Internet and mobile technology seems to be subtly destroying the meaningfulness of interactions we have with others.”(Technology Destroying Human Interaction). This is becoming the reality not only in Fahrenheit 451 but in our everyday society.

The typical utopian world that people dream of consists of freedom, equality and political order. Dystopian fiction, however, is only the illusion of a perfect world. In reality, a dystopia is the complete opposite of a utopian society. It is commonly written to warn the reader of what might come if a certain way of life continues. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury predicted many issues that plague society today. The larger societal and individual issues Bradbury warns against are the consequences from the lack of social interactions, the spread and focus on technology, and the rise in violence.

The average person in our society spends 7-8 hours a day(The Washington Post) using technology; that is stuff like television, video games, surfing the web, etc. Let that set in; that’s a long time. Our society procrastinates also is constantly distracted by technology like no other. We are practically glued to technology; before we become slaves of technology we must change that. The theme of technology in Fahrenheit 451 informs us that the overuse of technology makes people lazy/procrastinate, that technology will overpower people’s lives, and technology takes away from people’s education.

In Ray Bradbury’s, Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag, the protagonist in the book, lives in a period of time where television is imperative while literature is on the verge of eradicating. Bradbury portrays a society where entertainment is not only a distraction, but it becomes a dominant aspect in the way individuals function in society. Furthermore, Montag’s ideal world is a world that sees a concept in books rather than television. We live in a world full of advanced technology, however there are drawbacks in the midst of the benefits. Fahrenheit 451 is an example that depicts the disadvantages that comes with the overuse of technology.

The children are a clear example that technology creates impersonal relationships because they go around shooting and killing each other since technology and virtual reality seem similar to them because they have no consequences. Not only do the children kill each other, but they also use technology to have fun by playing dangerous games and doing daring stunts. Technology does not just negatively impact children, it also causes women to hesitate something as natural and precious as having children. Women feel that it is not worth going through pain just to have a useless child, so most of them decide to never have children and others only have children if the labor involves a cesarean section. Lastly, technology harms most people in the comfort of their home as seen with Mildred who became so attached to the parlor that it lead her to believe the characters on the screen were her real family. Although Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a dystopian world, the future is not far from the present and technology has been improving very rapidly. Technology taking over the population was shown back in the summer of 2016 when the Pokemon Go app became very popular among people ranging a variety of ages. It was a great app, but soon the dangers started to overpower the positive ideas involved in the app. It

Ever see firefighter’s burn houses because it was their job? What about books being completely outlawed? In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury creates a futuristic, dystopian society, in where people are engulfed by an influx of technology. In this odd world, people are more concerned about technology than they are about people. In Fahrenheit 451, the book serves as a warning to us about the negative effects of the overuse of technology.

Today, teens are spending one third of their day using technology according to a new study released by Common Sense Media. That is a whole nine hours spent mindlessly surfing the web or watching cat videos. In the science fiction novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury writes a social commentary on what the future may look like if technology continues to be overused. In his dystopia, all books are banned and the government controls almost every aspect of people’s lives by brainwashing them with technology. Firemen burn down people’s houses who have books, Guy Montag being one of them. Slowly, Montag starts to question his society and steal books, to the dismay of his technology obsessed wife, Mildred. Bradbury uses Mildred as a symbol of societal corruption to highlight the dangers of excessively using technology.

In 1953, American author and screenwriter, Ray Bradbury, in his novel, Fahrenheit 451, utilizes a dramatic and depressing tone alerting the effects of social issues in a dystopian society, such as order and identity in the world. During the 1950's new technological advances were being created that helped alter the world such as the first ever commercial computer or television. Bradbury's purpose in this novel was to prevent what was to come in the future with the minds of human minds be consumed by new toys and gadgets. With this book Bradbury wanted to change his audience's perspective on the way they perceive books and the social outcome it can have. He implements many Biblical allusions, paradoxes, and imagery to help develop his major themes that factor what is happening in society.

Ray Bradbury´s wrote a book about this dystopian society where everything in our world is backwards in their world, they can speed, they burn books, and everybody is always gloomy and sad. Montag changed his mindset throughout the book, he went from burning books to saving them from getting burnt. Mildred on the other hand, continuously stayed the same throughout the book. She beginned the book showing she did not care, and carried that same mentality through the rest of the book. Ray Bradbury´s uses contrasting characters in Fahrenheit 451 to illustrate the differences within views of a dystopian society with his development of Montag and Mildred.

society by reading only the first few pages. Fahrenheit 451 was written by Ray Bradbury in

We as humans have determined that there is no such thing as a perfect society. In a dystopia, most people are completely unaware of the issue or problem in society. Anyone who recognizes that issue immediately stands out. This causes error, and corruption to the system. In the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, a girl name Clarisse McClellan was the main character to affect a man named Guy Montag. She recognized the problem, and helped lead Guy to a much needed self examination. Clarisse McClellan impacts Guy Montag significantly and effected the way that he lived in the remainder of the story. She forced Montag to think about what was truly missing from his life, and starts him on his course to regognizing the main issue in their community,

The novel Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, portrays a dystopian society where the firefighters burn books, books are illegal and critical thinking and learning is frowned upon. Guy Montag is a firefighter who does what he is told until Clarisse McClellan engages and questions him and his actions and observances. Mildred Montag, his wife, is a vacant socialite who spends time with her parlor "family", attempts suicide, and is addicted to technology. Clarisse McClellan, Montag and Mildred's neighbor, loves to talk about deep philosophical ideas, admire nature on walks, and read. Bradbury portrays how three people living side by side in the same society can, and do, have completely different views and ideas.