The Hound Theme Essay

First there are many examples of what the symbol for The hound mean in “Fahrenheit 451”. For example when they first introduce the Hound “ The mechanical hound slept but did not sleep,lived but did not live” (Bradbury 21). This means that even tho it looks like it's resting it doesn't that it still works while people think it doesn't work at night. Which the government still wants to see what people do any suspicious stuff at night. Another quote that can back up this is “It doesn't think anything we don't want it to think” (Bradbury 25). What this means is that the hound wants everyone to think the same and that it doesn't want people to think like there's something weird about the hound. Another example that explains how no one can run from the government (hound) is when the firemen went to Montag's house to burn the

At first a reader may wonder why the hound even in the book? Only when the hounds symbolism is revealed is the question answered. In the story the Hound acts like the enforcer of the no book law that has been enforced for many generations. When more people started to be on the earth they made it so all the authors had to write the same books so people would read them. However because all the books were the same and boring people stopped reading altogether. The hound is the same way because the hound is society. The hound scares people into acting just like today's society teaches people to act and look a certain way. Montag is affected by this because while he is on his journey of enlightenment the hound just like society tries to change him. On page 133 the announcer on the TV Montag was watching said all these terrifying things about the hound. It's said “---nose so sensitive the Mechanical Hound can remember and identify ten thousand odor indexes in ten thousand men without resting!” Just like society the hound was scaring Montag however he stood up and got away from the temptation of giving

Throughout the book, Montag notices that the Hound does not like him. The Hound is also frequently a part of his thoughts. Whenever he goes to the station he is kind of frightened of the Hound, and makes sure he knows where it is.

Since the hound has the inability to think for itself, and because it can, “remember and identify ten thousand odor indexes on ten thousand men” (Bradbury, 127), it is the perfect solution to tracking and abolishing nonconformists. This is seen in the novel, with the search for Montag. The government’s persistence on the ridding of individualists is clearly observed when Montag destroys the first hound, and a second is immediately sent, with news reporters stating to the citizens, “--Mechanical Hound never fails. Never since its first use in tracking quarry has this incredible invention made a mistake” (Bradbury, 126). It is obvious just how desperate the government is to obliterate rebels. The Mechanical Hound is a clear portrayal of a uniform, undeviating society with a fear of anything “abnormal” or unique. It can ultimately be described as the watchdog of their society, constantly on the lookout for novelty and innovation. Montag expresses his sympathy for the hound by stating, “…all we put into it is hunting and finding and killing. What a shame if that’s all it can ever know” (Bradbury, 25). The government is so radically engrossed in maintaining the norm, that the creature is never permitted the opportunity to know anything other than destruction. The Mechanical Hound is “a fitting representative of unrelenting pursuit and execution for those

The Salamander resembles the fiery destruction of books, while the Hound resembles the fall of humanity. Throughout the story when the Salamander is mentioned it is connected to the event in which the firemen have done their purpose. The Hound is used to seek and destroy, whether human or not. In the book Montag is attacked by it twice. The people in the book’s society do not care who lives or dies as long as their technology is intact.

The firehouse hold the Mechanical Hound, “The Mechanical Hound slept but did not sleep, lived but did not live in its gently humming, gently vibrating, softy illuminated kennel back in a dark corner of the firehouse. The dim light of one in the morning, the moonlight from the open sky frame through the great window, touched here and there on the brass and the copper and the steel of the faintly trembling beast. Light flickered on bits of ruby glass and on sensitive capillary hairs in the nylon-brushed nostrils of the creature that quivered gently, gently its eight legs spidered under it on rubber-padded paws.”(Bradbury 24). There is also a greasy table where the firemen play cards, along with a radio. When Montag enters the firehouse, he absorbs all the sounds and sights of the men playing cards. “He could feel the firehouse full of glitter and shine and silence, of brass colors, the colors of coins, of gold, of silver. The unseen men across the table sighing on their cards, waiting. ‘…one forty-five…’ The voice clock mourned out the cold hour of a cold morning of a still colder year.”(Bradbury 32). Similar to Montag’s home feeling cold, the firehouse feels cold as well to help the reader understand Montag’s

Montag is sick, physically and emotionally. Realizing his wife would rather watch TV than care for him; that the world is an empty, cruel place; and that there are things out there which are worth dying for makes him even more so. Technology starts to become a main influence on the actions of the people in society. Montag’s wife, Mildred, is said to have “lost herself in technology”. She confines herself in the living room of the couple’s house to three life-sized television screen walls. These walls speak to her and hold conversations with her more than actual people do. Mildred yells at Montag for turning off her “family”. Montag is her husband, but Mildred relates fictional programmed characters to her only family. The issue of technology technically brainwashes the people of this science fiction society. People believe that if technology gets more advanced it would end society because people would probably forget about everything. Bradbury thinks that with technology surrounding us, people will stop reading books. If people stop reading books they will forget about things that are extremely important, which include history, how and why people act in different ways, how life began, and other things that are important today but with technology they are going to fade away. Another thing that could happen if

The hound comes up many times in the story and it tries to hunt down any who repulses their conflicting society and will stop at nothing to put down people that rebel. “ Quote back mechanical hound eerily being there”. The hound symbolizes rapidly advancing technology, this idea can be very dangerous changing a machine to kill without thinking about who or what. The government uses technology to oppress people by placing fear into people and implying destruction in any way possible. This society is dangerous and can destroy dissenters easily through

Immediately after the house is burned, Bradbury surprises the reader by showing that the monstrous Montag has an appreciation for that which is beautiful and intellectual. Montag is walking home from work when he meets a young girl, Clarisse, standing on the sidewalk. Montag is awestruck by Clarisse's innocent curiosity: "She was like an eager watcher of a marionette show, anticipating each flicker of an eyelid, each gesture of his hand, the moment before it began" (25). Although Montag is not narrating the story, it is evident that he is an observant, kind person who treats the young girl he meets as any gentleman would. Seeing this side of Montag somewhat neutralizes the reader's opinion of him, and causes him to seem as though he were a more round, interesting character.

In the book, a T.V. program is what represented your family. Mildred, Montag’s wife loved that program and believes that they are her real family as stated on page 46 “That’s My Family”. This represents how much of an influence technologie is in their life. The community in this book relies on the television programs everyday for their news of the world. Another display of this controlling government is how depressed a lot of the community is. In the book, Mildred attempts suicide by taking 30 to 40 sleeping pills resulting in Montag finding her unconscious on the floor after work one day. The next day when Montag confronts her about this event, she doesn’t remember the situation at all. To further warn the audience Ray Bradbury reminds the reader that when you don't follow the strict laws of the government you will get severely punished. All of these events in one way or another prove that the society they are living in is very melancholy

Furthermore, after Montag requests that Mildred turn the parlor down for him, a “sick man,” she does absolutely “nothing” to the parlor and comes back, which demonstrates that Mildred is not willing to sacrifice her comforts of the wall TVs, even for the health and well-being of her husband. This highlights the fact that Mildred does not care about her husband, as she does not lower the volume of the parlor walls by even a fraction, and that she cares more about her own luxury of the parlor walls. Bradbury’s use of words in this section effectively communicates that Mildred is more emotionally attached to the “family” in the parlor walls than her real family, which illustrates that a large reliance on technology renders one more emotionally connected to technology than to actual people. Later on in the novel, Mildred sends an alarm to the fire department because her husband has hidden books in their home. As the fire truck pulls into their driveway, Mildred “shove[d] the valise in the waiting beetle, climb[s] in, and [sits] mumbling, ‘Poor family, poor family, oh everything gone, everything, everything gone now’” (114). Once again, Mildred refers to the parlor walls as her “family.” Bradbury’s use of this word to describe Mildred’s connection to the parlor walls implies that the characters on the screen are real people with whom she has emotional attachments. Moreover, Mildred

Some people were really passionate about books, but it was rare, because if you wanted to be able to read books, you had to keep them hidden. One day, the firefighters discovered a woman who had been hiding books in her home. The lady refuses to leave the house without the books so they burn the house, books, and the woman. After that, Montag was traumatized. He couldn’t stop thinking about the horrible incident. He began to question himself, and his individuality. That night Montag kept complaining to his wife Mildred, “‘There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay

The evolution of technology is constantly occurring in order to be more helpful in society. Therefore, a new gadget comes out within months or a year because of how it’s constantly evolving and how clients always ask for more. Andrew Sullivan wrote an essay in 2005 and talked the once popular iPod. In his essay, “Society Is Dead, We Have Retreated into the iWorld,” Andrew Sullivan uses the rhetorical triangle, visual imagery, and one of the rhetorical appeals, logos, to achieve his purpose of how technology has impacted human interactions.

“The parlor was dead and Mildred kept peering in at it with a blank expression as Montag paced the floor and came back and squatted down and read a page as many as ten times, aloud.” Only reason she was paying him attention was because the parlor walls were dead. “I’m not angry,” Montag said, surprised- Mildred shrieked with laughter in the hall.”

(Watt 41). Bradbury reinforces this contrast by causing Mildred to relate only to the subject of herself, while Clarisse's favorite subject is other people. When Montag meets the Mechanical Hound, he discovers that it is a "dead beast, [a] living beast" (Bradbury 24). Donald Watt describes it as a "striking and sinister gadget" and it "is most terrifying for being both alive and not alive" (41; Huntington 113). The Hound becomes "Montag's particular mechanical enemy…[and it] becomes more suspicious of him" as time passes and Montag develops a greater freedom from his society (Johnson 112). Thus, Montag is thrust into the realization that his culture is not flawless, but instead is rife with abuses of human freedoms.