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Fahrenheit 451 Technology Analysis

Decent Essays

As technology in this modern era grows even more powerful, practical and therefore convenient for our everyday lives, it also becomes problematic. This is because some individuals could abuse the privilege of having information be available to them in a matter of seconds and then rely very heavily on technology. This is by hurting their real human relationships- these individuals get carried away with how entertaining and useful their devices can be, and seek out short term satisfaction in terms of their devices- instead of having real interaction with the people who matter most to them, such as their wife, husband, children, etc. These types of people are displayed in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. This is evident in the controlled …show more content…

This is because Mildred represents the norm in the fictional American society- someone who is always immersed in some form of technology and not responsive to the world around them, which is the ideal person for the government. In the book, Mildred is so uninformed and reliant on technology that she repeats what she says in conversations as if she already forgets what she states a few seconds ago. This is due to her shortened attention span due to her excessive use of technology. On page 46, when Mildred and Montag are having a conversation and Montag is sick and wants some aspirin, she forgets what she needs to do two times. This represents how technology had shortened her attention span and when something doesn’t have to do with Mildred’s interest in technology and these TV shows she views, she doesn’t pay attention to it and blows it off. On page 18, when she wants a fourth TV screen installed to complete their parlor room, she states. “ ‘ It’s only two thousand dollars…. And I should think you’d consider me sometimes. If we had a fourth wall, why it’d be just like this room wasn’t ours at all, but all kinds of exotic people’s rooms. We could do without a few things.’”. This shows how Mildred is uncaring to everything that doesn’t have to do with her interest of the TV or shows, since she doesn’t care about how money would be an issue for Montag when installing the fourth TV wall, she just wants to tell him that she doesn’t feel considered and wants Montag to put a fourth wall up, despite him saying that $2000 is 1/3 of his yearly pay. So, technology caused a rift in what’s left of Montag and his wife’s relationship since her addiction caused her to care only about what interests her and forget everything around her, deeming it irrelevant since it doesn’t have to do with her shows and TV

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