Fahrenheit 451 Technology Essay

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In Ray Bradbury’s novel “Fahrenheit 451” (1953), he describes the Mechanical Hound as a hit man that viciously tracks down “criminals,” but also uses this character to represent modern-day abuse of technology and to show how society’s advances in science have gone from harmless to destructive. More than any other character in this popular science-fiction novel, the mechanical Hound represents the true nature of Guy Montag’s society: hypnotized by the allures of technology, and dehumanized as a result. In “Fahrenheit 451,” Bradbury does not represent technology as a beneficial aspect of society, but as a mean to physically control people. Ironically, Bradbury initially describes the Hound as sleeping in a “gently humming, gently vibrating, softly illuminated kennel” (21-22) which puts…show more content…
Much of the violence and injustice within the novel can be at fault of the rising popularity and dependence of technology. The Hound is a prime example of how technology was intended to modernize, improve, and simplify the lifestyle of citizens; however, somewhere in the execution, the results went sideways. “Fahrenheit 451” is the harsh reality that not only can advances in technology be terrifying (the Hound,) but they can also get carried away. For example, when Montag asks his sickly wife, Mildred, “will you turn the parlour off?” she responds, “That’s my family” (46). This is yet another example from Bradbury’s novel where technology is taken too far – replacing humans that love and care for you with TV characters whom only portray the emotion they’re given from a script. These advances in technology are very alarming, and as Guy Montag goes through this revelation, the reader also begins to uncover the dangerous reality technology can have on the human

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