The Warning Signs in Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury’s Message About Literature and Technology in Society
Fahrenheit 451 looks at a world without books, without controversy, without natural excitement that is not far from today’s reality. Guy Montag is the protagonist in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and throughout the book the character of Montag reveals the truth about the world he lives in. Although many assume this book acts as a cautionary tale about censorship and government control, much like Orwell’s 1984, there is actually much more to it than just that - Bradbury is attempting to warn society that this world completely reliant on technology and without literature is not that far away.
An Analysis of Fahrenheit 451
In Fahrenheit 451 readers are brought into a world devoid of books. Guy Montag, the protagonist, works as a fire fighter, or, in other words, a book burner. Firemen burn books in order to stop the controversy that books cause and promote a sense of sameness in society. As Beatty explains, “we must all be alike. Not everyone is born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone is made equal” (Bradbury 58). By burning books and relying on technology “all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against" (Bradbury 58).
Instead of literature, Montag lives in a world where television and fast cars are the only real excitement and living a static life devoid of nature and conversation is the norm. He is content like this and has lived his life in this manner for several years, watching his “family” on television, listening to “seashells” on the radio and engaging in mindless conversation with his wife Mildred.
Furthermore, society also relies on a Mechanical Hound to supervise the place and make sure people are acting like themselves. This new world is almost completely reliant on technology rather than human imagination and thought.
Bradbury’s Reality
Sound familiar?
With the hundreds of reality television shows popping up on the TV and the ever growing censored book lists across the United States and Canada, today’s society is actually looking more and more like Bradbury’s dystrophic society. Although firefighters are not burning books, the schools and governments are stopping children from reading several of the literary greats including 1984, Of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Canterbury Tales, all of which have made the banned book list in several schools.
Other Eerie Similarities
There are also several warning signs about how the advancement of technology can affect everyday life. Unfortunately, today’s society did not head these warnings.
As an example, there are the “seashells” which block out the world. This is all too familiar to ipod’s which have caused children to literally block out their surroundings and live in their own little musical world. Thousands of children commute to school, sitting beside one another but listening to their headphones rather than speaking. It is like a cult, where people listen to their music rather than engage in human activity.
Bradbury’s Point of View
Perhaps the scariest aspect of this entire situation is what Ray Bradbury has to say on the subject. Although many believe that Bradbury wrote the book as a way to rebel against the government control over society, this is actually not the case. In reality, Bradbury wrote it to explain “how television destroys interest in reading literature” (Boyle-Johnson). Bradbury states, “television gives you the dates of Napoleon, but not who he was” (Boyle-Johnson). Bradbury’s fears of the “dangers of radio” have also come true in the case of the iPod phenomena (Boyle-Johnson).
To further prove this point that technology has taken over the world and television is replacing books, consider this. Ironically, Bradbury’s book, Fahrenheit 451 is in the process of being re-made in the theatres for the second time and yet remains on the “banned books” list for many school curriculums. Much like the technological advances are taking over the human aspects of society, the film adaptation is taking over the written word and children are choosing visual effects over imaginative reading any day.
Bradbury’s anguish is coming true.
Resources
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Ballantine Books, 1987
Boyle-Johnston, Amy. “Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 Misinterpreted.” LA Weekly. 31 May 2007. Available here .
Bradbury's Fury
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