Impact Of Technology On Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 is a novel by Ray Bradbury that is set in a dystopian society where technology has advanced into such an extremity that citizens are seemingly obsessed with the technology they have, such as parlor walls. Montag slowly comes to the realization that he is unhappy with his life in the technologically driven society. Technology has clearly made an enormous impact on modern society. We are able to connect with many diverse people around the world and it has helped us transform into the mainstream of modern life. Just like other technological breakthroughs, however, technology is not always used wisely and can have a negative impact on the society as a whole. Users become reliant on technology and overuse it, taking away time for
People become incredibly reliant upon technology, so they neglect various aspects of the lives, such as their jobs, families, and health. Millions of users take advantage of having the access at their fingertips by constantly checking their profiles and sending out messages while they’re walking down the street, sitting in a movie theater, or eating in a restaurant (Hillstrom. “Impact and Implications of the Technology”.). Instead of having their attention on friends or family, their attention is glued to their screens. This could cause a strain of relationships which could negatively affect them by distancing the two people or cutting off the relationship completely. In Fahrenheit 451, Montag and his wife, Mildred get into a fight because Montag is not willing to spend 1/3 of his salary to get a fourth parlor wall, the most popular form of technology. She claimed that it was only a small amount of money and told him “I should think you’d consider me sometimes.” (1.20). Mildred seems to be obsessed with the parlor walls and even considers the actors to be her family. Whenever Mildred is watching them she barely speaks with Montag and slowly Montag realizes they never have had a substantial conversation and that he barely knows her, which causes him to drift away from their
In a recent study conducted by Matthew Brashears of Cornell University, 2,000 adults were asked the number of friends whom they share a close relationship with. The average response was 2.03 and it decreased from a similar study from 1985, which received an average response of three close friends (Silard. “From Face-to-Face to Facebook”). It is proven that humans thrive on human interaction, so cutting that face-to-face off could damage humans negatively by causing them to suffer more health problems due to physical inactivity and no interaction. “People who, like the Facebook COO, claim that we have never been so connected with each other are missing a vital point: the people making all these "connections" through the Internet and social media are, in the non-virtual plane sometimes referred to as "reality," sitting alone in front of a pixelated screen.” (Silard.). Even though we are able to interact with different of people from around the world, we become isolated from the people around us. People cut off their friends and family and would rather spend time on the