AlShammari 1

Abdulrahman AlShammari
Professor Filbeck
English 113B
11/13/2014
Technology
The purpose of the essay is to provide an analysis of warnings given by Ray Bradbury in his novel
Fahrenheit 451. The essay will include a detailed analysis of the warnings as they applied to the past at the time
of writing the novel. The writer addresses the warnings in line with the trends in the society. The essay also
addresses the key technologies that affect the people in different ways. The society is addicted to the new
technologies and hence affecting their cultural beliefs and trends. The essay also addresses the effects of these
technologies as related to the warnings given by Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451 represents the temperature of
burning the books as per the novel, it will also discuss the effects of burning books by the firefighters and also
how its made on how will people react to the warnings of Ray Bradbury as per his novel, Fahrenheit 451.
Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 451 that discusses about a materialistic society that has abandoned the social
interaction with each other. A materialistic society is evident where the author believed that the society today is
headed as per the social interactions. The author uses cynic views to describe the materialistic society in the
novel. The views of the novel seem over-exaggerated in contrast to the current events. The contrast is especially
in the areas of censorship as well as media mediocrity (Bradbury, 21). The purpose of media, as per the novel,
is to give a warning signal or information to alert the citizens that something is not right and requires attention
as well as resolution. The essay will describe the warning of the author. The essay will also analyze if the
warning or the message of the author is still valid today.
As per the novel, the media is blamed for promoting a social mediocrity since it only informs the public
what they want to hear. The image of media promoting mediocrity remains the reoccurring image in Fahrenheit
451. As per the novel, the author gives different warnings to the people on different occasions. The author
outlines the different scenarios to serve as warnings to the people. The warnings make people have a changed
or transformed perspective on how to tackle different issues in life.

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Guy Montag seems to be the protagonist character in Fahrenheit 451. He is a firefighter who burns
books. It happens not because he believes that books are dangerous but since he believes on his actions
(Bradbury, 91). It serves as a warning to the people on how to handle the things they have in life. As per the
author of the novel, he presents to the readers how the Guy undergoes some transformation as a character. Guy
ultimately tries to revive the lost pieces of civilization. It is not a heroic action since burning the books is bad
and leads to lack of academic resources. The main idea of the author is to give a warning to the people about
the reliant on technology and the effects. The firefighters burnt books to stop the controversy caused by the
books as well as promoting a sense sameness in their society. The author is against this idea of burning books to
acquire sameness in the society. Burning the books might lead to negative effects on handling the trends of the
society. The author presents how the new world is reliant on technology to the extent of supervision of labor.
Mechanical Hound supervises the employees and ensures that the people work or act just like themselves.
Montag lives in a different world where television and fast cars just act as real excitement. As per Montag,
living a static life devoid of the nature as well as conversation remained the normal thing. He is comfortable
with this life and he continues to watch his family on the television and listen to radio. He seems at per with the
technology.
Ray Bradbury sent out a warning to the future generations about the importance of reading. Currently,
the books are outlawed since they are taken to be dangerous and the main cause of problems facing the society.
It was for this reason that the firefighters burnt books as seen in the novel (O'Hara 45). The term Fahrenheit 451
shows the temperatures at which the books burn. He gives a warning about burning books since it leads to
decay of knowledge among the future generations. He does not support this idea at all. The people in the novel
seem self-reliant on technology such as television and radio. They stop asking questions since they are
engrossed in these television shows that also lack any form of substance. The televisions are blinded by the
bright colors and some loud sound. The author gives warning to the future generation for relying on sources of
entertainment such as televisions and leaving books to the other side. It is unjust and obviously bad to do this
since books a detailed analysis of the peoples characters in the novel.
Ray Bradbury had the beliefs that the ills of the society were only curable through reading books. The
written word in books has more power to enlighten, to entertain, and to inform people. Relying on books can

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help the society have an improved approach on how to tackle the existing problems. A book is an important
material that can take someone to places that was not aware if they existed or not (Tingquan 56). The books
open new ideas to people on how they could tackle the problems they face in the society. The problems
increases over time and only books can enlighten the people how to solve the problem. It is for this reason that
Ray Bradbury warns the people not to burn books as they were doing in the past. It is bad to burn books since it
is the only reliable source of knowledge among the people.
Ray Bradbury heavy warning on the television became evident in the way he gave the people the
negative effects of over-relying on the technology. He always warned that overlying on television would affect
the peoples level of thinking. The people would not easily deal with the problems they are exposed to since the
television do not provide any positive ideas and suggestion to tackle everyday problems. The people also find it
hard to come up with idea on how to deal with personal issues. Bradbury forewarned us about the coming dawn
of the 70-inch flat-screen televisions. These types of televisions have become evident as people are now buying
them on daily basis. He saw the television as a device likely to affect the peoples culture negatively. It was
true, as most television viewers had no understanding of their past culture. The people were seen to have a bad
interest or no interest at all on the culture. For this reason, they ignored the cultural values of the past. The
author gave a warning about technology and the future effects of overlying on the Internet technology.
The message passed by Bradbury us still relevant in the current society. The people have different
viewpoints on the need of a technology world but they fail to understand the effects of the technology on our
lives. Before his death, he was quoted saying, We have too many cell phone. We have too many Internets. We
have to get rid of those machines. We have too many machines now. It shows that whatever he warned has
become a thing of the present since many people now have Internet, phones, and television with them. He is
right when he gives his warning to the people (Dodsley 123). Currently, the technology has become part of our
lives and this is partially because of Bradburys past inspiration. We might need to heed Bradburys warnings
before taking things too far. Either way, the current world is a little worse with the absence of Ray Bradbury
and will be missed by many because of his warnings and for his great stories. The predictions of Bradbury seem
exaggerated once contrasted with todays society when it comes to mass mediocrity and censorship.

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The essay has discussed various warnings as given by Bradbury. It shows how it has analyzed how the
warnings applied to the past at the time when he wrote the novel. The novel explains how technology and other
factors affect the people. The essay explains how the warnings apply to the current society. The essay is more
direct in the way it applies to the society in relation to the behaviors of the technology. The essay has
expounded on the warnings in relation to the society needs. Showing how it is more elaborate since the
explanations of the author are applicable to the current society. Currently, the predictions of the author remain
evident in the society. The predictions of Bradbury seem exaggerated once contrasted with todays society
when it comes to mass mediocrity, censorship among other aspects.

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Works Cited
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967. Print.
Dodsley, Philip D. S. Chesterfield. Effects of television. Printed at Worcester, Mass: By and for Isaiah Thomas,
1787. Internet resource.
O'Hara, Terence. Todays mass mediocrity and censorship. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2002. Print
Tingquan Zhang, and Bingwen Liu. Effects of technology on society. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1984.
Print.