Theme Of Dehumanization In Fahrenheit 451

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The Burning Truth Fire! It is hard to believe firemen start fires rather than putting them out. Yet that is what happens in Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451. Dehumanization takes place as the advancements in technology make people less emotional and less capable of independent thought. This is exactly what the totalitarian government, in Bradbury’s Novel, wants for their mindless society. The more addicted people become to technology, the less people will socialize and care about one another. Along with dehumanizing society, technology aids in the total government control which creates a dangerous future for mankind. One of the key factors in this futuristic government’s grasp on society is the extensive amount of propaganda and…show more content…
Although the dictatorship of a government is highly responsible for the over sheltering and censorship of its people, the people have a lot to blame on themselves. Most of the futuristic technology replaces the actions that, typically, a person would do and in some cases replaces an actual person. Even the most simple of tasks is done by machine: “Toast popped out of the silver toaster, was seized by a spidery melted hand that drenched it with melted butter” (18). People have become so reliant on machines that they cannot simply make toast. These contraptions have played a significant role in shaping the plot of Fahrenheit 451. For example, Montag uses an automatic fire pole that stops when him when he grabs it: “at the last moment when disaster seemed positive, he pulled his hands from his pockets and broke his fall by grasping the golden pole. He slid to a squeaking halt, his heels one inch from the concrete floor down stairs” (4). This goes to show that humans have become adapt and close to dependent on their precious technology. Along with the fire pole, another invention that stands out is the robotic teller. The bank is, “open all night every night every night with robotic tellers in attendance” (92). Robots replace people because they will not have a conversation, they will not think, and they will not do anything that could even be considered slightly seditious. The government wants exactly this, a society of
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