Fahrenheit 451 is a comment on modern technology Essay

Fahrenheit 451 is a comment on modern technology - Essay Example The firemen in the novel are government employees who burn and destroy books (Beley 146). The story revolves around Montag’s struggle to appease his frustration for the conformist society he is part of and to resist the book-burning totalitarian regime (Monahan 54). One of the messages the author gives across is that the people are responsible themselves for the sorry state for affairs that they are in. Bradbury supports the idea that men should be self-thinkers and be able to understand what constitutes right and wrong rather than letting the government do the decision-making. He argues that this can be achieved by perusing of erudite texts that reflect upon the mistakes of the past and provide critical analysis of the different aspects of life like religion, politics etc. The author believes that the great value of books in our lives is to promote independent thinking and free thought (Piddock 66). The novel is a comment on modern technology. This notion is exemplified frequently at several places in the novel. One of the main ideologies of the book is that technology deprives individuals from indulging in activities like literary discourse, the thought process of reflection and promotion of individual consciousness. Bradbury has acutely portrayed a society that does not appreciate the worth of books. Firemen are actually book-burners, illustrating how technology has replaced literature from the lives of the common man. The novel paints a grave picture of the society where people drive fast, watch television day in and day out and listen to Seashell Radio sets. The symbolism associated with the use of these radio sets is the alienation of people. The author reveals in the book, â€Å"And in her ears the little Seashells, the thimble radios tamped tight, and an electronic ocean of sound, of music and talk and music and talking coming in (12).† The Seashell radios are an allusion to headphones now being used commonly in the modern world. In the novel,