Technology Changing Society
Technology changing society Today in America, people are more interested in the new technology that comes out than their world around them. Currently we are in a long drawn out war that never seems to end and still people today tune out to what is really important and draw into the meaningless technology that surrounds them. Ray Bradbury in Fahrenheit 451 puts these concepts into his wittings to show that technology has a huge effect on the people by the expense, the influence and the time consuming effects it has on the people. Technology is expensive, no question about it.
People always want the latest and greatest and will pay any price to get it. Manufactures can price their product at extremely high end and the consumers will pay any price that they throw out at them. Buyers upgrade in their technology when what they had before worked just as well as the new. In the book, Mildred wanted another wall of TV. She didn’t care of the price that it was going to cost and what it was going to take to get it. “It’ll be even more fun when we can afford to have the forth wall installed. How long you figure before we save up and get the forth wall torn out and a fourth wall- TV put in?
It’s only about two thousand dollars” (Bradbury 20). Mildred did not care the cost of the wall- TV even though it was one- third of her husband’s yearly pay. She was only worried about her own wants and desires. The pricy technology that Mildred wanted is an example of how the society has evolved into cherishing earthy treasures over things that truly matter. The media has a huge influence on people who watch and listen to it. Technology has made it possible for someone to sit at home, turn the TV on, and see whatever they want. While this can be a good thing, it can always dumb down society.
People get so caught up in what is going on in the television shows that are playing that they lose track in what is real and just made up. They start to put themselves in what they are watching and eventually it becomes their life. It is their every thought and makes it merely impossible to function without. Mildred in the story became this way. “ Floating her, wide-eyed, toward morning” (Bradbury12). Mildred allows technology to dictate how she behaves and lives her life. When a person allows the waves of the sea to float them, they cannot control the direction n which they move. Mildred can no longer decide for herself what she wants to do and that her mind is dominated by technology pleasures. She started to betray her real life with her husband and begin a new one with her “family” from the shows she watched. It then became the norm to her and many other citizens in the city going through the same situation making a huge effect on society. Think about it… The majority of a person’s day is spent with some type of technology influencing them, whether it is texting, computer work, television or any electronic device. The average American spends more time using media devices – television, radio, iPods, and cell phones- than any other activity while awake…” (Ball State University) What is that saying? Why is our society consumed to these forms of technology? While this can be good giving people information and an easier way to learn about something, it often becomes overused and eventually overtakes the lives of the users. ‘“ I always wanted something very small, something I could talk to, something I could blot out with the palm of my hand , if necessary, nothing that could shout me down, nothing monstrous big’” ( Bradbury 132).
As said by Faber, he saw the dangers that technology offers, and the ability to take over. He trumps this danger physically, by keeping the threat literally small. Faber did not allow the technology to take over his life and consume his time. The story behind Bradbury’s book is made up, but is not far from reality. When Fahrenheit 451 was written, it was only the 50’s, but Bradbury could already tell where society was heading. The huge effects that technology had on the characters in the book with the expenses, the influences, and the time consuming consequences are the same people struggle with today… 60 years later.
