Effects of Technology in Fahrenheit 451 Free Essay Sample

Technology has a detrimental effect on the way that people behave and interact with each other.

In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the main character's wife, Mildred has a severe addiction to technology that causes her to be detached from her real life. She spends her days listening to her seashells, their form of earbuds with entertainment, and watching the parlor walls, which are three walls of huge interactive screens. This has severely affected Mildred mentally in many ways and affected her relationship with Montag. The technology that Mildred uses in Fahrenheit 451 is addictive and has made her dissociative and disconnected from reality, as well as closed off from the people around her, leaving Mildred in a deteriorating mental state.

Mildred’s obsession with technology has brought her far from reality, causing her to lose touch with herself and her feelings. In the beginning of the book, the first time the reader is introduced to Mildred, she had overdosed on medication therefore Montag had to call paramedics to save her. After this, Montag feels as though he should speak to his wife about this event. “He paused. ‘You took all the pills in your bottle last night.’ ‘I wouldn’t do that,’ she said, surprised.”  (17) Mildred attempted to take her own life and then acted as if she forgot and it did not happen. Mildred acts odd in ways like this throughout the book. She is desensitized to traumatic events due to her excessive use of technology.  This shows that her mental state is getting so bad that she seems to not even value her own life anymore. The idea of death has absolutely no effect on Mildred, whether it be the idea of her own death or anybody else's, which is shown many times. The technology distracts her from her feelings and emotions and suppresses them, causing her to simply not care at all. "We burned a thousand books. We burned a woman." "Well?" The parlor was exploding with sound. " (47) Mildred shows no remorse or care for what Montag told her. This shows how Mildred is desensitized to the idea of death because she cares more about the parlor walls, she was barely even listening to Montag. The way she just puts off Montag exhibits how she is completely uninterested in anything but herself, the parlor, and her seashells. The technology she has, along with society encouraging this behavior have made her this way, brainwashing and pulling her away from reality. Mildred is completely unbothered by her emotions, not in a good mental state, and uninterested in her husband. 

Mildred and Montag's relationship is very distant, and throughout the book they only grow further apart. Mildred stayed closed off while always being on her technology like a zombie, which is the reason her and Montag’s relationship was declining. Montag only wanted Mildred to care about him and be interested in him. “But Clarisse's favorite subject wasn't herself. It was everyone else, and me. She was the first person in a good many years I've really liked. She was the first person I can remember who looked straight at me as if I counted.” (68) The author compares Mildred and Clarisse. Unlike Mildred, Clarisse wasn’t self centered, she wanted to really get to know other people. Mildred became addicted to technology and unable to exist as an individual without it. Mildred was shallow and closed off unlike Clarisse, Clarisse talked about important things that were deep. This is what drew Montag to her and caused him to step up and want a change, so Montag showed her the books, which Mildred did not approve of. Mildreds disapproval only led to the downfall of their relationship, when Mildred reported him for having books. “‘Mildred, you didn't put in the alarm!’ She shoved the valise in the waiting beetle, climbed in, and sat mumbling, "Poor family, poor family, oh everything gone,everything, everything gone now.” (108) This emphasizes Mildreds feelings about the parlor and how detached from reality she actually is. Even at this moment, as her home is about to go down in flames and her husband is about to be arrested, all she can worry about is the parlor, which she truly believes is her family. Technology has taken over Mildred’s life and she has lost grasp on the concept of her true reality, as well as losing herself and her husband in the process.

The technology that exists in Fahrenheit 451 is addictive and controls Mildreds entire life at this point. Mildred even refuses to turn off the parlor for Montag when he is sick. “Will you turn the parlor off?” he asked. “That’s my family.” “Will you turn it off for a sick man?” “I’ll turn it down.”  (46) The author includes details about how Mildred believes the people in the parlor walls are her family to convey the message that Mildred truly has become lost in her own world with technology and she is losing sanity. Mildred is calling the TV parlor walls her family, showing that she cares less about Montag, her husband, than her technological “family”. Mildred is being brainwashed to think that the walls are real people who are her family and could actually care for her. This is mentally and emotionally detaching Mildred from all of the people around her, especially her husband. Because Mildred believes that the characters projected onto the screen are her family, the fact that the characters are also actively interacting with Mildred makes her problem and attachment to it so much worse. “Montag turned and looked at his wife, who sat in the middle of the parlor talking to an announcer, who in turn was talking to her."Mrs. Montag," he was saying. This, that, and the other.” (61) Mildred is mentally detached from herself and others as she is constantly staring at a screen, not caring about anything else around her. She thinks that the characters shown on the walls are people who are her family and could actually care for and love her, pulling her away from everyone around her, especially Montag. 

Mildred’s obsession with technology has left her in a deteriorating mental state, isolated from true personal connections with others. She acts as though she is off in her own world and has no care for anything besides her parlor walls and seashells. Although Mildred interacts with people every day, she still has no depth or real connections with anyone because her life revolves around her make believe technological “family”. In Fahrenheit 451, Mildred is not the only one affected in this way. Other characters have used way too much technology that made them desensitized to things as well. Mildred is shown struggling the most with her dissociation and disconnection from the rest of the world. Mildred's addiction to technology prevents her from effectively communicating with other people and it distracts her from her real life, causing her to have no connection with others or herself and leaving her in a downward spiral with her mental health and sanity.