Ray Bradbury Impact Of Technology

Words: 1877
Pages: 8

(AGG) Stories have several qualities which make them so popular in human culture, but one of their most interesting characteristics, is that they are timeless - while authors come and go, their words remain to send a message to humans, sometimes in the form of predictions of the future. (BS-1) The author Ray Bradbury made predictions about possible types of technologies, which are extremely similar to the technologies of today. (BS-2) Also, he described a potential effect of his conceived technology - that its users would experience difficulty focusing because of it - which is also close to the truth in this time. (BS-3) In addition to this anticipated impact, he makes the accurate prediction that technology may lead to decreased humanity in …show more content…
(SIP-A) In the novel, Bradbury writes about how several characters experience difficulty focusing and paying attention to tasks, as a result of being surrounded by technology. (STEWE-1) This is evident, by how being constantly exposed to machines affects Mildred. When Montag attempted to comprehend several of the books he had collected, Mildred simply exclaimed, “Books aren’t people. You read and I look all around, but there isn’t anybody!” (Bradbury 69). Then, Mildred contrasts her view of books with her view of television and other forms of digital entertainment, saying “Now”, “my ‘family’ is people. They tell me things; I laugh, they laugh! And the colors!” (Bradbury 69). Since Mildred expresses that she is looking for “people” in the book - meaning she is attempting to comprehend the relevance of the novel - yet she cannot, she displays an inability to focus. The reason for this is clearly the technology she is exposed to, since immediately after stating her failure to comprehend the novels, she uses the word “now” to contrast the books to the technology, which she describes as very flamboyant - in such a way that it makes other tasks which require focus seem dull. (STEWE-2) On the other hand, Montag also has trouble concentrating, although in his case it is a direct result of exposure to technology. When he tried to read a book, he told himself to, “consider the lilies, the lilies, the lilies…”, but the technology near him constantly announced “Denham’s dental detergent”, and Montag finally exclaimed “Shut up, shut up, shut up!” (Bradbury 75). Obviously, Montag cannot focus on reading the book, since he is never able to finish his thought about the lilies. This is definitely an effect of the announcement technology, since it