Your perception becomes your reality is an often-misused phrase, but Fahrenheit 451 brings a realistic touch to the phrase. With the characters of the book achieving a facade of happiness, the world around them crumbles. Throughout the book, Bradbury beautifully lays out his predictions of an anti-intellectualism world with modest jabs at the current world. His use of technology brings out a dystopian aspect that we can clearly see in modern-day culture. For a clear example, the abandoning of books could be comparable to many third world country’s tyrannical grips on knowledge.
Between the two worlds of ours, the fireman burning books and leaders banning publications that they do not agree with, we see a striking connection. There are many similarities between the book and our present-day society which helps create this guise of happiness. For an upfront warning, the author uses technology in a way to strike a scarily realistic resemblance to our day to day lives. For many, their lives are drowned with technology and force-fed even more in their own personal time. Bradbury’s vision of the future depicts people to be constantly surrounded by electronics, more specifically “tv parlors.” Bradbury predicts the replacement of regular colored televisions with multiple wall-sized TV parlors that send out frequent bright flashes and loud noises.
As you may begin to understand, these TV parlors can be seen as their societies’ phones and technology. We are beginning our generation’s addiction to unnecessary technology. Along with our own technology, these TV parlors engross the users into an unrealistic level of pleasure. For instance, as Montag was attempting to grab his wife’s attention, she deflects his questions to attend to her virtual family. “‘Will you turn the parlor off?’ he asked. ‘That’s my family’” (Bradbury, Page 48). This level of technology consumption, kindred to ours, consumes its users misrepresents the true reality. This perception which becomes reality is shown beautifully by this alone. Furthermore, when Montag ponders if he would cry if his wife would die, he believes he would not including that he does not remember where he met his wife. This may also be a side effect of this media where false family members become more important than real family. We see this with TV shows in our world where fans become obsessed with characters or strangers.
