Fahrenheit 451 technology quotes show the dangers of an overly technological society.
They also offer some food for thought about our relationship with technology today:
Technology makes life easier and makes it easier for governmental control.
How can we benefit from technology without giving away freedom and privacy?
Fahrenheit 451 Quotes With Page Numbers
Fahrenheit 451 Technology Quotes Part 1: The Hearth and the Salamander
“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 talk coming in, coming in on the shore of her
unsleeping mind. The room was indeed empty. Every night the waves came in and bore her off on their great tides of sound, floating her, wide-eyed, toward morning. There had been no night in the last two years that Mildred had not swum that sea, had not gladly gone down
in it for the third time.”~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Montag as the narrator), Page 10
“It’s really fun. It’ll be even more fun when we can afford to have the fourth wall installed. How long you figure before we save up and get the fourth wall torn out and a fourth wall-TV put in? It’s only two thousand dollars.”
“That’s one-third of my yearly pay.”
“It’s only two thousand dollars,” she replied. “And I should think you’d consider me sometimes. If we had a fourth wall, why it’d be just like this room wasn’t ours at all, but all kinds of exotic people’s rooms. We could do without a few things.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Characters: Mildred Montag and Guy Montag), Page 18
“The Mechanical Hound slept but did not sleep, lived but did not live in its gently humming, gently vibrating, softly illuminated kennel back in a dark corner of the firehouse. The dim light of one in the morning, the moonlight from the open sky framed through the great window, touched here and there on the brass and the copper and the steel of the faintly trembling beast. Light flickered on bits of ruby glass and on sensitive capillary hairs in the nylon-brushed nostrils of the creature that quivered gently, gently, gently, its eight legs spidered under it on rubber-padded paws.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Montag as the narrator), Pages 21, 22
“Three seconds later the game was done, the rat, cat, or chicken caught half across the areaway, gripped in gentling paws while a four-inch hollow steel needle plunged down from the proboscis of the Hound to inject massive jolts of morphine or procaine. The pawn was then tossed in the incinerator. A new game began.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Montag as the narrator), Page 22
“It was like a great bee come home from some field where the honey is full of poison wildness, of insanity and nightmare, its body crammed with that over-rich nectar and now it was sleeping the evil out of itself.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Montag as the narrator), Page 22
“Nights when things got dull, which was every night, the men slid down the brass poles, and set the ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the Hound and let loose rats in the firehouse area-way, and sometimes chickens, and sometimes cats that would have to be drowned anyway, and there would be betting to see which the Hound would seize first.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Montag as the narrator), Page 22
“Montag touched the muzzle. The hound growled. Montag jumped back.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Montag as the narrator), Page 23
“It doesn’t like or dislike. It just “functions.” It’s like a lesson in ballistics. It has a trajectory we decide for it. It follows through. It targets itself, homes itself, and cuts off. It’s only copper wire, storage batteries, and electricity.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Captain Beatty), Page 23
“All of those chemical balances and percentages on all of us here in the house are recorded in the master file downstairs. It would be easy for someone to set up a partial combination on the Hound’s ‘memory,’ a touch of amino acids, perhaps. That would account for what the animal did just now. Reacted toward me.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Guy Montag), Page 24
“It doesn’t think anything we don’t want it to think.’
‘That’s sad,’ said Montag, quietly, ‘because all we put into it is hunting and finding and killing. What a shame if that’s all it can ever know.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Characters: Captain Beatty and Guy Montag), Page 25
“Montag slid down the pole like a man in a dream. The Mechanical Hound leapt up in its kennel, its eyes all green flame.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Montag as the narrator), Page 32
“The Mechanical Hound slept but did not sleep, lived but did not live in its gently humming, gently vibrating, softly illuminated kennel back in a dark corner of the firehouse … Light flickered on bits of ruby glass and on sensitive capillary hairs in the nylon-brushed nostrils of the creature that quivered gently, gently, gently, its eight legs spidered under it on rubber-padded paws.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Montag as the narrator), Page 32
“And the uncles, the aunts, the cousins, the nieces, the nephews, that lived in those walls, the gibbering pack of tree apes that said nothing, nothing, nothing and said it loud, loud, loud.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Montag as the narrator), Page 41
“Will you turn the parlour off?” he asked.
“That’s my family.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Characters: Guy Montag and Mildred Montag), Page 46
“Now let’s take up the minorities in our civilization, shall we? Bigger the population, the more minorities. Don’t step on the toes of the dog-lovers, the cat-lovers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, chiefs, Mormons, Baptists, Unitarians, second-generation Chinese, Swedes, Italians, Germans, Texans, Brooklynites, Irishmen, people from Oregon or Mexico. The people in this book, this play, this TV serial are not meant to represent any actual painters, cartographers, mechanics anywhere. The bigger your market, Montag, the less you handle controversy, remember that! All the minor minor minorities with their navels to be kept clean. Authors, full of evil thoughts, lock up your typewriters. They did. Magazines became a nice blend of vanilla tapioca. Books, so the damned snobbish critics said, were dishwater. No wonder books stopped selling, the critics said. But the public, knowing what it wanted, spinning happily, let the comic books survive. And the three-dimensional sex-magazines, of course. There you have it, Montag. It didn’t come from the Government down. There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship, to start with, no! Technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick, thank God. Today, thanks to them, you can stay happy all the time, you are allowed to read comics, the good old confessions, or trade journals.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology, books (Character: Captain Beatty), Page 55
“Any man who can take a TV wall apart and put it back together again, and most men can nowadays, is happier than any man who tries to slide-rule, measure, and equate the universe, which just won’t be measured or equated without making man feel bestial and lonely.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Captain Beatty), Page 58
“The converter attachment, which had cost them one hundred dollars, automatically supplied her name whenever the announcer addressed his anonymous audience, leaving a blank where the proper syllables could be filled in.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Montag as the narrator), Page 61
Fahrenheit 451 Technology Quotes Part 2: The Sieve and the Sand
“Nobody listens anymore. I can’t talk to the walls because they’re yelling at me, I can’t talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough it’ll make sense. And I want you to teach me to understand what I read.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Montag), Page 78
“Thank God for that. You can shut them, say, ‘Hold on a moment.’ You play God to it. But who has ever torn himself from the claw that encloses you when you drop a seed in a TV parlour? It grows you any shape it wishes! It is an environment as real as the world. It becomes and is the truth. Books can be beaten down with reason. But with all my knowledge and scepticism, I have never been able to argue with a one-hundred-piece symphony orchestra, full colour, three dimensions, and I being in and part of those incredible parlours.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Profesor Faber), Page 80
“And something more! It listens! If you put it in your ear, Montag, I can sit comfortably home, warming my frightened bones, and hear and analyse the firemen’s world, find its weaknesses, without danger. I’m the Queen Bee, safe in the hive. You will be the drone, the travelling ear. Eventually, I could put out ears into all parts of the city, with various men, listening and evaluating. If the drones die, I’m still safe at home, tending my fright with a maximum of comfort and a minimum of chance.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Profesor Faber), Page 87
Fahrenheit 451 Quotes About Fire With Page Numbers
“Abruptly the room took off on a rocket flight into the clouds; it plunged into a lime-green sea where blue fish at red and yellow fish. A minute later, three White Cartoon Clowns chopped off each other’s limbs to the accompaniment of immense incoming tides of laughter. Two minutes more and the room whipped out of town to the jet cars wildly circling an arena, bashing and backing up and bashing each other again. Montag saw a number of bodies fly in the air.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Montag as the narrator), Page 90
“How’re your children, Mrs. Phelps?’ he asked.
‘You know I haven’t any! No one in his right mind, the good Lord knows, would have children!’ said Mrs. Phelps, not quite sure why she was angry with this man.
‘I wouldn’t say that,’ said Mrs. Bowles. ‘I’ve had TWO children by Caesarian section. No use going through all that agony for a baby. The world must reproduce, you know, the race must go on. Besides, they sometimes look just like you, and that’s nice. Two Caesarians turned the trick, yes, sir. Oh, my doctor said, Caesarians aren’t necessary; you’ve got the hips for it, everything’s normal, but I INSISTED.’
‘Caesarians or not, children are ruinous; you’re out of your mind,’ said Mrs. Phelps.
‘I plunk the children in school nine days out of ten. I put up with them when they come home three days a month; it’s not bad at all. You heave them into the ‘parlor’ and turn the switch. It’s like washing clothes: stuff laundry in and slam the lid.’ Mrs. Bowles tittered. ‘They’d just as soon kick as kiss me. Thank God, I can kick back!”~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Characters: Guy Montag, Mrs. Phelps, and Mrs. Bowles), Pages 92, 93
Fahrenheit 451 Quotes About Technology With Page Numbers, Part 3: Burning Bright
“He took Montag quickly into the bedroom and lifted a picture frame aside, revealing a television screen the size of a postal card. “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.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Montag as the narrator), Page 126
“With an effort, Montag reminded himself again that this was no fictional episode to be watched on his run to the river; it was in actuality his own chess game he was witnessing, move by move.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Montag as the narrator), Page 131
“Then the lights switched back to the land, the helicopters swerved over the city again, as if they had picked up another trail. They were gone. The Hound was gone. Now there was only the cold river and Montag floating in a sudden peacefulness, away from the city and the lights and the chase, away from everything.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Montag as the narrator), Page 133
“And there at the bottom of the hayloft stair, waiting for him, would be the incredible thing. He would step carefully down, in the pink light of early morning, so fully aware of the world that he would be afraid, and stand over the small miracle and at last bend to touch it.
A cool glass of fresh milk, and a few apples and pears laid at the foot of the steps.
This was all he wanted now. Some sign that the immense world would accept him and give him the long time needed to think all the things that must be thought.
A glass of milk, an apple, a pear.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Montag as the narrator), Page 136
“He saw her leaning toward the great shimmering walls of color and motion where the family talked and talked and talked to her, where the family prattled and chatted and said her name and smiled at her and said nothing of the bomb that was an inch, now a half inch, now a quarter inch from the top of the hotel.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about technology (Character: Montag as the narrator), Page 152
What is a quote about technology in Fahrenheit 451?
“It doesn’t think anything we don’t want it to think.’
‘That’s sad,’ said Montag, quietly, ‘because all we put into it is hunting and finding and killing. What a shame if that’s all it can ever know.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, (Captain Beatty and Guy Montag), Page 25
How is technology shown in Fahrenheit 451?
In Fahrenheit 451, technology is portrayed as a double-edged sword that can distract and control society. Parlor walls and seashell radios remove individuals from real-world activities and relationships. Meanwhile, the Mechanical Hound ensures citizens remain compliant with the societal system.
The novel warns about the dangers of technology and its potential to limit independent thought and rebellion.
F 451 Quotes About Society With Page Numbers
What are some examples of dangers of technology in Fahrenheit 451?
In Fahrenheit 451, author Ray Bradbury portrays the dangers of technology through various examples. One such example is the distraction caused by entertainment, which leads to a lack of social interaction. Additionally, technology is used for enforcement and surveillance, resulting in a loss of privacy for citizens.
What is a list of technology used in Fahrenheit 451?
- Seashell Radios: An inner-ear radio used to listen to music and talk directly into their ears.
- Parlor Walls: Massive television screens that occupy entire walls and serve as the main source of entertainment and communication.
- Mechanical Hound: A robotic dog that can track and capture people and inject them with a paralytic drug.
- Fingerprint Recognition: Used to identify individuals and track their movements.
- Blood Transfusion Machines: These are used in emergencies to pump the stomach and swap contaminated blood with fresh blood.
Overall, Bradbury’s use of technology in the novel warns about the dangers of relying too heavily on technology and the potential consequences of its misuse.
How does technology affect Montag in Fahrenheit 451?
Technology plays a significant role in Montag’s life in Fahrenheit 451. The mechanical hound tracks Montag when he rebels against societal norms, while the seashells help him communicate with Faber, who guides him toward knowledge and freedom.
Montag’s wife, on the other hand, is consumed by the distractions of the parlor TV walls, leading to her overdose, which is treated with the help of advanced technology.
Also, Montag’s neighbor Clarisse McClellan is killed by rocket cars.
What are the themes about technology in Fahrenheit 451?
In Fahrenheit 451, technology is a major theme that showcases the dangers of distraction and modernization. The novel portrays the consequences of unchecked technology, including government control, surveillance, entertainment and distraction, fast cars, reckless driving, technology to snitch on people, and communication.
Ray Bradbury’s narrative prophesizes a future with red flags and warning signs of what could happen if technology is left unchecked.