Dystopia Essay - Parallel Between Worlds

The novel, Fahrenheit 451, portrays an far-fetched dystopian society which is ruled by virtual worlds, totalitarian governments, and fear. How different and similar is Bradbury’s society to our modern-day world? Is there any possibility that our current culture may evolve into the culture which Bradbury created? There are no definite answers to these questions; however, I am beginning to notice that many of the threats to freedom, which can be found in Fahrenheit 451, are beginning to appear in the present-day. Rising technology and ever-growing government power may conform life as we know it into a modern-day dystopia.

One example of technology commonly found in both Fahrenheit 451 and today’s society is the "sea-shell radio." This "sea-shell" is a supposedly a small musical device which is placed in the ear. How is the sea-shell radio different from technology we have today? Surprisingly, this device resembles the ear-buds commonly used with iPods and such players. According to studies, approximately 1 out of 9 people own similar music players today. Even I am guilty of indulging in the music that the "sea-shells" provide.

Apart from when she isn’t speaking to Montag, it seems as if Mildred was constantly listening to music with the "sea-shells" in her ears. Montag commonly referred to these devices as "musical insects (p.46)." This gadget was one of the numerous that the dystopian government used to occupy and "brainwash" its people.While reading through an outside source, I read that "using these shells, people drift off to sea, so to speak, and lose sight of reality." Considering this novel’s plot, "drifting of to sea" is exactly what Bradbury’s fictional government wants its people to do. Like Bradbury's totalitarian government, has our own national authority gradually been brainwashing us? All in all, time will tell whether or not our modern society will morph into the mindless society as portrayed in Fahrenheit 451.