Fahrenheit 451 Essay, Research Paper

Ray

Bradbury?s satire, Fahrenheit 451, is a novel full of symbols criticizing the

modern world. Among those symbols appears The Hound. The Hound?s actions and

even its shape are reflections of the society Bradbury has predicted to come.

Montag?s world continues on without thought; without any real reason. There is

no learning, no growth, and no purpose. ?The Mechanical Hound slept but did

not sleep, lived but did not live in its gently humming, gently vibrating,

softly illuminated kennel back in the dark corner of the firehouse? (24),

wrote Bradbury to describe this hound. Like the hound, society was alive yet

dead as well, drudging through life; mindless. The Hound was a programmed robot

that didn?t thing on its own; that only acted as it was told. Captain Beatty

states, ?It just ?functions?. It has a trajectory we decide on for it. It

follows through. It targets itself, homes itself, and cuts off. Its only copper

wire, storage batteries, and electricity? (20), and ?It doesn?t think

anything we don?t want it to think? (27). That society was programmed to not

think, wonder or ask why. They didn?t do anything that they weren?t supposed

to do. Today, everything is happening just as The Hound is controlled.

Programming is happening in our very world. Take schools for example. Consider

Pavlov?s experiment with ringing bells to provoke an automatic response in

dogs. He rang a bell; the dogs salivated expecting food. The school board rings

a bell, and students rise to show respect for the American flag because ?now

is the designated time to be patriotic, and you will or face consequences?.

The bell rings, students stand. The bell rings, the students sit, the student

walks, the student is allowed to eat. We?re robots in the programmed society.

The perversion of Montag?s society was eminent in the appearance of the

Mechanical Hound. A ?hound? with ?eight spidery legs?, a metal body and

electrical eyes is far from just short of a normal dog. As it was with The

Hound, society was far from normal. The society was strange, backward and

totally abnormal. There was no compassion for life as Mildred makes apparent by

stating ?It?s fun out in the country. You hit rabbits, sometimes you hit

dogs. Go take the beetle? (64). Here Mildred tells Montag to take the car out

and hit animals to relieve stress and anxiety. Schools no longer teach core

subjects, only sports and ?fun? things. Bradbury?s society hasn?t the

time, nor the desire, to actually learn or better themselves. Society is

perverted. Today, the computer games, television programs, and other such

entertainment possesses more attention than family members, creating a void

where once lay family value, and important family time. Therefore, more often

than not, that void is filled with harmful, unmoral behavior, much like that

behavior demonstrated in Bradbury?s novel when some teenagers were

intentionally trying to run him over with their car. Is this normal?

Unfortunately, it is becoming exactly that. In this society Bradbury created,

you are pampered, entertained and kept completely happy with no worries; nothing

to fear. However, the quest for happiness ultimately leads to the downfall. All

communication to the ?disturbing? outside world was cut off as to protect

the citizens from having to worry. The people were oblivious to the war raging

outside, and the bomb that eventually killed them. The society lived in blind

happiness. Paralleling this society is The Hound. When it attacks its victim, it

injects lethal doses of morphine, causing the person to experience drowsiness

and fall into a deep relaxing sleep, unaware that they will never wake up.