In order to repress individualism, the freedom to express emotion is eliminated, removing citizens’ ability to distinguish their own sense of reality.
“It’s an important thing for you to remember, Montag, is we’re the Happiness Boys, the Dixie Duo, you and I and the others. We stand against the small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought. We have our fingers in the dike. Hold steady. Don’t let the torrent of melancholy and drear philosophy drown our world. We depend on you. I don’t think you realize how important you are, we are, to our happy world as it stands now.” (Fahrenheit 451, Faber p. 62)
In the texts, this is achieved through the restriction of movement, thought, relationships, and communication. As freedom and communication is the primary association to which humans are able to demonstrate empowers the control which technology holds, since individuals can no longer maintain their personal principles. Furthermore, the concept of control through technology entirely distorts, and reappropriates one’s understanding of society, confuses the mind, and the individual has no previous experience to base their claims against. One good example from The Matrix is the introduction of the life-changing pills. The ‘Blue Pill’ which Morpheus explains as ‘wonderland’ will erase his memory and all that he knows about The Matrix, Neo will continue living his normal life as he knows himself to be. The ‘Red Pill,’ promises the truth, freedom, a better place, and a better humanity. By choosing the ‘Red Pill,’ Neo will be able to fulfill the prophecy. The control that technology has is emphasized by Neo himself:
“I know you’re out there, I can feel you now, I know that you’re afraid, you’re afraid of us, you’re afraid of change. I don’t know the future, I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it is going to begin. I’m going to hang up this phone and then I’m going to show these people what you don’t want them to see. I’m going to show them a world without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from here is a choice I leave to you” (The Matrix, Neo).
Technology in Fahrenheit 451 also displays how technology can drastically affect what we define as humanity. Technology in this case has replaced real-life communication causing social isolation and because of this, depression and loneliness take place. The technology represented in The Giver resulted in a controlled and dull place for Jonas to grow and develop, hence why he wanted to escape and live elsewhere; but there are also instances where the technology in the community is seen as a positive aspect which is why it is inferred that Lois Lowry has a neutral look on technology. In Fahrenheit 451 society has made everyone equal, by taking attention away from differences.
“We must all be alike. Not everyone is born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy…” (F.451 Beatty).
In The Giver, people are physically made the same. People no longer have different facial features, skin tones, heights, weights, or anything that sets them apart.
'Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. Before my time,... back and back and back. We... did away with the difference. We gained control of many things” (The Giver to Jonas, The Giver).
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The influence that time has is evident in the comparison of these quotes.
Fahrenheit 451 and The Matrix can also be compared to 1984, by George Orwell. 1984 is set in a dystopian future, The country is in a state of continuous war and its citizens are under relentless observation by the oppressive, totalitarian government. Winston Smith, a mid-level government employee engages in a forbidden sexual relationship. Winston questions the constant government propaganda and is later arrested for his individual thought — known as thought crime. The power of individualism and the dangers of a totalitarian government while emphasizing the importance of free thought is examined similarly to that of Fahrenheit 451 and The Matrix but in this case, authority is regarded as technology. George Orwell takes a strong stance against censorship and totalitarian regimes.
Technology can also serve as a means of surveillance. This was seen in the phone call between Trinity and Cypher. The robot-like ‘bug’ inserted inside Neo’s body to survey him is another example of extreme, methods of surveillance. Morpheus emphasizes the concept of surveillance through technology as a means of control.
“The Matrix is everywhere; it is all around us; even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out of your window, or when you’re turning your television. You can feel it when you go to work when you go to church when you pay your taxes. It is the world that had been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth” (The Matrix, Morpheus).
The hound in Fahrenheit 451 is also an example of surveillance. The mechanical hound is a robotic dog designed to track down and kill fugitives in Bradbury's dystopian society. The mechanical hound lives in a kennel inside the fire station and eventually identifies Montag as a fugitive.
“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 (24). 5. Quote: It doesn’t think anything we don’t want it to think (27)” (Fahrenheit 451).
The mechanical hound is a metaphor for Montag and other members of his society. The hound has no original thought or motives and has simply been programmed to function. In a similar way, Montag and other members of his society are theoretically alive, but they do not sincerely experience nor do they have any original thoughts.
The subversion of technology has led to the birth of instructive and destructive machinery, redefining human subjectivity. Technology destroys an individual’s ability to distinguish oneself from others. Technology colonizes an individual’s thoughts, behaviors, and relationships. It is timely for readers to pay attention to the warnings offered. Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel ‘Fahrenheit 451’ and Wachowski’s science fiction film ‘The Matrix strongly foregrounds technological oppression through the characterization of the protagonists and portrayal of relationships amongst the characters and towards the setting such as sentinels, the hound, and the portrayal of life itself, lastly, the distortion of truth and reality through manipulation and fabrications.
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