Technological Utopias And The Other In Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 is one of the most influential works of Ray Bradbury and one of the most renowned dystopian classics of the 20^th century.Set in the future American society with the rapid development of technology,the novel reveals the oppression,resistance,and redemption of art,individuals,and nature in different technological societies.The exploration of the changes of art,individuals,and nature through their respective presentations,namely books,ethical relations,and the natural waters,in different technological utopias helps to reflect on Bradbury’s utopian vision.Changes of the Other in western philosophy,utopian traditions in history,and the concept of the technological utopia expound that the technological utopia belonging to the blueprint utopian tradition tends to bring violence to the Other.In the novel,the urban technological utopia presents the illusion of the Other.Under“the supremacy of pleasure,”books are replaced with electronic plays and burned by firemen,eliminating the negativity and confrontation of art against reality.Under“the supremacy of equality,”individuals are transformed into instruments without ethical concern and involved in unstoppable killings,thus deprived of their uniqueness.“The supremacy of consumption”makes people forget the natural water and falsifies the electronic water,obscuring the emancipatory power of nature.Meanwhile,the rural technological utopia under“the supremacy of memorizing books”leads to the existential plight of the Other.Books are rediscovered but transformed into weapons for political combat,leading to the abuse of art.Individuals become irreplaceable allies but are confined in the brotherhood with the regulation of memorizing books.Though coexisting with the natural water,the rural technological utopia brings the endless exploitation of the river,invariably isolating the revolutionary power of nature.However,Bradbury still anticipates a suspended technological utopia.Books become the power of illumination through the renewed understanding of books and rebellious practices.The unconditional acceptance of friends and families and the unconditional love for strangers and the world bring about the construction of unconditional friendship.The immersion and trust in the river help to release the revolutionary power of nature as purification and illumination.Therefore,art,individuals,and nature still have the possibility of salvation in the technological utopia.The examination of the fate of the Other in technological utopias in Fahrenheit 451illustrates that the urban and the rural technological utopias with the advocation of“supremacies”fail to bring salvation to the Other.Contrastingly,the true knowledge of art,the assumption of responsibility for individuals,and the restoration of the revolutionary value of nature offer the possibility of the salvation of the Other in the oppressive technological utopias.At a time when the issues of the Other and technology prevail and the impulse for utopia wanes,interpreting Fahrenheit 451 from the research perspectives of the Other and the technological utopia seems to respond to our reality as well.