Has your mom ever told you not to watch television too much because it is a bad influence? Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and 1984 by George Orwell both share the common idea that technology is a mind-controlling device. The television walls in Fahrenheit 451 and the telescreens in 1984 control people’s minds by deadening it, controlling what they watch, or surveying their every move.

In both novels, many characters are completely infatuated with technology. In Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag's wife, Mildred, and her numerous housewife friends are all entranced by their television walls. They watch it day and night, whenever they have time, ignoring what is happening around them in favor of listening and watching the mindless "television family". "And the uncles, the aunts, the cousins, the nieces, the nephews, that liven in those walls, the gibbering pack of tree-apes that said nothing, nothing, nothing and wait it loud, loud, loud...No matter when he came in, the walls were  always talking to Mildred. 'Something must be done!' 'Yes, something must be done!' 'Well, let's not stand and talk!' 'Let's do it!' 'I'm so mad I could spit!' What was that all about? Mildred couldn't say. Who was mad at whom? Mildred didn't quite know. What were they going to do? Well, said Mildred, wait around and see" (41-42). Mildred not only watched it almost 24/7, she also had absolutely no idea what was going on! Similarly, in 1984, Winston Smith defied the Party. But, after being caught, tortured, and brainwashed by the Ministry of Love, he became as mindless and telescreen-consumed as almost every other citizen in Oceania. Every day, he sat in the Chestnut Tree Cafe sipping gin, playing chess games, and, most importantly, watching the telescreen. "The trumpet call had let loose an enormous volume of noise. Already an excited voice was gabbling from the telescreen, but even as it started it was almost drowned by a roar of cheering from the outside. The news had run round the streets like magic. He should hear just enough of what was issuing from the telescreen to realize that it had all happened as he had foreseen: a vast sea born armada secretly assembled, a sudden blow in the enemy's rear, the white arrow tearing across the tail of the black." Before being captured, Winston even knew that the war was nothing but a trick to let people vent their anger on the enemies instead of the government. But the constant propaganda shown on the telescreen forced him to think about nothing but the ever-going war, filling the people’s minds with a sense of nationalism and purpose.

However, these two books do have differences in regard to the theme. The technology in Fahrenheit 451 had more of a mind-numbing purpose. The television walls controlled people’s minds by destroying it, filling it with nonsense. The “stories” and “conversations” said by the television “family” was complete gibberish, and didn’t even add up, but Mildred didn’t realize it. She didn’t know what was going on, but she was still infatuated by their conversations. She laughed with them, but when asked what she was laughing about, she had no idea. And even when Guy Montag pointed it out to her, she still didn’t care. All she wanted to do was to be left alone to watch the television family. This shows how completely brainwashed Mildred became after constantly watching the television family.

The telescreens in 1984 controlled the minds of the population by making them conscious and more wary of their actions and thoughts, instead of numbing their minds completely. “Moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision with the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard” (3). Because of this, they needed to be extra careful of their actions. “It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing would give you away…There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime, it was called” (62). The citizens of Oceania lived in a constant state of fear, scared that any of their actions would be seen as an eccentricity and be eliminated. Even those determined to defy the Party were scared and careful about what they did and thought, in fear that it might show in their face, and they would be captured by the Ministry of Love and be tortured. The Party knew that they would eventually give up, let go of their convictions, and do what was easiest. It was way easier for those who conformed to the Party’s will and ate up every word that they said to live as comfortably as they could in their everyday life. The constant scrutinization of each citizen made them more alert of their thoughts and actions, making it nearly impossible to defy the Party.

Technology in our lives is both a positive and a negative. Ray Bradbury and George Orwell both show through their two books how it affects people negatively by controlling their minds. In Fahrenheit 451, it numbs the mind of everybody who watches it. In 1984, is controls people’s minds by constantly spying on their every move and stuffing them with propaganda. Perhaps your parents were right.