Fahrenheit 451

Why is this passage significant in describing the society Montag lives within?

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“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” It was a plea, a cry so terrible that Montag
found himself on his feet, the shocked inhabitants of the loud car staring,
moving back from this man with the insane, gorged face, the gibbering, dry
mouth, the flapping book in his fist. The people who had been sitting a
moment before, tapping their feet to the rhythm of Denham’s Dentrifice,
Denham’s Dandy Dental Dertergent, Denham’s Dentrifice, Denham’s
Dentrifice Denham’s Dentrifice, one two, one two three, one two, one two
three. The people whose mouths had been faintly twitching the words
Dentrifice Dentrifirice Dentrifrice. The train radio vomited upon Montag, in
retaliation, a great tonload of music made of tin, copper, silver, chromium,
and brass. The people pounded into submission; they did not run, there
was no place to run; the great air train fell down its shaft in the earth.

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Why is this passage significant in describing the society Montag lives within?

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Last updated by jill d #170087
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This passage is significant because it illustrates the way technology can replace curiosity, conversation, and the act of excercising the mind. It represents how easily we are distracted, and how simple it is to muddy our minds with brain sludge as a replacement for real, useful information. Tests, for example..... think about how many times you've studied for a particular test, only to sit down for the exam and find yourself unable to pull up the information when you need it. Then...... flip the coin and think about the number of commercials or theme songs from television programming you can recite word for word without hesitation. That is brain sludge..... the things that clutter our mind and take up room for no other reason that we've memorized them over time because of repetition simply because they're background noise that intrudes upon out minds.

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Fahrenheit 451