Fahrenheit 451 Seashells Analysis

The characters in Fahrenheit 451 are addicted to the technology that is in their society. One character that exemplifies this technology addiction is Mildred. The technology that she is the most obsessive over is the parlor walls. The parlor walls can best be described as televisions covering all the walls of an entire room. While most parlor walls have four televisions, Montag’s and Mildred’s parlor walls only have three. Mildred questions Montag by saying, “How long do you figure before we save up and get the fourth wall torn out and a fourth wall –TV put in? It’s only two-thousand dollars” (20). Montag responds with “That’s one-third of my yearly pay” (20) and is astonished by how naive Mildred is. Mildred is so blindsided by her beloved parlor walls, that she doesn’t even recognize how lazy she is and how hard that Montag works to provide for her. She doesn’t see or understand the bigger picture, she only sees the parlor walls as most important. Mildred expects to get another parlor wall because she is addicted to them. In another statement, she says a rude comment in return to Montag asking, “Will you turn the parlor off?” (49). Mildred responds with, “That’s my family” (49) and doesn’t give it a second thought. Even though Montag and Mildred are married, Mildred says that the parlor walls are her family and implies that they are more of a

Faber says, “So now you see why books are hated and feared?They show the pores in the face of life”(79). Montag decides to work with Faber and become a revolutionary even though it may be risky. Faber decides to give Montag an earpiece so that he can hear what is going on in Montag’s life and they can communicate secretly. Montag takes the earpiece and goes home. When home he finds Mildred and her friends watching the television. To Montag this seems like a good time to bring out all the books in his home. Montag was trying to be a revolutionary and change Mildred and her friends into believing that books were actually fine but it backfired on him. When he decides to read a poem to the girls he gets a negative response. One of the friends, Mrs.Phelps begins to cry, the other friend Mrs.Bowles says, “I’ve always said, poetry tears, poetry and suicide and crying and awful feelings”(97). Their whole society was avoiding books because they provoke real and raw emotions that they think they are not able to handle, but they could be if they tried. Montag changed his outlook and was trying to help others, but their minds were not developed enough to

Instead, Mildred showed her ignorance and was stubborn about changing for the right reasons, committing a cowardly act of snitching on Montag, therefore conforming once again to the terrible, lying community they live in. Mildred lives a pathetic, lonely life consisting of her loved ones which only contained televisions. In the quote, while Mildred was running from the house, she was worrying and feeling regretful but not for Montag, for leaving her “family” behind. Montag on the other hand, differs from Mildred. He started off his life as a conformist and became courageous through others opening his

This reference shows how music lays a foundation of teenage values beyond school or parental teaching. A musical artist can influence a young mind by the chosen lyrics with greater effectiveness than formal education. Music can control or enhance moods. A good mood can get better or a bad mood can be worked through with the choice of music. A bad mood can also be enhanced by lyrics about suicide or violent behavior. Teens can also use music to gain information about the adult world, to withdraw from social contact, facilitate friendships and social settings, or to help them create a personal identity. (O'Toole, 1997)

The word ‘family’ reveals how Mildred relies on technology like a real family instead of caring and being warm-hearted towards her husband, who is her actual family. In addition, it represents Mildred’s obsession towards the parlor. The word ‘sick’ shows that Montag needs care from someone and Mildred is not helping him, by not even decreasing the volume for a sick husband who is continually asking her to turn it off, indicates that Mildred has no care for her husband. Mildred’s subsequent reliance on technology makes her inseparable from it, trying to stay with technology all the time and not caring what happens to others hence making her selfish. Mildred’s egocentric behaviour is also illustrated when she puts the alarm when Montag brings the books to home and reads them in a society where they do not allow books. “She ran past with her body stiff, her face floured with powder, her mouth gone, without lipstick. ‘Mildred you didn’t put in the alarm!’ She shoved in the valise in the waiting beetle, climbed in and sat mumbling, ‘Poor family, poor family, oh everything gone, everything gone, everything gone now…’”(114). Mildred turned in Montag to the firehouse for having books. Mildred knew the consequences of what will happen when she puts in the alarm. Everything in the house will be destroyed along with the parlors that she loves. Also, Montag is going to be arrested for possessing books but Mildred still decides to report Montag because she wants her

Furthermore, after Montag requests that Mildred turn the parlor down for him, a “sick man,” she does absolutely “nothing” to the parlor and comes back, which demonstrates that Mildred is not willing to sacrifice her comforts of the wall TVs, even for the health and well-being of her husband. This highlights the fact that Mildred does not care about her husband, as she does not lower the volume of the parlor walls by even a fraction, and that she cares more about her own luxury of the parlor walls. Bradbury’s use of words in this section effectively communicates that Mildred is more emotionally attached to the “family” in the parlor walls than her real family, which illustrates that a large reliance on technology renders one more emotionally connected to technology than to actual people. Later on in the novel, Mildred sends an alarm to the fire department because her husband has hidden books in their home. As the fire truck pulls into their driveway, Mildred “shove[d] the valise in the waiting beetle, climb[s] in, and [sits] mumbling, ‘Poor family, poor family, oh everything gone, everything, everything gone now’” (114). Once again, Mildred refers to the parlor walls as her “family.” Bradbury’s use of this word to describe Mildred’s connection to the parlor walls implies that the characters on the screen are real people with whom she has emotional attachments. Moreover, Mildred

They become so dependent on these items that they can’t even function without them. When Mildred’s friends came to visit, Montag turned off their parlor walls, creating a panic. Ray Bradbury writes: “Montag reached inside the parlor wall and pulled the main switch. The images drained away, as if the water had been let from a gigantic crystal bowl of hysterical fish. The three women turned slowly and looked with unconcealed irritation and then dislike at Montag.” (Bradbury 94) Censorship of knowledge is clear when firemen are burning books, but is also hinted at through subtle ways, such as parlor walls and the seashell ears. These items have control over citizens; they prevent them from formulating their own opinions. The author states, “She ran with her body stiff, her face floured with powder, her mouth gone, without lipstick… she shoved the valise in the waiting beetle, climbed in, and sat mumbling, ‘Poor family, poor family, oh everything gone, everything, everything gone now…” (Bradbury 114) When Mildred says ‘Poor family’, she is referring to the parlor walls. This is all that Mildred cares about. It doesn’t bother her that she just endangered her husband, Montag. Mildred lost the power to make her own decisions because of the censorship of

In the first half of the book Bradbury demonstrates the theme through showing the emotions of others regarding to other people, focusing on Mildred in particular. In the beginning of the book Montag runs into Clarisse, a person who is not like the rest and cares about the deeper meanings. He grew fond of her, later to find out that he would never see her again, since she was dead. The news was given by Mildred in a way that seemed unpresented sympathy, “‘Four days ago. I’m not sure. But I think she’s dead. The family moved out anyway. I don’t know. But I think she’s dead,’” (44). Mildred delivers the news late and without any sympathy, instead she is unsure if her information is true. She was ignorant to how Montag felt about Clarisse; numb to the pain and this was only a product of society and their need to hide this stress in order to preserve contentment. For instance they programmed behaviors into the different ‘families’ that other homeowners own, to normalize happier emotions while sadder, melancholic emotions were discouraged to the point that it was a surprise that people felt this way in any other setting than the presence of an illegal action. This false idea of what is human became

Instead of going outside, she always had her “seashell tamped in her ear, and she listened to far people in far places (page 12)” If Mildred was happy and loved Montag, she would want to spend time with im or go outside. She doesn’t really care about people because when Montag tells her about the lady that burned, she said, “That’s water under the bridge.” Mildred having lived in that society, learned to not value life and she takes it for granted. She didn’t even care about her own life. Montag finds a “crystal bottle of sleeping tablets which earlier [that day] had been filled with thirty capsules (page 13).” Mildred was so depressed that she went as far as to take her own

He sees what the walls are doing to his marriage and to his wife. He doesn’t want to be like that. Bradbury created Mildred to be so empty, no one wants to be like that. The significance of this particular quote to the main warning is that society as a whole is becoming much too dependant on television, the corresponding device to the parlor walls. If the people continue on this way, than modern society will end up like Mildred, oblivious, uncaring, and trying to make up for human needs with

Throughout the novel, Mildred represents a deluded personality who seems to be unbothered by her surroundings due to the artificial entertainment promoted by the government. Montag questions Mildred's ability of being unbothered by everything when he states "Let you alone! That's all very well, but how

Music has more of an influence on the people in the twenty-first century than it ever has before. Teens, especially, are surrounded by some sort of it in everything they are around or do. Many disagree on how music impacts one’s mental state and behavior; however, all agree that the impact depends on how the listener feels before and how they allow it to influence them.

The documentary of the American Academy of Pediatrics states that some studies have reported that adolescents use popular music to identify with their feelings and to take control of their mood. The documentary states that popular music provides the means to solve insignificant conflicts that are related to their developmental stage. Due to the increase number of electronic devices, such as iPods and other devices that require the use of headphones, parents might not know to what their children are listening to. The documentary mentions that number of research have proved that regardless of the age, there is a connection between music and emotions. It also mentions that several reports have proved that certain type of music, such as music

In recent years it’s become noticeable that students are using all different forms of music to help them while studying or doing homework. When listening to music one may notice how that person may tap their foot or drum their fingers, even though they appear to be focused on the task in front of them. The rhythm of the piece, whether it is fast or slow, causes the listener’s heartbeat to synch with it (How Music Affects Our Mood, 2014). The question however is which music to listen to. In some studies, test subjects show that the louder the music the more distracted the subjects became (Manthei, 2014). Doctor Emma Gray, a clinical psychologist in Britain, says, “If you choose the right music for the topic you are

The importance of teens and their music is what get teens through their day. Everyday traveling down the halls of school there are hundreds of people with headphones. Teens listen to music everyday and most teens can not live without it. Music is what teens understand and it does not matter what type of music it is. What types of music do teens listen to? Some music that teens listen to are rap, rock, country, gospel, contemporary christian and much more. Do particular music genres affect teens and their attitudes? “When teenagers use music as a mood-modifier, it can be used to reinforce and perpetuate negative emotions as well as positive emotions” (Allen, 2013). It is clear that music has an effect on teenagers' attitudes. The type of