Mildred In Fahrenheit 451

In the book Fahrenheit 451, the author Ray Bradbury has many fears for the future. The book is set in a futuristic time where fireman are payed to burn books. Montag, one of the lead characters, is married to Mildred. As the book progresses the relationship between Mildred and Montag is dysfunctional as they do not truly love or care about each other. Mildred ends up committing suicide.

On part one of Fahrenheit 451, Montag and Mildred are fighting with one another about the woman and the books that Montag watched burn together. Mildred doesn’t think of it as a big deal since the woman chose to stay with the books instead of allowing the firemen to burn them. While in the middle of this argument, Montag states, “‘And

In the novel Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, there are many different characters and each one plays a different role. One of the main characters, Guy Montag, is a fireman who takes pride in his work and enjoys burning books as a part of his job. His outlook about burning books changes after he meets Clarisse McClellan and Professor Faber. It’s very interesting how Montag’s way of thinking transforms overtime. He becomes very courageous about hiding books and is also curious about reading them. Throughout the novel his actions, ideas, and his feelings change as he starts to think for himself.

Fahrenheit 451 is a book that surrounds a fireman named Guy Montag and his revelations of the world he lives in. He becomes aware of the horrible things that occur around him and begins to notice them more. As a fireman; which is a person that burns books in their world; Montag is faced with several choices to make. Finally, he decides to take action as he reaches out to a man called Professor Faber and they develop a plan to curve the course their world is taking. However, throughout the book, several surprising dilemmas occur with other characters of the book like Mildred Montag (Guy Montag’s depressed wife) and Captain Beatty (chief of the fire department) that help steer Montag into the choices he makes.

It was revealed that Mildred and her friends are the people that reported Montag to the firemen. Earlier, Montag offended Mildred’s friends by reading a melachony poem that caused emotion. Mildred did not stay loyal to her husband and instead reports him to the government, abiding to society. The main rift in their relationship was that they are on opposite sides of society, Mildred is very devoted while Montag challenges the society standards. Deep down, she knows that if she is instead devoted to her husband then her life would go down the drain. She would lose everything including her ‘family’ and therefore has no hestiation in turning against

“And he remembered thinking that if she died, he was certain he wouldn’t cry” (Bradburry 47). Throughout the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury the crumbling relationship between Mildred and Montag leads to the breakage of their marriage and Montag finding his place in the world. The couple goes through ten years of marriage without love. This unhealthy relationship causes a miserable life for both of them. They live is a damaged society where everyone is under strict control. Books and pedestrians are banned, while killing and hurting are allowed. Mildred goes through life knowing very little about the world surrounding her, she is comfortable with being ignorant. Montag, on the other hand, is on a mission to learn more about his and Mildred’s civilization. He wants to find the root of the problem and repair it. This difference in the two individuals leads to the breaking of their relationship, and the ending of their life as they know it. Mildred’s realization that she doesn’t love Montag, Montag questioning the ways of society, and Montag reading books to Mildred and her friends leads to Mildred giving up on Montag and turning him into the government.

Mildred, a woman who conforms to society and is television obsessed, and Montag, a firefighter who begins to doubt whether or not to follow the law to end the burning of books, constantly clash opinions throughout the novel. Mildred wants to continue living by societies dystopian norms, but Montag wants to put an end to their book-burning depressed society. Because they have different opinions, it makes it

“That’s awful! ...Why should I read? What for?”(Bradbury, 73) Mildred hates the fact that her house and her ‘family’ would burn down if Beatty and the other firemen found out about Montag and his books. Mildred doesn’t understand why Montag wants to reason with her and what he finds so special in books. Mildred is a selfish woman who cares only about herself and her friends. As long as nothing happened to her ‘family’, she’d be fine.

Guy Montag is the protagonist and central character of the book, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury that transforms from a conformist in a totalitarian society to rebuilding a society that reads books. Montag fits the cliché description of a good-looking male with “black hair, black brows…fiery face, and…blue-steel shaved but unshaved look.” (Bradbury, 33)  For the past eight years he has burned books. He is a 3rd generation firefighter, who in the beginning of the story, loves his job, which consists of burning the homes of people who perform criminal acts of reading and keeping books in their homes. By understanding Montag’s relationships, discontentment, and future, one can begin to understand the complexities of Guy Montag.

Tim Youngclaus Mrs. Paglia & Mrs. Robinson English 10 CP, D Period 28 October 2014 Mildred’s Captivation Claim: In the science fiction novel Fahrenheit 451, leading a life blind to reality, Mildred is not truly happy for the reason that she uses sleeping pills as a distraction from reality and from the lack of engagement with others, discomposing herself to watch more tv. Mildred’s use of sleeping pills becomes dangerous when one night she takes too many and ends up overdosing. Montag tries to confront Mildred about it the morning after her overdose.

Now on both of their behalves they really did not have the same view into the dystopian society. Montag believed it was wrong to burn books, and Mildred did not care about nothing including Montag and them books. “It is easy to read the women in Fahrenheit 451 as stock, one-dimensional characters, set up only to illustrate the opposite poles between which Montag struggles.” Montag does not realize he struggles to see the differences in him and women. “Although Montag has not yet recognized the problem with this reduction of happiness to a step below hedonism, a kind of vicarious hedonism, in which even sensation is often artificially provided, Beatty seems aware of it." Beatty realizes something different before Montag has the chance to. “Before Montag can begin to recognize his connection to others and to his inhuman society, however, he needs to reconnect with himself, reestablish his relationship with the world.”

Most people think it’s normal to be them, but everyone is different in their own way. Well this isn’t the case in the book Fahrenheit 451, most people are basically the same person. Mildred in the story is just like everyone else, she seems to be self-centered, robotic, and unfeeling.

Clarisse McClellan is a short-lived but incredibly meaningful character in Fahrenheit 451, in addition to Mildred as well. These two characters in the novel each represent the two sides of society within the story, being the blind norm and the uncommon, abnormal outliers. Clarisse is an introverted outsider to the rest of the world, a rare remnant of our current society. This characteristic causes Mildred’s way of life to stand out, in that she’s a gossiping social-butterfly or mainstream. Mildred is a poster-child example of the majority of members of society.

Montag recognizes that burning books is more than destroying pieces of paper. Books are the foundation for the future of the society in Fahrenheit 451. In the beginning of Fahrenheit 451 Guy Montag is a firefighter. A firefighter in the society of Fahrenheit 451 is someone who burns the books.

In Fahrenheit 451’s dystopian society, the possession of books is considered criminal. A once proud fireman who regularly burned books turned a new leaf and began to understand and value the importance of literature. Multiple characters in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 impact the ex-firemans, Montag, life in a way that changed him forever. Throughout the novel Montag discovers a different outlook and perspective on the society in which he lives and how he perceives books. From a fireman to an outlaw, a few specific characters greatly impact Montag. Montag meets a young woman who perceives the world in a different way which affects Montag’s outlook on society. Also, a retired English professor gave Montag confidence and the comprehension of books. A character close to Montag, his wife, shows him how the loss of importance of books would affect his life . When Montag goes outside, he comes across a young woman who does not seem like the others in the city. Montag begins to talk to her and his life changes in a major way.