preview

Theme Of Love In Fahrenheit 451

Decent Essays

Since the beginning of time, many philosophers have wondered; what does genuine love look like? This profound question is addressed in the novel Fahrenheit 451. In his novel Ray Bradbury uses characterization to imply that love, true love, is unable to exist without freedom of thought from government indoctrination, or continual isolation from other people because of technology. Bradbury implies this in the characterization of Mildred, Mrs. Phelps and Clarisse.

Mildred is the wife of Guy Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451. Although they are married they are not in love. Mildred does not love anybody, other than the ‘relatives’. The ‘relatives’ are devices similar to advanced wall televisions. She is so addicted to the ‘relatives’ that she no longer has legitimate relationships with anyone, including Guy. Her addiction causes her to crave more time with, and space to accommodate the ‘relatives’. Even when Guy buys her three walls of ‘relatives’ she still urges him to buy a fourth one. She no longer cares for her husband, she only values him for what he can give her. By the end of the story Mildred and Guy are so estranged that she reports him to the firemen, to be arrested for possessing books. While reporting him, she is not acting of her own accord. She is unable to think for herself, because the government has indoctrinated her. Her indoctrination causes her to report her own husband because she has been taught that books are evil. Once Montag has been reported she leaves and does not look back. This shows that isolation and government control over her thinking caused her to be incapable of loving her husband. Bradbury intentionally uses Mildred’s actions to portray this idea.

Another example of an estranged relationship between a husband and a wife is Pete and Clara Phelps. Their relationship is estranged by isolation due to Pete being in the war. Another factor in the frailty of their relationship is the ideology set by their society that if someone dies, their spouse continues on immediately without mourning their loss. The novel shows that the Phelps follow this ideology when Clara says “Pete and I always said, no tears, nothing like that… He said, if I get killed off, you just go right ahead

Get Access