Many people live happy and healthy lives, but not everyone is as lucky. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a book about Montag who is a firefighter that burns books. He lives in a dystopian society where happiness is the same for everyone, and the people in his society do not think for themselves. Montag does not know how to act or how he feels. Clarisse, and Mildred both impact Montag in different and unique ways.
Mildred Montag is an ordinary member of the society built in the novel Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. She sits at home everyday with her seashells plugged into her ears, staring at the wall, watching a pointlessly violent television show. But Mildred has also been cursed by being the wife of Guy Montag, someone who had just recently been struggling to grasp the true nature of the society. Because of Montag’s actions against society, Mildred has been left to make some complex decisions. Even though she is endangering Montag, the reader still feels sympathetic towards her because Bradbury has written her off to be the helpless wife who has been too brainwashed by her society to be saved.
Mildred and Montag hear bombers overhead but citizens cannot talk about war because citizens do not understand death and violence. The government glorifies war. The firemen were summoned at Mrs. Blake's house after Montag returned to the firehouse. There was the mechanical dog scratching at Montags front door. Mildred and Montag made two plans to make a copy of Montags book because they were afraid that the book would get burnt and would run out of them.
In Ray Bradbury’s speculative fiction novel, Fahrenheit 451, the protagonist, Guy Montag, undergoes significant changes in order to overcome the Road of Trials as he struggles with his dystopian society, which reflects the theme of censorship. To begin, Guy Montag, an uneducated, thirty-year-old fireman, portrays a strong passion for burning books. While walking home from the fire station one night, Montag was introduced to an internal conflict of happiness when he encountered his neighbor, Clarisse. She asked Montag a life impacting question which altered his view of society “‘Are you happy?’”
In society, some people have conflicts with things and people around them. In Fahrenheit 451, the main character, Montag, has to burn books for a living. Montag’s life began to change when he has a decision to steal, hide, and read the books, or turn the books in and act like everyone else. Ray Bradbury shows Montag’s conflict with his wife, a friend, and technology in Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury uses Mildred, Montag’s wife, to show how everyone there is like robots.
When Montag reveals his hidden books to Mildred, she does not take time to understand them. “‘It doesn’t mean anything!’” (Bradbury 65). She, instead, worries about how it might affect her image if they are found out. “He could hear her breathing rapidly and her face paled out and her eyes were fastened wide” (Bradbury 63).
Clarisse McClellan is the most significant character in the novel Fahrenheit 451. Clarisse plays a huge role in the storyline as she is the reason of Montag’s metamorphosis. She does this by making Montag question his surroundings, being a role model and changing Montag’s emotions towards others. Clarisse’s role and impact on Montag makes the most Important character.
All that Montag wants is to make the community realize why books are important. How books can help us. Also, how books can make us feel some type of emotion. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 states how Montag read a poem to Mrs. Phelps which she is one of Mildred’s vapid friends. As Montag was reading her that poem Mrs. Phelps began to cry.
Ray Bradbury, one of the most prolific science-fiction authors of the 20th century, wrote of the complexities of the human condition in his novel Fahrenheit 451. Montag, the protagonist, is a dutiful servant of his society, and is perfectly content with his life. He lives with his wife, Mildred, and they are well off and their lives appear to be fulfilled and untroubled. After a chance encounter with a curious girl named Clarisse, Montag’s perception of aspects of his world, specifically his happiness and the happiness of the people around him, changes considerably, and his life is forever transformed. Through a journey of questioning, analysis of his society, and contemplation, Montag’s idea of happiness develops throughout the novel until he reaches a state of understanding.
Mildred in the novel is Montag’s wife. She is the perfect example of a conformed person in this society because she is brainwashed by the tv that the government has set in place. Proof of such is when she said, " 'Books aren't people. You read and I look all around, but there isn't anybody!' ".
Adriana Hidalgo Mr. Madin English 5th of January 2016 Illusion The absence of love, happiness and the distraction provided by technology harms human life in a way that many would agree that it harms humans more than it benefits them. The illusion of a perfect society can anesthetize people from what makes them human–their feelings expressed towards one another. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, denying one's feelings can lead to sadness and depression which is a perfect reason why people in the society of 451 commit suicide. The illusion of happiness experienced by Montag, the protagonist of the story, Millie, Montag's wife, and everyone else in this society makes them oblivious about the unhappiness and emptiness in their lives causing them to act numb towards one another.
Montag’s wife Mildred is an example of someone who conforms to society and can not imagine a lifestyle outside the one she has. In Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 Mildred says to Montag “books aren’t people. You, read and I looked all around, but there isn’t anybody! Now, my family is people.
Bradbury took these aspects to the extreme to convey his message using a dystopian world, and the character that most embraces and embodies the values of this society is Mildred. Mildred, as a typical citizen, is the opposite of the enlightened Clarisse. She is always watching television in the parlour, and when she is not doing that she is listening to her Seashells. When Montag brings books into their house, she is horrified and she ends up being the one who reports Montag to the firemen. By all accounts she appears to have fully bought into the lifestyle that her society promotes, and says that she is happy that way and “proud of it” (68).
Ray Bradbury’s novel ‘Fahrenheit 451’ warns of the dangers of technology and blind obedience through the character of Mildred Montag amongst others. Although Mildred is a minor character throughout the text, her image as the poster girl of the dystopian vision of the future Bradbury had created highlights that in a society where technology is all-powerful and all-consuming, true happiness is seldom found. Bradbury depicts characters who have an awareness of life outside of technology to be genuinely happier and more sincere, whereas those who have conformed to mores of society are consequently dissatisfied with life. Ultimately, it is Montag’s realisation that there is more to life than shallow conversations and parlour walls, and the happiness
Knowledge can be compared to a torch, or fire. Fire brings light and can help guide us through darkness. At the same time, fire, when not used wisely or contained, can lead to destruction. Similarly, the human species can use knowledge to further advance us, or we could let it tear us down. This is a common theme in the novels
