“Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury contains unique characters that are vital to the story. One of these characters is Mildred Montag. Mildred or as Guy Montag calls her “Millie” is Guy’s wife in the story. She is described as being very angry and distant. When we first meet Mildred’s character, she is not even conscious. Before Guy Montag left there were thirty sleeping pill tablets in the little glass bottle, but when Guy comes home he runs into it in the dark and finds it empty. Mildred ends up having to have her stomach pumped in order to save her life. The thing is, Mildred does not even realize that she is suicidal and denies that she took all of those sleeping pills. “She was quite obviously waiting for him to go. ‘I didn’t do that,’ she said. ‘Never in a billion years’ “(Bradbury, 20). She obviously suffers from great depression and it is safe to say it is because of their over controlling government. I think Mildred is the perfect example on the effects of a society with no freedom. In this city, the government controls with violence and fear so people are too afraid to fight against them. Because of this, the people do not think for themselves. When you do not think for yourself, and your life is filled with pointless activities such as watching the parlor walls, it is not surprising that you would become depressed and suicidal like Mildred. Like I said, Mildred is Guy’s wife. She does not act like a wife should though. She does not show any love or affection for him and cannot even remember where they met. Her character is very stiff and we never really get to know her intimately. Not only is Mildred a poor wife to her husband, but on top of that she turns him in to the firemen when she learns about his secret library. After they show up at their house, she walks out of Guy’s life forever without even thinking twice about it. I did not enjoy Mildred’s character and her traits very much and I wish we could have gotten to know her character better.
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment