Mildred forgoes true happiness and instead she constantly submerged herself in technology like her seashell radios and television walls. By having all of these technological devices and machines it allowed her to continually have an escape from reality. Her desperate need to escape led her to a suicide attempt. On page 10, it reads: “Without turning on the light he imagined how this room would look. His wife stretched on the bed, uncovered and cold, like a body displayed on the of a tomb, her
Phelps and Mrs. Bowles, arrive to watch television with Mildred. Montag, disturbed by the women's mindless pleasantries and lack of awareness of the world around them, unplugs the television walls and tries to start a conversation with them about the impending war. Mrs. Phelps doesn't seem to care about her third husband who's left for war, and the women quickly turn the conversation to something they feel is more interesting, a recent television program. Montag persists, questioning the women about their children. Mrs. Phelps has none, and Mrs. Bowles has two, for whom she obviously doesn't really care about, "The world must reproduce you know, the race must go one I plunk the children in school nine days out of ten.
She watches TV all the time; for example, when Montag returns home after work with good news of his promotion, she does not seem to care and focuses on the screen. This seems to be a usual response as it did not surprise Montag. Secondly, Linda’s action as a whistle-blower could well depict the 1950s of American society. During the 1950s, when the novel Fahrenheit 451 was published, McCarthyism began to startle the people. Mistrust among the neighbors aroused and everyone doubted each other for being a communist.
In Fahrenheit 451, we can see that through characters thoughts, dialogue, and reactions in certain situations can reveal a lot about them. For instance, Mildred, Montag’s wife, lives in what is suppose to be a utopian society where everyone is happy and content, but Mildred is very unhappy with her life, as we can see when she attempts suicide. Mildred tries to convince herself that she is happy with her boring life which just consists of watching television all day and she denies the fact that she attempted to commit suicide. When Guy Montag is talking to Mildred about her television obsession he says, “Will you turn the parlour off?” and Mildred responded by saying,"That's my family" revealing the detachment from reality she has.
Mildred and her society were submitted by the influence of television, and were blinded and manipulated by the way her government
In other words, the overwhelming force to follow and chase after so-called ideals blinds people from the truth and pushes them to believe in whatever the social norm claims to be correct. For example, in Fahrenheit 451, readers discover that it is Mildred, Montag’s own wife, who betrays him for the comfort of not being suspected herself. Even as she is leaving the burning house, her only concern is for the parlor walls, as depicted when Bradbury describes her to be “mumbling, ‘Poor family, poor family, oh everything gone, everything, everything gone now ...’” (Bradbury 116). Through this small excerpt, readers can identify how materialistic her mindset is and realize that her priorities are highly disorganized.
Written Warning The sci-fi novel Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, is a warning to Americans. The characters of the novel are Montag, a fireman, Mildred, Montag’s wife, and Captain Beatty, Montag’s fire captain. Some of the characters in the novel stand out more than others.
And if this is all they do all day, they will hear the information on the television repeated again and again. The TVs are three dimensional and when you enter a parlor room full of them, all you see and hear is the information the television spews out. In their underdeveloped minds, they interpret that the information being pounded into their heads must be right so they believe every word that the government is telling them through the television. Another device the government utilizes is seashell radio earpieces. Every citizen has one, and the only thing they do is play loud music and occasionally some governmental news.
The society in Fahrenheit 451 becomes so obsessed and immersed in entertainment that humans begin to lack the ability to convey emotions and appreciate the importance of human interaction. This idea is presented in the novel when Bradbury predicts the future as he describes how people believe that TV can shape a person just as much as human interactions. For example, he states, “But who has ever torn himself from the claw that encloses you when you drop a seed in a TV parlor? It grows you any shape it wishes!” (Bradbury 84).
Montag starts arguing with Mildred about how she is acting. She is depressed and does not even know it. Mildred thinks that the voices in the walls are her family. Montag tries to get her to see what is really happening in society. She is so unaware of her actions that Montag has top tell her, “maybe you took two pills and forgot and took to more, and forgot again and took two more, and were so dopey you kept right on until you had thirty or forty of them in you” (Bradbury 17).
Sports in America, 1970-1979. New York: Facts on File, 2004. 70-71. Print. Shmuel, Shmuel. "
“Joe’s Story.” Shoeless Joe Jackson. Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum and
Web. 14 Nov. 2015. Bélanger, Réal. " Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol. 14."
A common lifelong struggle of humanity is finding oneself as well as one’s place in society. People struggle to define their identities on a global, local and personal level. For instance, a Mexican family is trying to create a living in America, while struggling for acceptance. As a member of the family, a young girl questions the true meaning of home. As she grows, she dreams of what the perfect home will be and also learns how to fight for her rights as a Chicana woman.
In John Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage, he defines political courage as one’s willingness to take action on personal ethics, even though it may trigger public criticism, retaliation, and political death. (Kennedy 7) Shirley Chisholm, the first African American Congresswoman used her voice to advocate for racial minorities, women, and the poor. Chisholm was a bold woman who wasn’t afraid to raise current social issues that many avoided talking about. On account of her strong sense of justice, she faced numerous obstacles in her years in office for doing what she believed was in the best interest for our country.