What Is Mildred's Madness In Fahrenheit 451

Mildred is a housewife, and as such, spends most of her time indoors, tending to the house. Like I previously mentioned, home is encompassed by the parlor walls. So as Mildred has been conditioned to take care of the house while Montag is away, she’s become addicted to the parlor walls. Her daily routine is similar to this - wake up, eat, watch the parlor walls, eat, watch the parlor walls, eat, sleep. Of course, there may be some slight variation, but her whole routine as well as her whole life revolves around giant television screens. She even thinks of the characters on the screens as her “family”. There is another reason why she’s become addicted to the walls. Above all else, Mildred values distraction. Deep down, she is sad and alone.

Over time, she’s become very sad and depressed due to the lack of pure human contact. We can see how this has affected her with her overdose on sleeping pills. That wasn’t an accident, it was an attempted suicide; as well as an attempt to escape the troubles of life. The only thing that keeps her happy, are the “family.” The parlor walls. They’re not really a form of entertainment, but they’re actually a way of distraction. A way of distracting her from her deep sadness and disparity. Mildred values distraction, the parlor walls, and what they do to keep her sanity in check. The thing that’s sad, is that a large chunk of society, both in Fahrenheit 451 and in real life, has become akin to Mildred and her lifestyle. Especially teenagers and adults who have a severe lack of human interaction, who are alone. Introverts, is what we call them. They don’t go outside. They’d much rather distract themselves with their phones and social media than deal with their problems. They’re too scared to deal with the outside world, so they don’t. Very similar to Mildred and her lifestyle. This is one of the main reasons why Mildred betrayed her husband. She was scared of what books