How does Mildred reflect all the qualities of a citizen of a dystopic society?
The word dystopia defines itself as “an imagined community or society that is often dehumanizing and frightening”. It is often described in the future. Fahrenheit 451 portraits all the qualities of a dystopic society; Ray Bradbury depicts a negative vision of the future where books are devalued and personal knowledge and freedom is limited. The novel mainly emphasizes the negative impact of modern technology on the society. Mildred Montag is one of the main characters of the book, and illustrates perfectly a citizen of a dystopic society. In the novel, the reader is introduced to Mildred with her overdosing on her sleeping pills, that possibly being a suicide attempt. When she is questioned about it by her husband, Guy Montag (the protagonist of the novel), she is in complete denial and is unaware of what has happened to her. “I wouldn’t do a thing like that. Why would I do a thing like that?” (Bradbury 8). Mildred’s suicide attempt and her apparent amnesia only speak volumes about the sort of despairing life she leads and how hollow and empty her existence in this world is. Her only attachment is her “family” in whom are defined as the characters in the television shows she watches on her parlour walls. To mildred, they give her joy yet blind her from what is happening in the real world. The protagonist’s wife escapes from the real world around her into an imaginary world filled with constant noise and fictional characters. Mildred’s life is so dominated by the television that is becomes a constant obsession.
Fahrenheit 451. New York: Ballantine Books. Bradbury, Ray, 1920-2012, Fahrenheit 451
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