Jana Ahmed
Mildred is one of the most important characters in Fahrenheit 451 who plays a crucial role in adapting the dystopian elements in the book. One key dystopian element is the exaggeration of a possible worst-case scenario (
Class Notes 10/01/2021). In the novel, Mildred is one of the characters that is a basic and the perfect example of an ideal person that lives in the society that she lives in. This time period that Mildred lives in was written to be set in the future which is also another Dystopian element. In this world, books aren’t allowed to the extent that firefighters are responsible for burning houses that have books in them. Mildred as a character that is set in the future agrees that books should not be allowed and instead spends her entire day simply watching TV. Mildred watches TV all day and spends her day not doing anything productive. She relives this day over and over again while staring at 3 different TV screens in one room. The setup of Mildred’s TV room is that 3 of the total of 4 walls have TVs on them. These walls are fully made up of TVs. The remaining wall that isn’t like the rest is a wall that Mildred also wants to turn into a wall with TVs. In our modern time, it is clear that it is almost impossible to walk into someone’s living room and find all walls except one covered with TVs that Mildred spends the entire day looking at. This is an extreme exaggeration that is presented in the book which clearly makes Mildred a perfect citizen of this dystopian world. Not only that, but Mildred is one that shows zero emotions when it comes to sensitive topics or serious things. For instance, Clarrise was a unique girlthat went against all her dystopian society stood for. She had the complete opposite thoughts that Mildred had and wasn’t a basic part of this messed up society like Mildred. Montag, who is Mildred’s husband found Clarrise quite an interesting girl. However, one day she disappeared and Montag was in complete and utter shock. He needed to know what happened to her and was greatly affected by her disappearance. The problem is Mildred knew that, but time after time when Montag brought up Clarisse, Mildred would simply stay silent even though it turns out she knew exactly what happened to her. When she broke the news to Montag that she got into
a car accident Montag told her “Why didn’t you tell me?” She simply replied saying “forgot” (Bradbury 47). The zero emotion Mildred showed when breaking this tragic news to Montag; who she knew cared greatly for Clarrise shows how much she goes by society’s standards and simply doesn’t care about anything else rather than her tv. All in all, it is clear that Mildred is one that only cares about things that can affect her in a harmful way. Her spending all her days staring at the 3 TVs screen is certainly a dystopic element that relates to the exaggeration of a possible worst-case scenario.
Citation for first image: Berwin, Derek. www.gettyimages.ae/detail/photo/man-in-room-filled-with-television-screens-royalty-free-image/10105386
Citation for second image: iconscout.com/icon/no-emotion-1660273.