Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 as a Dystopia A dystopia looks at an idea of social balance to be pessimistic. They are solely fictional, representing grim, depressive societies. Dystopias are typically supposed to scare the reader, yet there is a sense of comfort because of the fact that it is purely fictional. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, this novel's setting is a complex dystopia where not a soul is truly happy, family isn’t certain and society doesn’t allow someone to be true to themselves. In this novel by Ray Bradbury, self-worth and personal happiness is hard to come by. No one is truly happy or, for that matter, content with the way they are living or what they are surrounded by, sober that is. In this excerpt from the novel, Guy Montag has just arrived at home from a burning and he considers about his wife, “And he remembered thinking then that if she died, he was certain he wouldn’t cry” (44). This quote is interesting because it shows that Montag doesn’t love his wife whole heartedly and that he really wouldn’t miss her if she was gone. It shows the distance between him and his wife, Mildred, and they don’t have that connection they vowed for at the start of their relationship. Although Montag doesn’t seem content with his connection with Mildred, her way of thinking is much worse in seeing what true happiness is. Mildred said to Montag in disbelief, “I didn’t do that…never in a billion years” (20). This quote shows that Mildred is not conscious of how unhappy she is. When she says this, it’s the morning after she has attempted to overdose on her prescription pills but doesn’t have a clue that it has become her escape from her twisted reality. This feeling of escape is what drives Mildred internally insane and tears her apart, taking Montag with her whether she knows it or not. The Montag household doesn’t have a warm feeling and family is absent. Mildred claims that her real family is the television actors and characters that she interacts with more than her husband. Mildred explains to Montag the importance of the fourth wall, “It’ll be even more fun when we can afford to have the fourth wall installed. How long you figure before we save up and get the fourth wall torn out and a wall-TV put in? It's only two thousand dollars” (19).