Guy and Mildred Montag from Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 are not the typical married couple. Normally in novels, the author tries to incorporate a protagonist's significant other in a more involved way, whether that involvement be beneficial or detrimental to the main character. However, in 451 Bradbury chooses to create Mildred as a distant character that one would hardly guess to be Montag's wife if they did not live together.
The character of Mildred is very complex in her seemingly undeveloped role as Montag's wife. She was vacant most of the time, but aware enough to know that she was unhappy, resulting in her attempt at suicide. However, following the attempt she simply fell back into a state of complacency, forgetting about the fact that she tried to end her life.
The marriage between Mildred and Montag is not one of love and affection, but one based solely on convenience. The relationship Mildred has with the tv family is much more substantial, despite the fact that the soap opera family does not really intimately exist to Mildred. The marraige was unimportant enough that Mildred turned her husband in for owning books.
Overall, I enjoyed Farhenheit 451. All though none of the characters were very relatable or likeable, I still found myself pulling for various characters through out the novel. The fact that it was a dystopia novel turned me off at first, because I've read many and they all have very similiar, predictable plots. However, the characters in Farhenheit 451 were complex and varied enough to keep the novel exciting through out, and keep me guessing till the end.
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