In Bradbury's dystopian society, the vast majority of citizens are depicted as superficial, ignorant consumers, who spend most of their leisure time watching the interactive parlor walls, driving extremely fast on the highways, or dozing off while listening to their Seashell radios. Montag's meaningless, hollow relationship with his wife gives an in-depth look at the typical family dynamic in Bradbury's dystopian society. Montag and his wife are extremely distant, rarely discuss significant, insightful topics, and do not have a healthy relationship with each other. Mildred's friends also comment on the typical family units as Mrs. Bowles brags about shutting her children inside their rooms to watch the parlor walls each night. Mrs. Phelps also casually mentions that her husband is at war and says that she would never mourn his death.
Essentially, the citizens are conditioned to not develop meaningful, loyal relationships with each other, and the family unit has severely suffered. Children rarely interact with their parents, who do not even care about their spouses. Clarisse and her family stand in stark contrast to the callous, superficial family units of Bradbury's dystopian society. Clarisse and her family are considered abnormal because they enjoy having conversations and spending alone time together. Overall, the family unit in Bradbury's dystopian society is virtually non-existent as family members rarely enjoy quality time together or genuinely care about one another.
In this novel, the family is vastly different when compared to our society. This is clearly shown through the conversation between Mildred's friends, Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Bowles, in Part Two. According to Mrs. Bowles, for example, children spend most of their time at school. When they are at home, which might only be for three days a month, they are put in the parlor and left to watch the walls. For Mrs. Bowles, children are an inconvenience to her life. Instead of acting as a motherly figure to them, she would rather "kick back" and enjoy some entertainment.
Clearly, this family dynamic has negative consequences for people in this society. As we see from Clarisse's comments about her classmates, children have become violent and reckless. She tells Montag, for instance, that six of her friends have been shot and ten have died in car accidents.
What we see, then, is that a bond between families does not exist in this society. Instead, parents and children are consumed by a need for entertainment which overshadows their love and care for one another.
In Fahrenheit 451, the only family we see up close is Montag's, but we get insights into the typical family from Montag's conversation with Clarisse. She tells him how different her family is:
Oh, just my mother and father and uncle sitting around, talking. It's like being a pedestrian, only rarer. My uncle was arrested another time—did I tell you?—for being a pedestrian. Oh, we're most peculiar.
In contrast, Montag's relationship with his wife is fairly typical of family life in his society. Mildred watches a tremendous amount of television on her viewscreens, and they do not have much to say to each other. Montag hardly seems to know Mildred, and Mildred hardly seems to know him. When he tries later in the book to share his feelings (and a desire for books) with her, she is frightened and returns to her viewscreens.
We learn that what Clarisse's family does—talking together and taking walks—is highly unusual. Most of the rest of the society is encased and isolated by technology, be it cars speeding from place to place or endless television. This has a negative impact on people, as evidenced by Mildred's suicide attempt.
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