Fahrenheit 451 Comparative Essay

Imagine the hardships that would occur if your life was turned around in the blink of an eye. This happens to Mildred in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Mary in the short story, “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl. The similarities between Mary and Mildred are impressive and they are worthy of detailed examination. This paper will focus on how they both had their life turned upside down, how they betray their husbands, and how they are groomed to represent their society. These three similarities stand out and should be looked at more carefully.

Mary and Mildred didn’t realize that they were in a dwindling relationship so when their husbands pulled the rug out from beneath them, they went into shock. In Fahrenheit 451, Mildred’s life was turned around when Montag pulled the books out from under the ventilator. To represent her reaction Bradbury wrote, “Mildred backed away as if she were suddenly confronted by a pack of mice that had come up out of the floor. He could hear her breathing rapidly and her face was paled
out and her eyes were fastened wide. She said his name over, twice, three times. Then, moaning, she ran forward, seized a book, and ran toward the kitchen incinerator”(66). This quote demonstrates Mildred’s shock. Owning books and reading them was against the rules of their society and Montag was affecting her life by bringing her into this. Likewise, Mary went into shock when her husband revealed that he was going to divorce her. In the story, Dahl wrote,”Her first instinct was not to believe any of it, to reject it all...When she walked across the room she couldn’t feel her feet touching the floor. She couldn’t feel anything at all- except a slight nausea and a desire to vomit. Everything was automatic now”(3). After she heard this she went into denial and refused to believe it was true. She blindly started making dinner. She would be looked down upon in her society because she was now a pregnant woman without a husband. Mary and Mildred had their life flipped and this should be looked at more precisely.

Moreover, it is important to look at how Mary and Mildred both betray their husbands for their own good. Mildred abandons Montag by calling in to report that he had books in the house. “Was it my wife turned in the alarm?’ Beatty nodded”(Bradbury 117). Mildred’s betrayal to her husband represents her selfishness and unconnected relation to her husband. Additionally, Mary betrayed her husband by hitting him on the head with a pork chop and killing him. To embody Mary's swift decision to kill her husband, Dahl wrote, “At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause, swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head”(4). The thump of his body hitting the floor woke her up from her shock. She thought about what her punishment would be and what they would do to her child. She was uncertain, so she made a plan to avoid any punishment. Mary and Mildred's betrayal to their husband is striking and deserves careful inspection.

Mary and Mildred are the ideal women in their society. In Fahrenheit 451 the society is selfish and caught up in technology. The public is too concerned about themselves to worry about what is happening in the world and they spend their days watching television. “She ran past with her body stiff, her face floured with powder, her mouth gone without lipstick...she sat mumbling,‘poor family, poor family, oh everything gone, everything gone now’”(Bradbury 114). Bradbury describes Mildred's face as white and the details wiped out. She is unrecognizable and it could be anyone that committed this selfish act. When she talks about her family, she is referencing her fake T.V. family. She is so connected to them she worries about what will happen to them rather than her husband. In the same way, Mary represents the patriarchal society in “Lamb to the Slaughter”. “‘But you have to have supper. I can easily do it here. I’d like to do it. We can have lamb chops or pork. Anything you want. Everything’s in the freezer’”(Dahl 2). Mary is a servant and keeps trying to get Patrick to eat because that is her job. She spends her days waiting for her husband to come home and sewing. Just like her, the women in her society depend on their husbands and don’t have a very big public role. They bear children, keep the house tidy, sew and cook meals. Mary and Mildred's personality embodies their society and warrants thorough observation so that we can understand the characteristics of their society.
The similarities between Mary and Mildred are impressive and they are worthy of detailed examination.
This paper focused on how they had their lives turned upside down, their betrayal to their husbands, and their representation of the whole society. These comparisons are relevant because Mary’s society limits her capability and they are unable to reach their full potential. Mildred's society limits their knowledge by banning books. They are selfish and their lack of concern for the rest of the world leads to their destruction. We can learn from the mistakes they made so that we do not repeat them. The life in Fahrenheit 451 is similar to ours. Both of our communities like to watch many violent T.V. shows and by being exposed to these types of shows we are becoming more accepting to violent actions. The three similarities between Mildred in Fahrenheit 451 and Mary in “Lamb to the Slaughter” are obvious and call for elaborate
exploration.