Unlike Montag, she has no desire to expand her knowledge about books or the world that she lives in. Completely unaware of her feelings and emotions, Mildred cannot even remember how many years she has been married to Montag. She spends her days partaking in mindless activities, mainly consisting of watching television and absolutely no social interaction with others, which is considered the norm in this society. Early on in the story, Montag comes home to Mildred overdosing on about thirty different pills and is in need of serious medical attention. Luckily, the operators who respond to his emergency call save Mildred’s life. Montag questions whether or not her overdose was intentional. The next morning, Montag tries to converse with Mildred about the event by asking her, “Don 't you remember?” however she responds by saying, “What? Did we have a wild party or something?” completely unaware of the previous night (16). This conversation between Montag and Mildred reveals her deeply rooted discontent that she is incapable of confronting. As a result of being engulfed in technology with lack of social interactions, she experiences desensitization. Desensitization acts as a road block for confronting her feelings. Later on in the story, Mildred discovers Montag’s secret stash of hidden books. She shows not one bit interest in reading them, but, …show more content…
For some reason, Clarisse and her family fail to succumb to the idea of censorship. Her conversations with Montag lead him to reflect on his own life. For instance, when they first meet, the pivotal question Clarisse asks Montag after finding out about his occupation was if he perceives himself as a happy person. He responds to her by saying that he is, however shortly after he comes to the realization that he is not. The speaker reveals Montag, “wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask” divulging the impact Clarisse left on him (9). She reveals his genuine feelings of unhappiness and discontent in his life by taking away the illusion of happiness he bought into for so long. However, after meeting Clarisse, there is no chance of him diverting back to his old way of thinking. As a result of spending much time with Clarisse, she exposes Montag to simple activities that are completely foreign to him. For instance, one day when they are walking in the rain, she tells him, “I like to put my head back, like this, and let the rain fall in my mouth. Have you ever tried it?” and he responds to her by saying no (20). After Clarisse leaves, he stands in the rain and tries to emulate Clarisse demonstrating how much he desires to be like her. He longs to feel as content as Clarisse as well as being