In Fahrenheit: 451, Montag’s interactions with outside forces contributed to his growth and the theme that all lives have value and becoming desensitized to them is dangerous. The first force the author, Ray Bradbury, used in the story was a woman burning with her house because she hid books. Montag was one of the firemen who was sent to take the woman away and burn her house and her possessions; however, he and his co-workers did not accomplish their goal due to the woman taking her own life. When Montag told Mildred, his wife, what he had done, he said, “ ‘We burned a thousand books. We burned a woman’ ” (Bradbury 47). Mildred’s one word response was, “ ‘Well?’ ” (47). Mildred did not feel any emotion when she learned of the lady’s death,
