Mildred Montag Character Analysis in Fahrenheit 451

Montag's wife. She drowns her unhappiness with pills and a constant barrage of media, fast driving, and other mindless distractions. The day after attempting suicide she has no memory of the event. She and Montag have lost whatever connection they once had. Mildred is a hollow person—she doesn't seem to have a real connection to anyone. Instead, she's devoted to her interactive TV shows. After Montag brings books home and reads poetry to her friends, she betrays him to the authorities, wanting to preserve her life of instant gratification and comfort.

Mildred Montag Character Timeline in Fahrenheit 451

The timeline below shows where the character Mildred Montag appears in Fahrenheit 451. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...compares to a tomb, Montag realizes that he is not, in fact, happy. His wife, Mildred, is stretched out as usual on her bed, with radio earplugs called "Seashells" filling her... (full context)

Montag calls the hospital. Two technicians arrive with machines—one to pump out Mildred's stomach, the other to replace her blood with fresh, clean blood. The pump is also... (full context)

Montag watches Mildred as color returns to her cheeks. He opens the window across the lawn and hears... (full context)

The next morning, Mildred has no memory of the previous night and denies taking the pills. Later, when Montag... (full context)

...night, Montag hides the book he took from the old woman's house under his pillow. Mildred talks to Montag for a while but it seems to him that she is saying... (full context)

Montag realizes he's not in love with Mildred anymore. He feels like he's lost her to high-speed driving, the Seashells that are always... (full context)

Montag mentions to Mildred that he hasn't seen the neighbors in a while and wonders what happened to them.... (full context)

...feels ill and vomits. He's late for work and considers calling in sick. He tells Mildred that he's haunted by the woman that the firemen burned along with her books. Montag... (full context)

As Beatty talks, Mildred starts straightening up the house. She soon discovers the book that Montag hid behind his... (full context)

Montag tells Mildred he never wants to work as a fireman again, and shows her a secret he's... (full context)

Montag and Mildred spend the afternoon flipping through books, reading passages, and trying to make sense of what... (full context)

Montag shows Mildred the book he took from the old woman's house: it's a Bible, maybe the last... (full context)

Mildred yells at Montag that he's ruining them. Soon, however, she calms down and tells him... (full context)

...but whom Hercules defeated after lifting him off the ground. He agrees when Montag relays Mildred's contention that TV seems more real than books, but he responds that he prefers books... (full context)

At home, Mildred's friends Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Bowles arrive to watch the White Clown. Faber, through Montag'... (full context)

...that have happened in her life that she refuses to think about. The friends depart, Mildred rushes into the bedroom and takes sleeping pills. Faber calls Montag a fool through the... (full context)

Montag searches the house for his books. He finds them where Mildred has put them behind the refrigerator, and discovers that she has burned several of them... (full context)

...toward Clarisse's empty house. Beatty notices and mocks Montag for being influenced by her nonsense. Mildred runs out of her house with a suitcase and disappears into a taxi. Montag realizes... (full context)

...then mocks him for the foolishness and snobbery that led him to quote poetry to Mildred's friends. Beatty strikes Montag and Faber's earpiece falls out. Beatty promises to use it to... (full context)

Suddenly, jets scream overhead on the way to the city. Montag thinks of Mildred, and tells the other men that something must be wrong with him because he doesn't... (full context)

...Montag thinks of Clarisse, already dead, Faber, on a bus to another annihilated city, and Mildred, whom he imagines in horrifying detail in a hotel room at the moment of detonation.... (full context)