Staring, looking everywhere but nowhere in particular, Mrs. Phelps shuffled across the empty walk, her head down, preoccupied with the unwelcome emotions that plagued her mind. However much she tried, those feeling would not disappear, and she did not have anything to wipe away the sudden onslaught of thoughts. No radio, television, or even the ability to sleep away her troubles. There they sat, festering within her mind, like a hardy stone that refused to be washed away by the ever-flowing rise and fall of the waves upon a rocky cove. The rock would not move, no matter how much the sea pushed. Unable to handle the reoccurring feelings, Mrs. Phelps could do nothing but concentrate on the ground in front, and attempt to lose herself within the confines of her mind.

"Oh, why didn't I take the beetle? Now I'm stuck walking around. Walking! We haven't done that willingly since the Dark Ages! I just had to walk to that fireman's house. It's really a shame that Mildred has to be stuck with a maniac. Oh, I feel so sorry for her! Agh, I should have taken the beetle! I would already be home by now and listening to some lovely music, I could listen to that nice song that I always enjoyed. I could've even been laughing along and enjoying life with my family, for Pete's sake!"

She muttered to herself, in the hope that a voice within the would calm her nerves. But, with he mention of a certain name, a thought, one that surprised the lone woman, came to mind. One of her husband, and of what Mr. Montag had said, his scathing words. Words not meant directly for her, but ones that still had left a blow. Try as she might to push the thoughts back, they continued to come.

What if... if that man is right?
Why did I feel what I felt? I haven't cried in eight years, and a little poem is what broke that streak.
Oh, why did I listen to that fool and his 'poems'?!
What about Pete? His brains - are his brains being 'blown out' right now?
How could I just sit there and let Montag read that?
I have never done anything to deserve this! Why must someone come along and ruin everything!?
...

Within her daze, Mrs. Phelps stepped off of the walk in front of her house. As if drugged, she wandered to the pad that scanned her hand. With the door sliding open in front of her, she walked into the darkness contained within her house. Stopping, she uttered one final question:

"...Are we really wrong?"


Nothing but silence answered.

I finished Fahrenheit 451, and I must admit that it certainly improved. As I learned more about the society that the characters live in, I  began to understand more about the actions, and certain sequences within it. I still stand by my earlier feelings about this book, that some events could have been better conveyed to the audience, but I now understand the significance of them. This book, which was apparently written in nine days, effectively portrays the catastrophe that is a society that lacks those who think and welcome new ideas. It emphasizes that civilization based purely on emotion is one in which the people are selfish and unhappy, relying on mere illusions and naïveté to escape the inevitable hardships of reality is something to be scared of. It is something that should astonish the reader, as all of those who were considered "normal" were by today's standards, self-absorbed, unsociable, and idiotic. Mildred, being an example of an average citizen, barely spoke to her husband at all, and if they did speak, it was merely small talk. She didn't care if adding a fourth wall television was expensive, she didn't care that they haven't even paid off the third wall. She didn't even think twice about her husband when she reported him for having books, and about his arrest when their house was burnt down. She only cared about her "family," being fictional characters on her mindless TV show. She was entirely independent upon technology, relying on it to sleep, keep herself entertained, and live. And Mildred, along with her "friends" were unable to stomach the thought of reality, and the bad emotions that it may bring at points. That is sickening. It's terrifying to think if a society like that. It is even more alarming to think that, perhaps in a sense, Bradbury's story has already come true. That we are already living in a society in which the inhabitants are completely dependent upon distractions to escape reality, people who would rather be blissfully ignorant of the world around them, than being knowledgeable and accepting of new and different ideas. I know for a fact that I see that lack of acceptance everyday.