“A silly empty man next to a silly empty woman” (41). This is what how Montag comes to view the time spent with his wife Mildred watching television. TV can take over our lives; we revolve around the box on the wall when we are bored. Why sit and fix disobedient behavior and apprehension into our heads? In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury reveals the theme that if you put TV before your spouse, yourself, and even your friends, you will come to be empty and uneducated inside; the character in which this is represented is Mildred.

     Primarily, Mildred is putting the television show before her husband Guy Montag, therefore slowly pulling their marriage apart. While Montag is lying sick in bed, Mildred is consumed in the TV Program that she does not even turn down the volume for Montag: “’Will you turn the parlor off… for a sick man?’ ‘I’ll turn it down,’” (46). Although she agrees to, she didn’t do anything to differ the volume. When Mildred came back into the bedroom, Montag asks where the aspirin is; Millie responds with a simple, “You’ve never been sick before” (46), and then departs from the room. Mildred doesn’t want to turn the volume down because she absolutely needs to hear her “family” talk to her and she needs to respond. The way she doesn’t care enough about Montag to help him out; Mildred does not want to turn off or even turn down her televised relatives for her sick husband, showing that she puts them before him. Mildred is so empty inside, she doesn’t seem to care that her husband is sick, as long as she has her three talking walls to turn to. This example shows Mildred is uneducated as well, seeing that she won’t take a second to help her husband, whom she loves. She eventually will get him the aspirin and a glass of water, although she has to be asked number of times. She doesn’t feel empathetic for him when she should, she doesn’t put effort into her marriage.

     On the other hand, Mildred is putting these figures before her own schedule and what she has to get done. While Montag is sick in bed, Mildred acts restless and comments, “’You’ve got to get up… It’s noon. You’ve slept five hours later than usual” (46). We get this sense of restlessness here because the way she says “you’ve got to get up,” hints she may be quickly making the beds or sweeping. A different example of foreshadow is given through these same remarks; it lets us know how she wants Montag to get up out of bed and go off to work so she will not have any distractions while she watches her TV. Mildred does not care and isn’t aware of what or who is around her when she watches her program, this is the reason why she must take care of everything before the broadcast begins. Otherwise, she might miss it or have to only listen and not watch while she is working, therefore not being able to respond to her family. Being uneducated, after Montag asks her what she did with her evening the night before, she replies with just one word answers. Montag asks how she spent her time and all she responds with is, “‘The Parlor’ ‘What was on?’ ‘Programs.’ ‘What programs?’ ‘Some of the best ever’” (46). She doesn’t know how to have an adult conversation with her husband because she is so caught up with her TV family.

     Furthermore, Mildred puts her faux family before her very own friends. At one point, Mildred had some of her friends come over to converse over their common interest, the TV program, “The White Clown.” While they were over, Bradbury explained the ladies excitement for a single TV show with, “[guests] came through the front door and vanished into the volcano’s mouth with martinis in their hands. Montag stopped eating…now they were screaming at each other over the din” (89). While Mildred and her friends scream at each other over the loud and obnoxious noise of the TV, the author is hinting that Mildred is so preoccupied with the series that when she has friends over she must turn it up so she can hear what the figures are shouting at her; even if the friends are chatting about the broadcast, she completely has to. This is demonstrating that even though Mildred doesn’t mind that her friends are talking about the TV show, it is always on no matter what. She isn’t clever here either because if her friends are talking about the TV show, normally she should have it on quietly in the background, yet she has it blaring therefore having to shout in order to prattle with your close friends.

     In the famous novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, we see many examples of emptiness shown through the character Mildred. She is empty due to her TV show in which she puts in front of her marriage, her own schedule, and even her friends. When Ray Bradbury wrote this book in 1953, he wrote in such a way that he could see into the future. He warns us that TV can take over our lives; now, sixty years later, he is correct. People are already revolving their lives around certain TV shows. This is shown by certain people in society leaving work early so they are able to watch their favorite show, weekly. Although, this may be factual it is certainly the incorrect way of living. We shouldn’t place ourselves in front of a TV to embed our brains with false knowledge when we could be reading and researching to discover real and authentic information. “How do you get so empty? [Montag] wondered. Who takes it out of you?” (41).

     Although the reoccurring motifs such as putting your TV family before your spouse, life, and friends symbolize the upcoming of a new and corrupt interpretation that doesn't necessarily mean we cannot change it.