'"You'll be here for the White Clown tonight, and the ladies coming over?" cried Mildred. Montag stopped at the door with his back turned. "Millie?" A silence. "What?" "Millie? Does the White Clown love you?" No answer. "Millie, does-" He licked his lips. "Does your "family" love you, love you very much, love you with all heart and soul, Millie?" He felt her blinking slowly at the back of his neck. "Why'd you ask a silly question like that?" He felt like he wanted to cry, but nothing would happen to his eyes or his mouth. "If you see that dog outside," said Mildred, "give him a kick for me." He hesitated, listening at the door. He opened it and stepped out. The rain had stopped and the sun was setting in the clear sky. The street and the lawn and the porch were empty. He let his breath go in a great sigh. He slammed the door."
In this passage from Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, the main character, Montag, asks his wife a question which reveals the priorities held by Montag, his wife, and the rest of the futuristic society in which they live. To his wife, the "family," or interactive television, is her life. In the book, she wakes up, eats breakfast, and watches television, often with friends. As Montag becomes more knowledgeable (as he, in a sense, awakens), he attempts to share his newfound knowledge with his wife's friends- yet, they demonstrate the fear and sensitivity that other people (except for a few, such as Faber, Clarisse, and Montag) express at the nature of books. In this excerpt from the novel, Montag acquiesces the reality of his wife's shallowness, and her inability to recognize the wealth that books offer, and the dangerous, sadistic world that they live in.
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