Fahrenheit 451 Quote Response

“Anyways, Pete and I always said, no tears, nothing like that. It’s our third marriage each and we’re independent. Be independent, we always said. He said, if I get killed off, you just go right ahead and don’t cry, but get married again, and don’t think of me.” (pg. 95) Human life in this novel is given almost no value, as massive tv’s and fast cars are considered more important than having a family or friends. The quote above describes Mrs. Phelps’s feelings about the fact that her third husband has just been sent to war. Mrs. Phelps doesn’t even think twice about the fact that he could die, as she would just find another husband who could pay for her t.v. walls and other material possessions. A world in which your husband or wife, the person who you are spend the rest of your life with, doesn’t care if you live or die is a scary thought, and in Bradbury’s world, it is considered normal practice. An even more frightening thought would be a world in which people have children not to love them or care for them, but to keep the human race in existence. The only children that are referenced to in the novel are Clarisse and Mrs. Bowel’s children. Mrs. Bowel treats having children as a chore and compares having children with washing the clothes, you stuff the laundry in and slam the lid. The birth of a child is a rare occasion that is celebrated greatly, but in Bradbury’s world, it is not something done out of love, but to simply to keep the human race alive.