Montag tries to tell Mildred about what happened that night to the old woman and her books. Examine their exchange on pp 28-30. What is significant about Mildred’s response? How has this night affected Montag?
Mildred seems to be unfazed by the fact that a woman was burned right in front of Montag’s face. Montag considered taking time off work because he wants to understand. He is unable to comprehend and understand why the woman chose to stay inside of the burning house and he thinks to himself, what is it about books that made her want to stay inside of the house. Mildred however, is opposed to the idea of him taking time off and seems to think “how a majority of the community thinks”, she follows the principle that books are bad and that the woman who was reading them and had them stored was a simple-minded person.
Montag seems to be quite affected by this night, he describes his hands as a poison and after he steals the book which he keeps under his pillow, he tries to talk to his wife and draw support from her through their conversation which begins when he asks her about how they met. Mildred also takes a lot of sleeping pills and Montag does not seem to connect with her as much anymore.