In Mildred's Shoes

How long does it take for someone to realize that they aren't happy? What if they have no idea they aren't happy? Why can't they tell that something is missing in their life? Maybe because it's easy not to make things complicated by thinking all the time or by thinking at all. Have you ever worried about something where you decide to just blast music so loud that when you take the ear-buds out you feel like there is cotton in your ear and then you kinda feel better once your head is a little numb? This is what I think its like for Mildred when she listens to her ear-shells. I can't imagine being in Mildred's shoes all the time. She fills her life with her TV clowns she calls her family, who distracts her from feeling or thinking on her own. I don't believe she has very many feelings and if she does, she "escapes" from them because she doesn't want to be unhappy by getting confused by her emotions. I've also noticed she never answers a question completely. It would bother me if I watched a program for hours and could not really tell you what it is about. I can't decide yet if the way Mildred is living has made her an over forgetful person and she overdosed by not remembering she took sleeping pills or if there is something that we don't know about that made her do it. Although, she really doesn't seem to realize she's unhappy. That's where her character is confusing to me. Does she really want to commit to suicide because she is unhappy or is she so distracted that she can't even realize there is more to life than what meets her eye? She is a very strange character that I haven't quite figured out yet. I do know I never want to get so empty like Mildred. Can you imagine the world if we were all like Mildred, so lost, naive, and ignorant? We need problems, feelings, and people in our lives to make us grow as a person...to make us happy. We need to think, read, and communicate more and worry about technology less if we want to avoid this world in Fahrenheit 451 that seems so oddly familiar and so real its scary. What also is scary is that there are a lot of connections to our world and to Ray Bradbury's world. I wonder how he predicted these strange connections. It kind of freaks me out just a little especially when this was written 56 years ago. Its only been 56 years? How much more do you think we will get to a world like the book? I think we should all take this book as a warning to what will become of us if we don't take the time to stand our ground and participate in our government. We need to learn to all get along with each other or everything said will be offending someone leading to less conversations, less knowledge for the individual, less freedom, less thinking, less feelings, less happiness, less life.

♫♪ Danielle Slagle ♪♫