Fahrenheit 451 - Dover Beach
Here is my writing prompt for the poem Dover Beach:
Mrs. Bowles ran out of the door and across the street to where she lived with her "husband" and "children". What is Mr. Montag thinking speaking to me like that? What right does he have to criticize my decisions? If he was in my place he would do the same exact thing. She slammed the door and ran into her home. She sat down in her own hard-backed chair and turned on 'family'. Oh how right it felt to be where she belonged. These people cared about Mrs. Bowles. Not her ever-absent husband, not her bratty children, not her insensitive friends and certainly not Mr. Montag.
The phone rang next to Mrs. Bowles. She looked at the little screen to see who was calling. It was her husband. She ignored it. About five minute later he called again. Mrs. Bowles picked it up. "Hello." she said emotionless. "Well it's about time you picked up!" her husband barked, "I've been trying to call you from the office and you never pick up do you now?" Mr. Bowles swallowed, "I was visiting with Mrs. Montag." Mr. Bowles growled, "You know I don't like it when you go over there. That Mr. Montag is a strange one. Lately I've noticed him talking to a young girl along the street." Mrs. Bowles thought yet again about what Mr. Montag did today. She couldn't tell her husband. He would punish her for going over, punish her for not leaving sooner, and punish her because he was right and she was wrong. "Alright, I won't go over anymore," she answered. "Good. Now look and see if I left any of my work papers on the table this morning." he commanded.
Mrs. Bowles found the papers for her husband and hung up. He was right. He always was. And if he wasn't he found a way to make sure he was. She turned her attention back to 'family'. The husband on this show was always very kind to his wife. He was always right and she was always wrong but he never spoke harshly to her. For the longest time Mrs. Bowles always thought she and Mr. Bowles were like that. But, now she knew she was wrong. The husband on 'family' was so much better than Mr. Bowles. He loved his wife. Just like the man who wrote Dover Beach. That poem Mr. Montag read was cruel. Very cruel. But as much as Mrs. Bowles didn't want to admit it, it was honest. Families like they have on TV and in books don't exist.
Mrs. Bowles felt a tear roll down her face. NO! What is this? Why am I crying? I haven't cried in years! But Mrs. Bowles knew why she was crying. She wanted a family like the one on TV. And she wanted a marriage like the one in Dover Beach. She just never knew any different until today.
Mrs. Bowles realized that her life wasn't like the one on 'family'. It was so much worse. Dover Beach taught her what love really is supposed to look like, it opened her eyes to the unreality of 'family' and the life she thought she had. It taught her that sometimes, even though something makes you cry, it's still good for you.
