1. SUICIDE a common factor between Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and today's society
2. IN FAHRENHEIT 451, MONTAG DISCOVERS HIS WIFE, MILDRED, COMATOSE AFTER A FAILED SUICIDE ATTEMPT.
3. MILDRED OVERDOSES ON SLEEPING PILLS AS MONTAG IS AT WORK, AND HE IMMEDIATELY DIALS EMERGENCY FOR TREATMENT.
4. THE MEDICS ARRIVE AND PUMP MILDRED'S STOMACH AND BLOOD, AND FLUSH OUT HER SYSTEM OF THE THIRTY PILLS SHE HAS TAKEN.
5. WHEN SHE WAKES UP THE NEXT MORNING, MILLIE HAS NO RECOLLECTION OF HER OVERDOSE. MONTAG IS LEFT PERPLEXED BY HIS WIFE'S SUICIDE ATTEMPT.
6. THE MONTAGS LIVE IN A SOCIETY CENTERED AROUND THE ACHIEVEMENT OF HAPPINESS, AND MILDRED HAS EVERYTHING SHE COULD WANT TO KEEP HERSELF HAPPY---
7. SO WHY WOULD A MIDDLE AGED WOMAN WITH A SEEMINGLY SATISFACTORY LIFE ATTEMPT SUICIDE?
8. Unfortunately, suicides in middle-aged persons are not fictional- in today's society, middle aged women are the majority of the suicide demographic.
9. According to recently conducted clinical studies, todays society has undergone a staggering 49% rise in the past ten years in emergency room visits for drug related suicide attempts by middle aged females.
10. Research is showing that the largest growing number of completed suicides is occurring later in life, more specifically with women aged 50 and older.
11. Based on Bradbury's description, Mildred was a dull and shallow woman, who chose to immerse herself every second she could in the world of her "parlor walls" TVs. Mildred had no real drive in her life, her marriage was estranged, and despite her society's
12. numerous attempts to make all of its citizens happy, Mildred wasn't happy with her monotonous lifestyle. Her husband said he wasn't happy either- "He was not happy. He said the words to himself. He recognized this as the true state of affairs. He wore his happiness like a mask. " (9)
13. And Bradbury's diction tells readers it was not just Mildred who attempted suicide-- "We get these cases nine or ten a night. Got so many starting a few years ago, we had these special machines built," (13) the operators tell Montag as they pump Mildred's stomach to revive her from her attempted suicide.
14. If even the society who's utmost goal for their constituents is overall happiness has 9 to 10 suicide attempts a night, how does that statistic compare to the suicide rate in the United States?
15. In other words, how accurate was Ray Bradbury's depiction of the future to the world we live in?
16. In the United States, an average of one person dies by suicide every 13.3 minutes.There are estimated 8 to 25 attempted suicides to 1 completion.
17. If the Montag's society has roughly 10 suicide attempts a night, and the United States has one 12.5 sucide attempts every 10 minutes, in a given night of 8 hours, the US has an average of 600 suicide attempts per 8 hour night.
18. That means our society's suicide attempt rate is up 6000% from Bradbury's depiction.
19. But what exactly is causing the high rate of suicides in middle aged people?
21. Although financial woes were significantly less prominent in Fahrenheit 451, the aspect of easy access to drugs for citizens causing suicides is a common factor between Bradbury's future and the world we live in.
22. Millie Montag's method of suicide was also an accurate reflection of a popular method for suicide in today's society.
23. When Montag discovers his wife passed out in her bedroom, he thinks, "The small crystal bottle of sleeping tablets which earlier today had been filled with thirty capsules and which now lay uncapped and empty in the light of the tiny flare." (11)
24. Millie committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills, which seem to be readily available to all citizens. Bradbury's dystopian future is again similar to the real future in this aspect.
25. According to the CDC, suicide by drug overdose is also a method mostly used by females. From 2005-2007, 34% of female suicides were due to drug overdose, versus 8% of males.
26. Out of that 34% of female deaths by overdose, 30% of those suicides were caused by an overdose on a prescription or over-the-counter drug, most commonly painkillers and sleeping aids.
27. Although it was written 60 years ago, Fahrenheit 451 addresses real issues such as suicide and drug overdose, elements which Bradbury accurately incorporates as an aspect of the world in its future.
