Dover Beach

     I'm really glad that we went over this poem in class! I had little to no idea on what this poem meant and why Ray Bradbury chose to include it in Fahrenheit 451.  I have 2 ideas why Bradbury chose to include the poem and why it made Mrs. Phelps cry.

     My first idea is, because it compares the reader's and his new bride's commitment to each other to Mrs. Phelps's marriage. This is why Mrs. Phelps cried. Although she wasn't able to completely understand what the poem was about, I think that she understood this key point and it made her break apart inside. I think she wanted that kind of relationship with her husband or at least one of her husbands.

     And another idea is because the reader in the poem, pretty much says to his wife 'no matter what happens, we will always be together'. And this part stung. Mrs. Phelps has gone through 2 marriages previously and is now in the third one. But a part that builds on top of this is her third husband; who is serving in a war said to her, 'If I die, you go on marry someone else.' This means that there is no commitment in their marriage. It's almost like a marriage is a joke in their society.

     This is, at least in my opinion, why Bradbury chose to include Dover Beach in his novel and why Mrs. Phelps cried after hearing the poem.