When Clarisse tells Montag that he is not in love with anyone, he is angry and defensive. He tells her that he is very much in love and accuses Clarisse of using up the dandelion on herself. It is evident that Montag is protesting too much. If he really were deeply in love and felt no insecurity about this, he would not be nearly so angry at the dandelion's failure to confirm his feelings.

Days later, Montag is in bed with his wife, Mildred. He is having a sleepless night, thinking about the lack of communication between them. Noticing that she is awake as well, he asks her where they met. Neither of them can remember, which leaves Montag feeling empty and musing,

How do you get so empty? he wondered. Who takes it out of you? And that awful flower the other day, the dandelion! It had summed up everything, hadn't it? "What a shame! You're not in love with anyone!" And why not?

It is evident to the reader—and to Montag as well, if he would admit it to himself—that Mildred does not care much for anyone, including him. Montag, however, goes through the motions of being a devoted husband and sometimes makes a desperate attempt to forge a connection with his wife. He acts in this way because is a decent man who wants to be in love with his wife. The dandelion, however, confirms what he and the reader both suspect. His marriage to Mildred is irretrievably broken, not just through her lack of affection but because, deep down, he does not love her any more than she loves him.