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Character Analysis Of Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451'

Decent Essays

When you think of a character from a novel you’ve read, you probably don’t imagine that they aren’t real. However, in Fahrenheit 451, it is something to be considered. One main character from the book is Clarisse McClellan. She lived a life in which relatively few people understood her. But one day, she met Montag, a hard working fireman who burnt every book in sight for a living. They became great friends and eventually she changed how Montag saw things, inducing him to read books and eventually get into conflict with his job. Some readers believe Clarisse is an imaginary character made up in his head due to how she changed him, but they are wrong. Clarisse McClellan is real because she can do things that other real people can do and multiple people other than Montag know about her existence. To start off, Clarisse McClellan is proven to be real because of all the regular, everyday human activities she is capable of doing. Therefore, when talking to Montag, Clarisse utilizes one of the five senses that everyone has, her sense of smell. “‘Let’s talk about something else. Have you ever smelled old leaves? Don’t they smell like cinnamon? Here. Smell.’” (Bradbury, 26). This quote proves that Clarisse is real because she can do everyday human things such as using her sense of smell, like when she compared the scent of leaves to cinnamon. Since she can do things that people do every day, she does multiple different activities that she enjoys and even has her own hobbies. “Once he saw her shaking a walnut tree, once he saw her sitting on the lawn knitting a blue sweater … “ (Bradbury, 25). Clarisse has the ability to do things that don’t always have to do with Montag, such as knitting and shaking trees. This makes her seem real and live a normal life just like anybody else. In addition to not always having to be about Montag, Clarisse has her own feelings and reactions to events and other people. “The girl stopped smiling. ‘I’m sorry. I really thought you were having fun at my expense. I’m a fool.’” (Bradbury, 26). Clarisse started to feel bad when Montag appeared as though he wasn’t enjoying her company, which is not what he meant. This shows that Clarisse’s feelings aren’t just made up in Montag’s head because

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