How Montag Changes

Clarisse, Montag’s neighbor, is a person that introduces him to a world without technology. She is the catalyst that turns Montag from a mindless drone into a free-thinking and questioning intellectual. She does this when they first meet at the beginning of the novel and they have a conversation. "’I rarely watch the 'parlor walls' [...] So I've lots of time for crazy thoughts [...] Have you seen the -two-hundred-foot-long billboards in the country beyond town? [...]’” [(7). When Montag realizes that he has not been paying attention to these little things in life, he starts to become more interested in talking to Clarisse because she shows him another perspective on life other than a world filled with technology. She shows

Montag was a dynamic character who changed a lot throughout the story, impacting not only the people around him but the society he lived in as well. This change that shaped the course of the entire novel began when Montag met the strange Clarisse McClennan. She was a vital part of his transition from being a regular fireman who loved to see things burn, to someone who saw the flaws in their society. Clarisse had a huge impact on Montag. She helped him grow as a person by talking to him, asking uncomfortable questions, pointing out the beauty of the nature around them, helping him realize he didn’t love Mildred, and that he wasn’t happy with his life and just being genuinely interested in what he had to say.

8-10). Clarisse completely changes Montag’s emotions as she leaves him saying “Are you happy?” making him further question his job and himself both emotionally and physically. This was the first time in the story when Montag actually asks himself if he is truly happy with his life and if he believes that his job is actually the right thing to do. Before he walked with Clarisse, Montag used to be a rule follower and nothing else, he got up, ate, went to his job, went home, ate, watched TV with his wife and went to bed as this continued every day. He was almost emotionless, but once he met Clarisse he changed forever. Montag had been working at the fire station for multiple years now and the day after meeting Clarisse he came in and asked about books and what a fireman’s job was like in the past. “Montag hesitated, “Was-was it always like this? The firehouse, our work? I mean, well once upon a time…” “Once upon a time!” Beatty said. “What kind of talk is that?” Fool, thought Montag to himself, you’ll give it away… “Didn’t firemen prevent fires rather than stoke them up and get them

We can see that Clarisse is a huge part of the book in how Montag's reacts to events even after she dies, and even how she contributes to Montag unhappiness. Like for example in Fahrenheit 451 Bradbury writes “yes I am very much in love he tried to conjure up a face fit the words, but there was no face(22)” it clearly shows that this relates with the argument because in the book he starts to get a little nervous when she asked him is he in love and that can affect the way he thinks in the long run because of the problem he is having with his wife. A better part of the book where we see how Clarisse is affecting Montag point of view of stuff is when they first met and she asked him if he was happy and in Fahrenheit 451 Bradbury writes “happy of all the nonsense(10)” you can clearly see that this also relates to the argument because for the second time in the book she asked him a simple question and he has over thinked it or he has just responded with anger. The importance of this quote is to show the reader that how he can get distracted from his life when Clarice is around telling stuff to really think about.

The professor showed Montag that books have details, significance, and are valuable. Through Montag’s encounters with Clarisse, the old woman and Faber, he realizes that the time he had spent burning books was wrong. This persuaded him to change his life.

Montag soon begins to enter the bonfire stage. Clarisse, is an observant, curious, open-minded and unique 17 year old girl. Montag, after meeting a couple times with Clarisse, is when his eyes truly open that his society is full of fake realities. He becomes observant and starts asking questions about his society. While being with Clarisse, Montag would smell the leaves and notice the small details; therefore, he was having a shift from being a prisoner to going up to the bonfire. On page #48 it says, “ You’re not sick,” said Mildred. Montag fell back in bed. He reached under the pillow. The hidden book was still there. “Mildred, how would it be if, well, maybe I quit my job awhile?” “You want to give up everything? After all these years of working, because, one night, some woman and her books-” “You should have seen her, Millie!”…. “You weren’t there, you didn’t see ,” he said. “ There must be something in the books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.” This is the event that changed Montags viewpoint on books

Clarisse affected Montag by showing him how to be curious and adventurous and teaching Montag to try new things. Montag being a fireman doesn't know what he is doing for his society, by him burning books everyone's knowledge goes down. Clarisse is not for society, she is more free minded then Montag "'I rarely watch the 'parlor walls' or go to races or Fun Parks. So I've lots of time for crazy thoughts, I guess.'"(9). She is against watching the parlor and doing stuff society wants you to do. Montag will be affected by this and learn from this, he will later be against watching the parlor. Clarisse's attitude to life is good too, it seems like she is the light in a dark room. She also always has something interesting to say this makes Montag want to be around her "'Let me come in. I won't say anything. I just want to listen. What is it you're saying?'" (17)Montag wants hear what she has to say for there is always something interesting to be heard when she is talking.

Clarisse is one of the characters who influenced Montag by showing her own world. Clarisse remind Montag the fireman’s real job. Clarisse said ‘”strange. I heard once that a long time ago houses used to burn by accident and they needed firemen to stop the flames”’ (pg 8). Clarisse is the one of character who read a book in conflict read society. She confused Montag on

In my opinion, Montag went through a more mental than physical change. These changes in his mind mostly occurred because of the influence of individuals such as Clarisse. I think that the situation with the burning woman also influenced Montag’s change of mentality. Later in the novel after these people and situations came into play, Montag’s mind and reasoning were operating reverse of what they had in the beginning of the novel. I believe the biggest reason that Montag and his mind changed was because of Clarisse.

Clarisse helps Montag look around him and see everything, from the smallest snowflake to the biggest tree. Montag never really thinks about what is happening in his life, or why it seems he never shows much emotion towards anything. Clarisse teaches Montag to look around and to pay attention to what is really important in life, just not what his society tells him. Even though I believe Clarisse was the reason for Montag’s major metamorphosis, I believe that there were two additional individuals that had a role to play in Montag’s expedition to find answers to fill the void in his life.

This quotation shows that Montag is starting to have feelings unlike the rest of society. Clarisse has come to influence Montag through her questions, her admiration of nature and her death. Clarisse influenced Montag enough to get him to begin having feelings. Although Clarisse influenced Montag to begin feeling emotions, the fire on Elm Street was a big influence for Montag.

He had been a reliable, and for the most part trustworthy, fireman throughout his career, happy with his job while also ignorant of it. However, throughout his career it seems that he often that felt society misled him, as shown through his underhand stealing of books he had been obligated to burn. Later, after meeting Clarisse, he realized that there had to be “‘something in books’” to compel a woman to stay inside her burning house (Bradbury 48). This radical thought, coupled with the fact that he had once again unconsciously stolen a book from the woman’s house, indicates that his innermost thoughts had begun fighting the basic principles he had grown up on. His rebellious nature questioned the morality of his book burning and overtook his loyalty to the firemen. The reality Clarisse had shown Montag about his unfulfilling life caused his heart to fight back against the oppressive society that he was employed to

This change is dangerous for Montag, because being a fireman got him closer to books. Books were illegal, possessing them, reading them, even remembering them made other people think they were crazy. The closer he got to books, the more curious he became of them. Two things pushed him over the edge, deaths, the death of Clarisse and a random old woman who burned in her home with her books. This strengthened his curiosity and he started to steal books from the houses he burned.

There is a clear contrast between Clarisse and Montag here, since Montag is mature and close minded, but Clarisse is young and naïve. Montag also later makes a patronizing comment when he says "What do you do, go around trying everything once?" and Clarisse replies with "Sometimes twice."(Bradbury,21). This shows how innocent Clarisse is, since Montag made a sarcastic comment and she replied in a innocent way. This shows the special relationship that they have and also gives us more details about Clarisse’s character.

Clarisse was different from everyone Montag had met. She questioned everything. For example, she queried, “Are you happy?” Her nature had a positive impact on Montag as it influenced him to question his surroundings. He wondered what was in the book; he started to think