Insanity In The Novel 'By Ray Bradbury'sFahrenheit 451'

Clarisse is different from everyone else in that society; she acts slowly, she thinks, her uncle was even arrested once for being a pedestrian. After talking to Montag, she thought he was different -- he was peculiar. “ You're not like the others. I've seen a few; I know. When I talk, you look at me. When I said something about the moon, you looked at the moon, last night. The others would never do that. The others would walk off and leave me talking. Or

Unlike most people in Fahrenheit 451, she inquires a lot about the surrounding environment. She is seen as “antisocial” because she doesn’t mix with the “society”. It turns out that the meaning of “social” in Fahrenheit 451 is being the same as others. Clarisse gave Montag a spark of interest in the outside world, thus making him start to read books. Unfortunately, Clarisse gets run over by a car and dies. Later, Beatty says, ”You ask Why to a lot of things and you wind up very unhappy indeed, if you keep at it. The poor girl’s better off dead,” This shows that Clarisse was not supposed to be there at all. From existence of Clarisse, Bradbury gives us a comparison of the world with no interest and the so-called “normal”

While walking home, Guy meets Clarisse, a curious seventeen- year- old. This signals the Call to Adventure; Clarisse expands Montag’s thinking, and makes him question his society. “Are you happy?” (Bradbury 7). Montag has always seen himself as happy, but until Clarisse asked, he realized he is not happy. His wife is a ‘stranger’ and a drug addict and he is questioning the true meaning of their society. But, Montag ignores this

Clarisse McClellan: (rebel, outcast) Clarisse McClellan, known was Montag’s new neighbor, introduces Montag to the world’s future beauty and meaning with her great innocence and curiosity. She is an outcast from her society due to

Clarisse is a very curious individual. Some would see her as an attention seeker, peculiar, or even insane. All of these things due to her differences. Her outlook on the world and society is completely opposed to others she is surrounded by. For example, she explains to Montag that she and her family talk. This catches him by surprise and bring curiosity because in their

While the two are talking, Clarisse says, “Well, she said, I’m seventeen and I’m crazy.” Clarisse is suspected to have read books in her home along with her Uncle. Here, Bradbury tells his readers that because she read books, she is different from the rest of the people in her society. Clarisse also asks Montag the question, “Are you happy?” later on in their conversation. This makes Montag question whether or not he is actually happy, starting to make him more diverse. These points show how knowledge can make people more diverse, especially in Montag’s

“The psychiatrist wants to know why I go out and hike around in the forests and watch the birds and collect butterflies” (Bradbury, 23). This quotation shows that Clarisse is considered different in this society, and she must see a psychiatrist because she admires nature. Clarisse influences Montag by admiring nature, because Montag is now starting to realize the beauty of nature, and beginning to develop his own opinion. Clarisse strongly influenced Montag after her death.

Bradbury uses Clarisse’s character to foil Montag and reveal his disconnect from reality and nature. Clarisse is a peculiar girl who is different than the average person in this society. Clarisse introduces Montag to the world’s potential for beauty and meaning with her gentle

In the book Fahrenheit 451 it says, “I like to smell things and look at things, and sometimes stay up all night, walking, and watch the sun rise ” (Bradbury 11). This is a perfect example because it shows how Clarisse is one of not many people who actually has her own individuality and is not afraid to be different from the others around her. Also in the story Fahrenheit 451 it says, “Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against” (Bradbury 62). So now everyone has to be almost if not exactly the each other. People should be able to be who they are and express who they are without having to ‘conform’ under what the expected or projected image should be. On top of that, in the short story “The Pedestrian” it states, “The street was silent and long and empty, with only his shadow moving like the shadow of a hawk in midcountry” (Bradbury 1). At least there are those who aren’t afraid to stand out and break the conformity that is being forced upon these people. Everyone is to busy trying to be like each other they can’t even notice how those who are different stand out or stand up, even if they don't realize

Clarisse McClellan was a high school student who was very fascinated with Montag: she would walk him home from work and talk to him about what she thought the world was all about. Guy did not understand her but truth be told Clarisse made him think about stuff he never thought of before. "Are you happy? She said. Am I what? He cried. But she was gone-running in the moonlight. Her front door shut gently. Happy! Of all the nonsense. He stopped laughing(10)." The way Clarisse would talk to Montag made him uncomfortable, but at the same time he looked at the world differently when he was with her. "Do you

When Montag first met Clarisse he could tell that she was different from other people he has met before. Clarisse was very free spirited and “her face [was] bright as snow in the moonlight”(pg. 4). She was a very innocent girl who saw the world from a different perspective than Montag. Instead of living in a world full of negativity, Clarisse aimed to explore beyond reality. She talked to Montag about a world where “they needed firemen to stop the flames,” and explained how the world was very peaceful (pg. 6). Also, Clarisse saw the true man hiding beneath the uniform. Although, her ideas may not have fell in line with the rest of society, Clarisse still remained optimistic about what the world was like before this time period. In

50% of marriages end in divorce, Montag and Mildred among them. Montag is an ignorant fireman until he meets a young girl named Clarisse who changes him for the better. In Fahrenheit 451, Clarisse McClellan and Mildred are very different in personality and both contribute to Montag change in beliefs, but in different ways; Clarisse for the better and Mildred for the worst. Clarisse is the first person to open Montags eyes to the world.

Clarisse says, “I tell them that sometimes I just sit and think”(21). Finally, Montag is made aware of this simplicity. When he is trying to find happiness himself, he remembers that Clarisse finds contenment through siting, observing and thinking. Montag begins to notice that his wife is a foil as she had never done either one of those things. Bradbury supports Jameson’s quote of happiness by showing how Mildred is suicidal and has no connection with people and her only connection is with her “Family” in the walls on Television. Montag begins to find himself and starts to realize that he really doesn’t care about Mildred, that she is an empty vessel. Later in the book Montage feels a stronger connection to a girl that he has only spoken to a handful of times versus his own wife whom he is suppose to have a strong connection. When Montage almost died by getting run over he says, “I wonder if they were the ones who killed Clarisse! He wanted to run after them yelling. His eyes watered.” (114). Montag knew Mildred for years yet he realizes that when she leaves him she will never miss him or mourn him; Montag feels closer with Clarisse as marvels at her idea of happiness. Montag starts to develop deeper feelings about thoughtful people like Clarisse. He would cry for this girl he barely knew more than he would for his own wife whom he felt no connection to.

In Joseph Conrad's novel The Heart of Darkness, Conrad illustrates the madness of the imperialistic Belgian Trading Company by the false perception of insanity exhibited by its members. In the novel it may appear that Conrad is portraying the natives as mad. In reality, the imperialistic Belgian trading company`s difficulty to recognize their benighted incompetence of other cultures leads to an inflated self-assessment of their culture and imperialism. The company and its intentions are insane, as they attempt to force a completely different culture on the natives. Marlow reads a prime example of the bulldozing towards homogeneity “It was very simple, and at the end of that moving appeal to every altruistic sentiment it blazed at you, luminous

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Raskolnikov is criminally insane. He is unable to control his actions despite having the understanding that they are morally wrong. In addition to his illness he lives in St. Petersburg, a city that was at the forefront of Russian cultural exchange with Europe. As a result of this exchange, the mentally unstable Raskolnikov was introduced to the Nietzschean philosophy of the Ubermensch. This lead Raskolnikov to kill an elderly moneylender and her disabled sister. Using a violent mentally unstable criminal as his narrator allowed Dostoevsky to reveal the deleterious effect Western philosophy would have on Russian society if it was not counteracted by a return to traditional belief.