Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

But he never realized that he was not happy until Clarisse asked him if he was happy. Clarisse not only shows him into another reality that could exist, but that shows him the reality that had existed and what should exist. Like reading books should be legal and so should stay up late at night talking or watching TV as a family. Clarisse shows and gives Montag the ability to interpret his own world. Once Montag starts to interpret the world he lives, he begins to take little steps toward books and has a couple of sudden urges of wanting to rescue the book. He slowly starts to realize that a man is behind every book and has put hard work behind it. By destroying a book, Montag is destroying history created by another man, especially when he put so much work into the book. Montag notices that many people care for their television families instead of caring for their actual families, like Montag’s wife or even Mrs. (). Montag even notices that all the firemen look similar, like dark-hair and unshaven, mirror images of Montag. She influences Montag so much that Montag ends up becoming a human being who can think, feel, and analyze from the automan he used to

Montag didn’t think he would cry even if his wife died, but Clarisse’s death affected him both physically and mentally. Montag develops chills and a fever, getting sick for the first time. This is exhibited in a conversation between Montag and Mildred where Mildred; “You’ve never been sick, she said. Well, I’m sick now. I’m not going to work tonight, call Beaty.” Montag also tries to talk to Mildred about the woman he burned the previous night, which the reader can gather Is something he doesn’t normally do. He even entertains the idea of quitting his job, something he said he loved at the beginning of the novel. In the first page, Montag says “It was a pleasure to burn”. This shows just how much Clarisse had changed Montag. Clarisse affected Montag greatly in the few days that she knew him, but her death is what truly impacted him, causing him to make a

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

threaten me” (21). Clarisse helped Montag to start thinking and examining his life. The first time they met, Clarisse asked him if he was happy. Though Montag’s answer was “of course”, it gets him to think. He then realized that he was never happy, but “He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back” (9). Another time, she questions his family, that he was not in love with anyone. Montag was upset, but soon he realized that that might be true -- neither Mildred (his wife) or himself remembered where they first met. Clarisse also asked why he chose the job and that she heard fireman puts out fire instead of starting them a long time ago. They all made Montag think and question about his life and the world, which led up to all his following actions to save the society. Without Clarisse, he might just be a fireman forever, and probably

Clarisse tells Montag this, and it makes him wonder if anyone really does care. Montag realizes that he lives in a world of conceited people. He realizes that he does not really care about anyone, including his wife Mildred. People in his society don't think about others feelings when acting. From this, Montag learns the meaning of caring. He learns what a terrible place it is to live in, where no one cares about anyone but themselves. This only changes Montag for the better. At one point, Montag and the other firemen go to a house because a lady has books concealed in her home. The lady, not concerned about being burned to death, is determined to stay with her books. Montag is stunned by her decision, and cares very much about her safety. “Montag placed his hand on the woman's elbow. 'You can come with me'” (Bradbury 39) This is a turning point for Montag, in which he starts to care about everyone and their feelings.

However, Montag starts changing when he starts to question things in ways he has never done before after his encounter with Clarisse. In their first meeting, Clarisse tells Montag that she had once heard that firemen used to put out fires instead of starting them and Montag laughs at this. Clarisse then says, “You laugh when I haven’t been funny and you answer right off. You never stop to think what I’ve asked you” (8). The people in this society don’t engage in real conversations and ultimately have no mind of their own. By saying this Clarisse challenges Montag to actually think about things. Clarisse also makes Montag question his own happiness in life when she asks him if he’s happy (10). Montag initially thinks that it’s a ridiculous question and he believes that he is obviously happy. However, this question effectively leaves Montag wondering about his contentment with life: “He was not happy” (12). Montag realizes that he is in fact not happy with his current life as a fireman and with his relationship with Mildred. Clarisse offers Montag a new perspective on life that he has never really considered. Montag at first was as brainwashed as the majority in the society, but thanks

Montag’s wife, Mildred tried to kill herself by taking “sleeping tablets which had been filled with thirty capsules and..now lay uncapped and empty” (10). The spouses relationship is drastically in trouble, considering Mildred’s attempt to take her own life, willing to leave Montag alone in the world. Mildred does not care about anything but watching television, not paying much attention to her own husband besides asking for things and now requesting for him to get their “fourth wall torn out and a fourth t.v wall put in” only leading to more distance between the two (18). She would rather spend her time alone, only thinking to please herself, rather than being with Montag, this lack of communication is leading is them nowhere but down. One of the few times the couple times actually communicates, Montag asks Mildred “when did we meet and where” but neither of them

When walking home from another duty as a fireman Montag stumbles upon his new neighbor, Clarisse McClellan. The two engage in philosophical conversation, mainly driven by the young, “socially ill” neighbor. Before heading into his home, Clarisse asks Montag a question. She asks if he is happy. He laughs at the question at first but after looking at Clarisse’s bright, cheerful home, Montag realizes he may not be as happy as he thinks he is while standing in his cold bedroom. A metaphor describes his feelings as Bradbury writes, “He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back,” (12). Then as matters couldn't get worse, he discovers his wife has attempted suicide shortly after accidentally kicking an empty sleeping pill bottle on the floor. From that moment on he continues to refer to this incident, wondering why his wife took the pills in the first place. Even after calling for help and saving her life, Mildred continues to bother Montag with distrust and ignorance. She even reports Montag’s interest in books to the fire department, leading Montag to completely change the way he thinks about their

When Montag meets Clarisse, it begins his change and desire to understand. With her curious and questioning nature, it inspires Montag to do the same. Montag had never met anyone who had questioned why something works instead of how it works. Clarisse is the opposite of Mildred. She is open-minded and observant of her world while Millie is closed off, almost an empty shell of a human. Captain Beatty, the head of the fire department, is a character that is full of contradictions. He is a fireman, who burns literature, although he has a great knowledge of it. He seems to, at one point, cared very deeply about the books he now burns without discretion. He uses the books that he calls treacherous weapons and traitors against Montag in his own argument. Beatty’s foil is the Professor Faber, who wages war with the Captain for possession of Montag’s mind and actions, which Faber inevitably wins in a flame of glory, quite literally when Montag lights Captain Beatty on fire, murdering him.

Montag grows consistently dissatisfied with his life and work the more he talks with Clarisse. He starts to ponder if perhaps books aren’t so bad, and even snatches one from one of his book burning missions. Meanwhile Clarisse disappears, which I assumed she was dead and his boss, Captain Beatty, is growing suspicious. He lectures Montag on the potential hazards of books and explains the origin and history of their profession. Far from rejuvenated, Montag feels blazing anger and becomes more dangerously rebellious than ever. He spends one afternoon with his wife reading his secret stash of books he’s been storing behind his ventilator grill and decides he needs a teacher. He takes a Christian Bible and tries to memorize some of it on his trip.

Clarisse’s words sunk into Montag's head, which made Montag anxious about the material that exist in books. Also, Clarisse asked Montag “Are you happy?”, which made Montag question his job (Bradbury 10). Montag began to question his emotions about being a fireman after he spoke with Clarisse. Mildred changed Montag's life. Mildred freaks Montag out “as [he] stood there, the sky over the house screamed”, when Mildred overdoses on sleeping pills (Bradbury 10). One of the many times Mildred overdoses on sleeping pills, it still shocked Montag to a large extent. Mildred affects Montag's life by ratting him out to the firemen; he found out when she ran out of the house with “one suitcase” sprinting to the beetle (Bradbury 114). Mildred sends in an alarm of Montag and he finds out it was her when Beatty led them

He meets a girl, Clarisse, and she reminds Montag of all good things life is. He starts rescuing books from the houses he destroys, and eventually his wife, Mildred, turns Montag into the fire chief. With the help from Professor Faber, he flees to the outskirts of the city where he finds refuge, and the city is bombed.

Guy Montag is the protagonist and central character of the book, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury that transforms from a conformist in a totalitarian society to rebuilding a society that reads books. Montag fits the cliché description of a good-looking male with “black hair, black brows…fiery face, and…blue-steel shaved but unshaved look.” (Bradbury, 33)  For the past eight years he has burned books. He is a 3rd generation firefighter, who in the beginning of the story, loves his job, which consists of burning the homes of people who perform criminal acts of reading and keeping books in their homes. By understanding Montag’s relationships, discontentment, and future, one can begin to understand the complexities of Guy Montag.

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.

Clarisse, the young women, impacts Montag’s life and changes his perspective on the world. When Montag first met Clarisse, he noticed she did not behave like the other citizens. Clarisse does not obsess over technology. Instead, Clarisse liked to enjoy the outside world and pay attention to it. As Montag and Clarisse interact and become friends, Clarisse says something to Montag that shocks him. For the first time Montag contemplates his life and job. While in this state of shock, Clarisse tells Montag that she finds him unique because he does not ignore her. Instead he listens and comprehends what she says, "...You're one of the few who put up with me. That's why I think it's so strange you're a fireman, it just doesn't seem right for you, somehow."(23-24). After Clarisse says this, Montag decides to do something Clarisse suggested. He stopped to feel the rain drip on his tongue, something he has never done before. Clarisse impacted Montag's life in a way that made him realize and appreciate the world around him. Until Montag met Clarisse, he never thought of the world as something to take care of and appreciate. Clarisse shaped Montag into the person he became. Other