Fahrenheit 451 Clarisse Analysis

941 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Montag's philosophy shared in Fahrenheit 451

Bradbury uses similes to demonstrate the contrast of Clarisse and Mildred , showing that ignorance doesn't prompt happiness despite the way society interprets it to be. These vital comparisons show us how each character represents their current society to better comprehend what truly makes a person content . After a conversation Montag has with Clarisse where she questions him if he was happy, Guy recollects the moment and describes her as having" .. a very thing face like the dial of a small clock seen of a night when you waken to see the time and see the clock telling you the hour and the minute and the second... what it has to tell of the night passing swiftly on towards further darkness, but moving also towards a new sun." (Bradbury 10). …show more content…

While for most of the population, life is but a routine that blends days into one another, for Clarisse the clock does tick allowing her to see new things and note every "hour and the minute and the second" which is very different to Montag. He also describes Clarisse as someone who stands out "in a dark room in the middle of a night" that proposes she isn't blind or oblivious to her surroundings and clarity exist despite of the "dark". She therefore becomes classified as 'odd' because she understands who she is , allowing her to be much happier than society's standard of happiness. Clarisse drives Guy "towards a new sun" and Bradbury applies this comparison to indicate how she is the light to his darkness and begins to clear the fog of obliviousness to the truth for him. For the first time he can see something different because Clarisse questions society's intentions from her observations and portrays the authenticity of how life is suppose to be , making her the light from the "new …show more content…

After understanding how different Clarisse is in Fahrenheit's society, we can now see how Mildred stands out with her lifestyle compared to Clarisse. When Montag comes back from work and sees Mildred in an unconscious state from her attempt suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills, he sets out what she looks like, indicating " Two moonstone looked up at him in the light of his small hand held fire; two pale moonstones buried in a creek of clear water over which the life of the earth ran , not touching them. Her face was like a snow covered island upon which rain might fall, nut it felt no rain; over which clouds might pass their moving shadows , but she felt no shadow."(13) . With eyes like "pale moonstones buried in a creek of clear water" on Mildred's face, the word 'buried' is incorporated to infer that something is being disguised or hidden in the creak of clear water. Reality is represented by the clarity of the water and the attempt suicide gives us a reasonable perspective of Mildred's intentions; she overdosed on sleeping pills to forget feelings she didn't welcome. "The life of the world ran, not touching" is used by Bradbury to show how unlike Clarisse, Mildred wasn't aware of what was occurring around her and didn't see with clarity.She wouldn't allow herself to become in touch with

Show More
Related

  • Montag's Influences in Farenheit 451

    1288 Words  | 3 Pages

    Firstly, Montag is influenced by Clarisse McClellan because she is the first person he has met that is not like the rest of the society. Clarisse is a young 17 year old girl that Montag quickly becomes very fond of. Clarisse influences Montag by the way she questioned Montag, the way she admires nature, and her death. Clarisse first influenced Montag by the way she began questioning him often. Her questions would make him think for himself unlike the rest of society. “Then she seemed to remember something and came back to look at him with wonder and curiosity. “Are you happy?” she said. “Am I what?” he cried. But she was gone- running in the moonlight” (Bradbury, 10). Clarisse was one of the only people that Montag had ever met that had ever asked him that. This question that she asked him influenced him because he thinks about, and Montag asks himself tha...

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 Intelligence Quotes

    1191 Words  | 3 Pages

    Clarisse is a young 17 year old girl that has emotions, ambitions, and creativity because of the knowledge that comes from old traditions. “I'm seventeen and I'm crazy. My uncle says the two always go together. When people ask your age, he said, always say seventeen and insane.” ( Bradbury ) page 7. Clarisse is the only character to successfully exhibit all of these traits because she always talks to her grandfather that tells stories from the past. She can show emotion by always smiling when Montag encounters her. She also has the ambition of just trying to be accepted in society and trying to get through her treatments. Her creativity comes in two forms. The way she asks questions and the way she expresses her feelings towards simplistic objects such as flowers or even rain. Montag found his ambition to seek out the secrets of his society by receiving insight from Clarisse’s perspective of life. “Are you happy?” ( Bradbury ) page 10. With this one question Montag finally took the time to think if he was really happy. From there he continued to ask more questions which all turns into the events of the book. To recreate people who can feel, think and imagine knowledge must be actively present to create a unique individual.Bradbury asserts that man must retain knowledge in order to think

    Read More

  • Who Is The Mirror In Fahrenheit 451

    1069 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mildred cries out as the walls of her hotel room go dark, because in her final moments, she sees her own face is reflected there, “in a mirror instead of a crystal ball” (159), and it was such a vacant, expressionless face, alone in the room, touching nothing, consuming itself for there is nothing left to consume, finally she recognizes it as her own and immediately looks to the ceiling as it and everything above her crashes down upon her. Many symbols are brought up throughout Fahrenheit 451, but one that leaves a lasting impact is, mirrors. At the start of the book the protagonist, Guy Montag, describes Clarisse as a mirror, and she is the kindling that leads to Montag’s evolution as a character. Montag’s wife, Mildred, had also become a mirror in her own way, she was a mirror image of society. Their society mindlessly fed off of whatever the parlor walls threw to them,

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 Analysis

    701 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Federalist 10 James Madison argued that while factions are inevitable, they might have interests adverse to the rights of other citizens. Madison’s solution was the implementation of a Democratic form of government. He felt that majority rule would not eliminate factions, but it would not allow them to be as powerful as they were. With majority rule this would force all parties affiliate and all social classes from the rich white to the poor minorities to work together and for everyone’s opinion and views to be heard.

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 Analysis

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... ideas in books and understand them. Before this Montag never questioned the way he lives, he was blinded by all the distractions. The role that Clarisse plays in the book enables Montag to break free of the ignorance.

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 Conformity Essay

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    She does not express her views of the world since she spends her days watching and “communicating” with the parlor walls. Because of this, she is very forgetful of personal events and careless of others. Bradbury 40, Montag thinks back to when he and Mildred first met. “The first time we met, where was it and when?” “Why it was at-” She stopped. “I don't know,” she said. Also in Bradbury 49, Mildred states, “..let me alone. I didn't do anything,” as Montag shares his book conflict. This shows how Mildred lacks in thinking and considering the feelings of others. Therefore, she is the opposing side of the theme of the

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Fahrenheit 451

    1738 Words  | 4 Pages

    The future is viewed as a place of wonder, amazement, and prosperity. Ray Bradbury takes those aspects and forms a society of control, technology, and conformity in the novel Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury based those aspects off of World War II and the cold war which sparked a time of change and conflict for many citizens. Fahrenheit 451 bases its themes off of the conflicts going on in the 1950s by presenting a critical view point of the social and political systems. Fahrenheit 451 follows Guy Montag, a firefighter, and his struggle with society promoting his overall change of opinion. Through his contemplation of the good of his society, Montag metamorphosizes based on his interactions with his environment. Bradbury was able to create a conflicting

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 Critical Analysis

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    The North Korean government is known as authoritarian socialist; one-man dictatorship. North Korea could be considered a start of a dystopia. Dystopia is a community or society where people are unhappy and usually not treated fairly. This relates how Ray Bradbury's 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 shows the readers how a lost of connections with people and think for themselves can lead to a corrupt and violent society known as a dystopia.

    Read More

  • How Clarice Influenced Montag in Fahrenheit 451

    814 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... chin. She tells Montag that this means she is in love. When she rubs the dandelion underneath Montag's chin she has a very different result. There is no powder. “'What a shame,' she said. 'You're not in love with anyone' 'I am very much in love!' He tried to conjure up a face to fit the words, but there was no face 'I am!'” Montag goes home, and thinks about this. He later realizes that he isn't in love, and would not care if Mildred died.

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 essay

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    Are you really happy? Or are you sad about something? Sad about life or money, or your job? Any of these things you can be sad of. Most likely you feel discontentment a few times a day and you still call yourself happy. These are the questions that Guy Montag asks himself in the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. In this book people are thinking they are happy with their lives. This is only because life is going so fast that they think they are but really there is things to be sad about. Montag has finally met Clarisse, the one person in his society that stops to smell the roses still. She is the one that gets him thinking about how his life really is sad and he was just moving too fast to see it. He realizes that he is sad about pretty much everything in his life and that the government tries to trick the people by listening to the parlor and the seashells. This is just to distract people from actual emotions. People are always in a hurry. They have 200 foot billboards for people driving because they are driving so fast that they need more time to see the advertisement. Now I am going to show you who are happy and not happy in the book and how our society today is also unhappy.

    Read More

  • Empathy In Fahrenheit 451

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    Clarisse is a young, but intelligent girl that, unlike many children in the novel, was raised with discipline. “I was spanked when i needed it, years ago.” Clarisse said to Montag referring to how she was raised. Kids used to be loving and caring, but now it’s not like that anymore. The world is a dystopia and everyone has lost hope, but Clarisse, her family, a group of hobos who want to join the fight for books, and a secret team of Harvard graduates. Clarisse met a man named Montag, who is a firefighter that burns books down along with the house they were in if the owner of the books refuses to reveal their location. Clarisse walked with Montag, right after they had met, and told him of the many things life has to offer that he doesn’t see because he is caught up in burning books for a living. She caught Montag’s emotions and this is what ultimately ended up with Montag deciding he was going to stop burning books and even help the Harvard graduates memorize and spread the words and knowledge of the books that remain. Clarisse filled Montag with empathy and this changed Montag’s view of life

    Read More

  • Individuality In Fahrenheit 451

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    When Montag meets Clarisse, his neighbor, he starts to notice that there is more to life than burning books. Montag states, “Last night I thought about all the kerosene I have used in the past ten years. And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of those books” (Bradbury 49). It begins to bother Montag that all he has done for the past years is burn books. He starts to rethink his whole life, and how he has been living it. Montag goes on to say, “It took some men a lifetime maybe to put some of his thoughts down, looking around at the world and life and then I come along in two minutes and boom! It is all over” (Bradbury 49) Before, Montag never cares about what he has been doing to the books, but when he begins to ignore the distractions and really think about life he starts to notice that he has been destroying some other mans work. Montag begins to think more of the world

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury: Three Mentors

    937 Words  | 2 Pages

    Clarisse is Montag’s first mentor in his journey; she is the one who first opens his eyes to the world around him, as well as asking the ultimate question “Are you happy?” (7) To which Montag cried “Am I what?” He never gave whether he was actually, truly happy a real, legitimate thought in his entire life. He just woke up, ate breakfast, went to work, ate lunch, went home, ate dinner, and went to sleep; and all with a big grin fixed on his face. But now, after a bit of consideration he came to the realization that “He was not happy…. He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask a...

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 Literary Devices

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bradbury had used a literary device such as imagery. Montag had described the machine used on Mildred, he had said “They had this machine. They had two machines really. One of them slid down into your stomach like a black cobra down an echoing well looking for all the old water and the old time gathered there (14)”. Mildred has pumps inserted into her body that goes down her stomach. Badbury has gave the machine animal like qualities.The pumps were given the animal like quality such as a snake. Montag had described the whole process of how the machine is supposed to clean out all the pills from her body system. Imagery is also shown in this quote "Will you turn the parlour off?" he asked. "That's my family (4)". This quote is explaining how important the parlour is to him. the parlous is described as “family”. Montag doesn't show love because montag doesn't really know what love actually is, because throughout the book he seemed very emotionless towards his wife. Montag had talked about how it wouldn’t have a drastically affect him if his wife ever passed. It shows how technology has become a bigger importance to society than people the actual people in it. Montag went in his room and imagined “Without turning on the light he imagined how this room would look. His wife stretched on the bed uncovered, cold...There had been no night in the last two years that Mildred had not swum that sea, had not gladly gone down ...

    Read More

  • Happiness Explored in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    Of all characters, Bradbury uses Mildred Montag to effectively portray the idea that the majority of society has taken happiness as a refuge in nothing but passive, addictive entertainment. She immediately reveals her character early in the book, by saying, “My family is people. They tell me things: I laugh. They laugh! And the colors!” (73). Mildred is describing her parlors, or gigantic wall televisions, in this quote. Visual technological entertainment is so important in her life that she refers them to as “family,” implying the television characters as her loved ones. By immersing herself in an imaginary world, Mildred finds herself able to relate to fake characters and plots, giving her a phony sense of security. This is necessary for her to achieve her shallow happiness, or senseless plain fun, as she lifelessly watches other people in her walls with a senseless mind. Her family in real life only consists of Guy Montag, her husband, whom she has no fond feelings about. Montag is so frustrated with Mildred because of her inability to express feelings for ...

    Read More

More about Fahrenheit 451 Clarisse Analysis

Open Document