The Narrative Creation Of Self In Fahrenheit 451

Clarisse is this introspective and inquisitive character who probes Montag with questions from the moment they meet. We see Montag shutting down when asked even the most basic of questions. After being unsatisfied with Montag’s responses, Clarisse finally said " 'You laugh when I haven't been funny and you answer right off. You never stop to think what I've asked you' " (Bradbury, 6).

Clarisse is a character that asks Montag a lot of questions, and seems to think

Montag is brainwashed up until the point where he meets Clarisse and then his new curiosity blossoms. Clarisse sparks a new flame in Montag and it makes him question everything he has been doing throughout his life as a fireman.

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

She changes the way he thinks and he becomes a whole different guy. Although she was younger than him she influences him to change his life. Clarisse would listen to Montag without judging him because she did not care what people thought. She only cared about being herself and being happy not about what society thought. If Clarisse was like society Montag would have stayed the same person and never make a change in his life.

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.

(Bradbury 5). This reveals how at the beginning of the novel, Montag is a law abiding citizen, who does not have a mind of his own. Another excellent example of how Clarisse helps Montag to see things differently is when she asks him “Are you happy?” (Bradbury 7) At first, Montag is upset and stumped by the question, but after thinking about if he was actually happy, his entire spectrum on him being happy completely

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

Clarisse clearly states the attitude of other citizens and their level of ignorance by saying “No one has time anymore for anyone else.” This shows how the others care only about themselves and no one else. Montag, on the other hand, is different to Clarisse. She describes him as an understanding individual when she says “You look at me…You looked at the moon.” This confirms that Montag is not ignorant anymore because he has been introduced to knowledge by Clarisse. He understands more and more of what she tells hm. He is able to understand the past and interpret its meaning. For

In Fahrenheit 451 Guy Montag is seen as the main character and the reason for this whole story because without him there would not be a story at all. However, while Montag is the central character his path is laid out for him by the other characters in the novel. These characters play the most important role in creating the feel of the story. Bradbury comments on humanity's urge to suppress what they do not understand. Clarisse McClellan appearance, actions, ideas, and relationships give important insight to the story. In this paper, I will be discussing the evolution of Clarisse's impact on Montag’s eyes and how she acted as the domino that set Montag on this life-altering story where he grows from a non-questioning consumer to a self-aware individual that betrays his dystopian society. I will also be using Jerome Bruner “The Narrative Creation Of Self” to support my thesis. “A self-making narrative is something of a balancing act. It must, on the one hand, create a conviction of autonomy, that one has a will of one’s own, a certain freedom of choice, a degree of possibility. However, it must also relate one to a world of others—to friends and family, to institutions, to the past, to reference groups. But there is an implicit commitment to others in relating oneself to others that, of course, limits our autonomy. We seem virtually unable to live without both, autonomy and commitment, and our lives strive to balance the two. So do the self-narratives we tell

As the conversation carries on between Clarisse and Montag, she begins to notice that Montag is different. She claims “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 threaten me. No one has time anymore for anyone else. You 're one of the few who put up with me...He felt his body divide itself into a hotness and a coldness, a softness and a hardness, a trembling and a not trembling, the two halves grinding one upon the other” (Bradbury 11). Clarisse points out the unique qualities to Montag because whenever they talk, Montag reacts by looking at her or objects that she is talking about. She reveals that the average people cannot comprehend the concept of socializing or reflect on thoughts thus they relapse to a state of violence as a resort to stop thinking. Clarisse doesn’t persuade Montag to think like her, but influence Montag to think outside the box and increase his curiosity. Clarisse’s character going against the common social conformity activates a rare phenomenon inside Montag’s mind. Montag was given two paths, hence the cold and hot or soft and hard. One Path guides Montag down the path of individuality and the other path leads him to the normal society life. Clarisse was an individual who opens the doors to Montag to let him

The character of Montag expresses the theme of the ability to think for oneself and the importance of self-reflection. The main character Montag transforms throughout the story. At first, Montag is content with his job as a fireman. Montag is comfortable with his life. Shortly into the story, the character of Clarisse McClean is introduced. Montag tells Clarisse, “You think too many things” (Bradbury 6). Reading further Bradbury’s dialog between Clarisse and Montag demonstrations Montag lacks critical thinking. Clarisse enlightens Montag and the character of Montag awakens. Montag begins to understand the world around him and comes to realize he is unhappy. In a way, Montag rebels against his society. Montag begins to think for himself. Montag reflected upon his happiness and the theme of self-reflection is conveyed for the first time within the novel. “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” (Bradbury 9). It wasn’t until Clarisse asked Montag “are you happy” did Montag stop to consider if he was happy. Bradbury expresses the importance of self-reflection by displaying Montag as content and then developing Montag’s character to awaken and identify he is unhappy. In addition, Bradbury illustrates the ability to think for oneself creates happiness. Bradbury creates an overzealous Montag towards the end of

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 grew closer to Clarisse each time they talked, and he enjoyed that. So this shows that Montag, when he talks to Clarisse, gets to be himself and become independent and has to think for himself instead of everyone else thinking for him.

The first time Montag and Clarisse meet, Clarisse shows that she is very curious by questioning everything. Many of these questions insult Montag or make him angry. Some make him wonder and question things that he has always known. In the very first conversation Montag and Clarisse have, Clarisse asks “'Are you happy?'she said.” (Bradbury 10). At first, Montag thinks this is a stupid question. Then after he goes home and ponders this question, he realizes that he isn't happy at all. Clarisse also tells Montag of a time when