Knowledge is Power: An Analysis on Clarisse’s Influence on Montag in Fahrenheit 451
Tom Clancey once said, “Information, knowledge, is power. If you can control information, you can control people.” When examining Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, this quote holds such significance. When Montag, a fireman who burns books, meets a girl, Clarisse, who adores learning, his outlook on his life completely shifts; she eventually inspires Montag to make a change. He bravely endangers himself for the possibility of deepening his knowledge. In his novel, Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury uses the character Clarisse in order to demonstrate how brief interactions can create long-lasting impacts on people.
To begin, Clarisse’s words in her and Guy’s first conversation
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As Montag was walking to work, “...he tried not to see how completely dark and deserted Clarisse McClellan’s house was…” (Bradbury 98). The words “dark and deserted” that describe Clarisse’s house after she is gone show how much of a light she was; these descriptions are the complete opposite of Clarisse. A light like her keeps shining, even other forces try to to destroy them, and this is what she does through Montag throughout the entire novel. Also, Montag tries “not to see” the hopeless scene because he does not want to believe that it is reality (Bradbury 98). Later in the novel, Ray Bradbury writes, “Clarisse, he remembered, was dead” (Bradbury 151). This evidence continues to imply that Montag often forgets that Clarisse is gone because she lives on through him. When Bradbury uses the word “remembered”, it reinforces the idea that Clarisse continues to impact Montag even after she dies (Bradbury 151). It also implies that Guy tries to distract himself from Clarisse’s absence, which explains why he often forgets that she is dead. The evidence and analysis provided reinforces the idea that Clarisse lives on spiritually through