Internal Conflict In Fahrenheit 451

Everyone is different, but what makes an individual stand out in a book? It is simple; it is the unique attributes and desires they have that others do not. It is what makes a character a character. So, in a society where everyone wants the same thing, what desires make a character stand out, makes them different from what is perceived as “normal” from everyone else’s point of view? In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Clarisse McClellan is one of those characters. While everyone wants to sit mindlessly in the parlor and sit with the ‘family’ or drive cars at outrageous speeds, Clarisse wanks to take nature walks, have conversations, and think, questioning others and their way of life. This creates internal conflict by separating her from the

In Fahrenheit 451, Clarisse explains, “‘The psychiatrist wants to know why I go out and hike around in the forests and watch the birds and collect butterflies’”(Bradbury 20). This shows that not many people in this society get out much and that it is not normal to go on hikes and experience nature’s beauty. In fact, they are either driving so fast that all they see are colored blurs (6), or too busy watching the parlor walls to ever go outside. The fact that even a psychiatrist is so intrigued with why she enjoys nature must make Clarisse feel as if there is something wrong with her. What she wants is to be outside and explore and watch the sky and the trees and the birds, while the society she lives in would rather watch the parlor walls with their ‘families,’ and the very thought of nature is obsolete to them. This possibly makes her feel isolated and weird, and even

She thinks about many different things, from wondering if the firemen read the books they burn (5) to noticing that everything is abstract and shallow (28). She would much rather sit and think (20) over watching the parlor walls (7). She probably prefers to think because it keeps her mind busy in a good and useful way, wondering why things are the way they are, learning the little things about society most do not notice, and asking the questions she needs to draw conclusions. When watching the parlor, I imagine she feels hollow inside, as if something is missing. I mean, sure, it keeps her mind busy, but it is not at all practical or in her best interest, just something to not even pass the time, but waste it. This causes internal conflict because she would much rather think and question people, challenging their ideas, when all everyone else wants to do is live in their “utopia” and in their ignorant bliss. Watching the parlor walls keep their minds wastefully busy, driving cars at ninety miles per hour for an adrenaline rush to fill the void that there is when there is nothing to do, talking about the abstract things that do not even matter, all conflicting with what Clarisse desires. She wants to think, to challenge, but everyone shuns the idea, calls her crazy, and demands she goes to a psychiatrist when there is nothing even wrong with her, she just views the world