Guy Montag- fireman, burns books in a futuristic city in America. Firemen start fires instead of extinguishing them. People do not read books. People do not enjoy nature. People do not spend time by themselves or think independently. Montag sees seventeen-year-old girl Clarisse McClellan. She is a gentle girl who opens Montag's eyes to the emptiness of his life. Montag experiences a few disturbing events. His wife, Mildred, attempts suicide by swallowing a bottle of sleeping pills. This shows that she may have been unhappy with the blandness of her own life. After his response to the alarm of and old lady, he finds her willing to kill herself with her books. This shows that not everyone wishes to love in such a bland world without literature. …show more content…
Montag’s pessimistic attitude with his life increases due to his friendship with her. Montag doesn't show up for work, his fire chief, Beatty shows up at his house. He explains why books were outlawed in the first place and about how every book eventually looked the same. The continual political-correcting of literature lead to everything being outlawed. Montag goes to the fire station and hands over one of his books to Beatty. He confuses Montag by badgering him with contradictory quotations from classic literature. He shows these contradictions to show that literature is dark and extremely complex, and that it deserves to be destroyed all together. Then, the fire alarm sounds, and they rush off to answer the call, only to find that the alarm is at Montag’s own house. Mildred gets into a cab with her suitcase, and Montag realizes that his own wife has betrayed him. Faber tells Montag that he is leaving for St. Louis to see a retired printer who may be able to help them. Montag gives Faber some money and tells him how to remove Montag’s scent from his house so the Hound will not enter