Why do the books remind montag of clarisse

As the speed of life accelerated, people increasingly opted for simplified forms of entertainment, like television. If people read at all, they read radically abridged books, or else indulged in the mindless pleasures of pulp fiction, comic books, and sex magazines.

Society evolved in a way that privileged happiness above all else. Books were feared because they brought confusion and discontent. What began as a matter of social evolution was eventually codified in law, with the government banning books altogether and enforcing the ban through firemen, who started fires rather than putting them out.

Montag hypothesizes that Mildred probably lost track of how many pills she had taken. Yet as the EMTs who pump her stomach and transfuse her blood indicate, this extreme type of accidental overdose happens all the time, and in fact the EMTs must rush off to answer another call as soon as they finish with Mildred. In other words, Mildred spends all her time numbing herself, and she mistakes her numbness for happiness and contentment. It is this numbness that leads to what is likely an accidental overdose on sleeping pills.

Following his initial encounter with the free-spirited Clarisse, Montag begins paying attention to his own emotional state and realizes that he is, in fact, quite unhappy.

He spends the first third of the novel reflecting on the aspects of his social and personal life that contribute to his unhappiness, and he grows curious about books. Montag initially encountered Faber in a park before the events of the novel. Montag recalls the incident, which began with Faber hiding something suspicious in his coat pocket. When Montag approached him, Faber reacted with fear, but eventually grew courageous enough to admit that he was a retired English professor.

I talk the meaning of things. When Beatty orders Montag to burn his own house, he discloses that both Mildred and her friends reported his book stash.

A few weeks after Montag meets Clarisse, she disappears. Mildred later tells Montag that Clarisse was run over and killed by a car and that her family moved away. In fact, Montag even believes as much when he is run down by a car full of teenagers later in the novel. Phelps and Mrs. This tirade will prove costly to his idealistic plans.

Montag, who is tired of listening to the women's meaningless triviality, decides to disconnect the television and begins to attempt a discussion with the women. He reads Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" in hopes that the women will be motivated to discuss the work.

Although the women — especially Mrs. Phelps — are moved by the poem, they can't say why and dismiss any further discussion. Faber attempts, through the two-way radio, to calm Montag's zealous anger. He urges Montag to make believe, to say that he is joking, and Faber commands him to throw his book of poems into the incinerator. Despite Faber's admonitions and Millie's defensive maneuvers, Montag continues by soundly cursing Mrs. Bowles for their empty and corrupt lives.

Bowles leaves in a fury; Mrs. Phelps, in tears. Characteristically, Millie escapes from this horrible scene by rushing to the bathroom and downing several pills. She wants to sleep and forget. Montag hides several of the remaining books in some bushes in his backyard and then goes off to work. He carries with him a substitute book to give Beatty in place of the Bible that he left with Faber.

Montag dreads the meeting with Beatty, even though Faber promises to be with him via the two-way radio implanted in Montag's ear. Beatty tries to coax Montag into admitting his crime of stealing and reading books, but Faber is true to his word and supports Montag during Beatty's taunting. Before Montag can respond to Beatty's tirade, the fire alarm sounds, and the firemen rush off to work.

Ironically, Montag realizes that his own home is the firemen's target. While Millie and Montag are reading, Clarisse's profound influence on Montag becomes obvious. In fact, Montag points out that "She was the first person I can remember who looked straight at me as if I counted.

They hear "a faint scratching" outside the front door and "a slow, probing sniff, and exhalation of electric steam" under the doorsill. Millie's reaction is "It's only a dog. The Mechanical Hound lurks outside, probably programmed by Beatty to collect evidence that he can use later against Montag.

The Montags, however, can't ignore the sounds of bombers crossing the sky over their house, signaling the imminence of war. Although no on knows the cause of the war or its origins, the country is filled with unrest, which is a parallel to the growing unrest and anger smoldering within Montag.

Abandonment of reality has become uppermost in Millie's mind. When Montag speaks to her about the value and merit in books, she shrieks and condemns him for possessing the books.

Bradbury describes her as "sitting there like a wax doll melting in its own heat. This time, however, Millie carries the seeds of her own destruction. As stated earlier at the end of Part One, she can choose books and life. But because she shuns books and the lessons that she can learn from them, Bradbury describes her as a doll that melts in its self-generated heat.

Montag, on the other hand, wants to comprehend the information that the books give him. More importantly, however, Montag realizes that he needs a teacher if he wants to fully understand the books' information. The person to whom Montag chooses to turn, Faber, "had been thrown out upon the world forty years ago when the last liberal arts college shut for lack of students and patronage. He said to Montag, "I don't talk things , sir; I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and know I'm alive.

While riding the subway to Faber's house, Montag experiences a moment of self-reflection. He discovers that his smile, "the old burnt-in smile," has disappeared. He recognizes his emptiness and unhappiness. Moreover, he recognizes his lack of formal education — what he thinks is his essential ignorance. This sense of helplessness, of ineffectuality, of powerlessness, of his utter inability to comprehend what is in books, overwhelms him, and his mind flashes back to a time when he was a child on the seashore "trying to fill a sieve with sand.

He knows that in a few hours he must give this precious book to Beatty, so he attempts to read and memorize the scriptures — in particular, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.

As he attempts to memorize the passages, however, a loud and brassy advertisement for "Denham's Dental Detergent" destroys his concentration. Montag is trying to rebel, but he is confused because of his many mental blocks against nonconformity.

He has never before deviated from the norm, and his attempts to establish an individual identity are continually frustrated. Montag's flight to Faber's home is his only hope. The scene represents a man running for his life, which, in fact, Montag is doing, though he doesn't fully realize it yet.

Nor does he know that he is already an outcast. He can never return to his former existence. His transformation is inevitable. Of significance in this part of the book is that Faber bears a close resemblance to Carl Jung's archetypal figure of the "old man. Faber displays these qualities, and he, like Clarisse, is associated with the color white, symbolic of his spiritual nature: "He [Faber] and the white plaster walls inside were much the same. There was white in the flesh of his mouth and his cheeks and his hair was white and his eyes had faded, with white in the vague blueness there.

White is also the opposite of the blackness of the burnt books and the dark ashes into which they are burned. Besides enlightening Montag, Faber expands on his philosophy about the use of the books, as well as about society in general. One can't help but think that Faber's discussion is close to Bradbury's own view, but of course, this assertion is simply speculation. Faber explains that books have "quality" and "texture," that they reveal stark reality, not only the pleasant aspect of life but also the bad aspects of life: "They show the pores in the face of life," and their society finds this discomforting.

Tragically, society has started programming thoughts: People are no longer allowed leisure time to think for themselves. Faber insists that leisure is essential to achieving proper appreciation of books. By "leisure," Faber doesn't mean "off hours," the time away from work, but simply ample time to think about things beyond one's self.

Faber compares their superficial society to flowers trying to live on flowers instead of on good, substantive dirt: people are unwilling to accept the basic realities and unpleasant aspects of life.

Faber says that people need quality information, the leisure to digest it, and the freedom to act on what they learn. Books at least allow the reader to put them down, giving one time to think and reason about the information they contain. Montag suggests planting books in the homes of firemen to discredit the profession and see the firehouses burn.

Faber says they just need to be patient, since the coming war will eventually mean the death of the TV families. Montag concludes that they could use that as a chance to bring books back. Montag bullies Faber out of his cowardice by tearing pages out of the precious Bible one by one, and Faber finally agrees to help, revealing that he knows someone with a printing press who used to print his college newspaper.

Montag decides to risk giving Beatty a substitute book, and Faber agrees to see his printer friend. This denial is related to the widespread ignorance of history and fear of books, because history and books connect readers to the dead. In contrast, Montag feels a kind of wonder that the books written by dead people somehow remind him of Clarisse. He openly accepts and ponders death, telling Faber that his wife is dying and that a friend of his is already dead, along with someone who might have been a friend meaning the old woman.

Mildred still does not see any possible advantage in reading and is angered by the danger Montag puts her in, asking if she is not more important than a Bible.

Montag hopes that reading will help him understand the mistakes that have led the world into two atomic wars since and that have made the rest of the world hate his country for its narcissistic hedonism. Faber becomes a more important character in this section.

This theme of deeper meanings being necessary for life is central to the book. And although Montag knew he had a book in his pocket, Faber gave him his address anyway, allowing Montag to choose whether to befriend him or turn him in. When Montag visits Faber, he tells the professor that he just wants someone to listen to him talk until he starts to make sense. He acknowledges his own ignorance, which demonstrates his increasing self-awareness, and hopes to learn from Faber.

Although Faber is a strong moral voice in the novel, his self-professed flaw of cowardice is also introduced in this section. He is reluctant to risk helping Montag and finally agrees to do so only by means of his audio transmitter, hiding behind this device while Montag risks his life. He expresses concern that Beatty will be able to persuade him to return to his former life.

He compares this memory to his attempt to read the whole Bible as quickly as possible on the subway in the hope that, if he reads fast enough, some of the material will stay in his memory.