preview

Fahrenheit 451 Motif Essay

Decent Essays

In the book, Fahrenheit 451, Clarisse McClellan is a thought out, important motif. A motif is a recurring object, theme, or item in a literary text that contributes to the plot of the story. Clarisse makes for a good example of a well-written motif. Clarisse McClellan is a character who is different from most of the other people in the book. Her face is described as being, “Slender and milk white.” She is curious and has a wise, but innocent aura about her. Clarisse also asks a lot of questions. She tells Montag early in the story that her school teachers call her anti-social. She goes on to explain that this is because she isn’t interested in the same things that most kids are interested in. They are content with killing each other, watching television, and playing sports 24/7, all while Clarisse would prefer to sit and talk to people. …show more content…

And of course, like many other people in their futuristic world, he thought he was content. After thinking about her question though, Montag realized that he wasn’t happy at all. Describing his happiness, “Like a mask…the girl had run off across the lawn with,” saying that, “There was no way of going to knock on her door and ask[ing] for [the mask] back.” When Clarisse and Montag met for the second time she was rubbing a dandelion under her chin. When Montag asked what she was doing, she explained that, “If it rubs off, it means [she’s] in love,” and according to the dandelion trick, she was, in fact, in love. On the other hand, when Montag rubbed the flower under his chin, nothing showed up. And, naturally, of course, he immediately began to make excuses on why the yellow powder hadn’t rubbed off onto his chin. This added to the idea that his perception of everything was a little skewed. He wasn’t truly in love with his wife, as one would find out later in the book, and Clarisse triggered this

Get Access