Need to read or write about Clarisse McClellan from Fahrenheit 451?
These Clarisse McClellan quotes help you write about her without reading the whole book.
Clarisse McClellan is one of my favorite fictional characters. She is unlike everyone else in a world that’s gone mad.
Fahrenheit 451 Quotes With Page Numbers
Clarisse McClellan Physical Description Quotes
“Her face was slender and milk-white, and in it was a kind of gentle hunger that touched over everything with tireless curiosity. It was a look, almost, of pale surprise; the dark eyes were so fixed to the world that no move escaped them.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about Clarisse McClellan (Character: Guy Montag), Page 3
35 Guy Montag Quotes With Page Numbers
“Her face, turned to him now, was fragile milk crystal with a soft and constant light in it. It was not the hysterical light of electricity but—what? But the strangely comfortable and rare and gently flattering light of the candle.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about Clarisse McClellan (Characters: Guy Montag as the narrator), Page 5
Clarisse McClellan Quotes With Page Numbers Part One
“I’m seventeen and I’m crazy. My uncle says the two always go together. When people ask your age, he said, always say seventeen and insane.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, (Character: Clarisse McClellan), Page 5
“Do you ever read any of the books you burn?”
He laughed. “That’s against the law!”
“Oh. Of course.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about books (Characters: Clarisse McClellan and Guy Montag), Pages 5, 6
“They walked still farther and the girl said, “Is it true that long ago firemen put fires out instead of going to start them?”
No. Houses have always been fireproof, take my word for it.”
Strange. I heard once that a long time ago houses used to burn by accident and they needed firemen to stop the flames.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, (Characters: Clarisse McClellan and Guy Montag), Page 6
“You laugh when I haven’t been funny and you answer right off. You never stop to think what I’ve asked you.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, (Character: Clarisse McClellan), Page 6
“Have you ever watched the jet cars race on the boulevards…? I sometimes think drivers don’t know what grass is, or flowers, because they never see them slowly…If you showed a driver a green blur, Oh yes! He’d say, that’s grass! A pink blur! That’s a rose garden! White blurs are houses. Brown blurs are cows.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about nature (Character: Clarisse McClellan), Page 6
“Bet I know something else you don’t. There’s dew on the grass in the morning.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about nature (Character: Clarisse McClellan), Page 7
He said hello and then said, “What are you up to now?”
“I’m still crazy. The rain feels good. I love to walk in it.
“I don’t think I’d like that,” he said.
“You might if you tried.”
“I never have.”
She licked her lips. “Rain even tastes good.”
“What do you do, go around trying everything once?” he asked.
“Sometimes twice.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, (Character: Clarisse McClellan and Guy Montag), Page 19
“They want to know what I do with my time. I tell them that sometimes I just sit and think. But I won’t tell them what. I’ve got them running. And sometimes, I tell them, I like to put my head back, like this, and let the rain fall in my mouth. It tastes just like wine. Have you ever tried it?”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, (Character: Clarisse McClellan), Page 20
“You’re not like the others. I’ve seen a few; I know. When I talk, you look at me. When I said something about the moon, you looked at the moon, last night. The others would never do that. The others would walk off and leave me talking. Or threaten me. No one has time any more for anyone else. You’re one of the few who put up with me. That’s why I think it’s so strange you’re a fireman, it just doesn’t seem right for you, somehow.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, (Character: Clarisse McClellan), Page 21
“Why is it,” he said, one time, at the subway entrance, “I feel I’ve known you so many years?”
“Because I like you,” she said, “and I don’t want anything from you.”~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, (Characters: Guy Montag and Clarisse McClellan), Page 26
“I’m antisocial, they say. I don’t mix. It’s so strange. I’m very social indeed. It all depends on what you mean by social, doesn’t it? Social to me means talking to you about things like this.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, (Characters: Clarisse McClellan), Page 26-27
“Why aren’t you in school? I see you every day wandering around.”
“Oh, they don’t miss me,” she said. “I’m antisocial, they say. I don’t mix. It’s so strange. I’m very social indeed. It all depends on what you mean by social, doesn’t it? Social to me means talking to you about things like this.” She rattled some chestnuts that had fallen off the tree in the front yard. “Or talking about how strange the world is. Being with people is nice. But I don’t think it’s social to get a bunch of people together and then not let them talk, do you? An hour of TV class, an hour of basketball or baseball or running, another hour of transcription history or painting pictures, and more sports, but do you know, we never ask questions, or at least most don’t; they just run the answers at you, bing, bing, bing, and us sitting there for four more hours of film-teacher. That’s not social to me at all. It’s a lot of funnels and lot of water poured down the spout and out the bottom, and them telling us it’s wine when it’s not. They run us so ragged by the end of the day we can’t do anything but go to bed or head for a Fun Park to bully people around, break windowpanes in the Window Smasher place or wreck cars in the Car Wrecker place with the big steel ball. Or go out in the cars and race on the streets, trying to see how close you can get to lampposts, playing ‘chicken’ and ‘knock hubcaps.’ I guess I’m everything they say I am, all right. I haven’t any friends. That’s supposed to prove I’m abnormal. But everyone I know is either shouting or dancing around like wild or beating up one another. Do you notice how people hurt each other nowadays?”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about school (Characters: Guy Montag and Clarisse McClellan), Page 27
“But most of all, I like to watch people. Sometimes I ride the subway all day and look at them and listen to them. I just want to figure out who they are and what they want and where they are going. Sometimes I even go to Fun parks and ride in the jet cars when they race on the edge of town at midnight and the police don’t care as long as they’re insured. As long as everyone has ten thousand insurance everyone’s happy. Sometimes I sneak around and listen in subways. Or I listen at soda fountains, and do you know what? People don’t talk about anything.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, (Character: Clarisse McClellan), Page 28
“And then, Clarisse was gone. He didn’t know what there was about the afternoon, but it was not seeing her somewhere in the world. The lawn was empty, the trees empty, the street empty, and while at first he did not even know he missed her or was even looking for her, the fact was that by the time he reached the subway, there were vague stirrings of un-ease in him. Something was the matter, his routine had been disturbed. A simple routine, true, established in a short few days, and yet . . . ? He almost turned back to make the walk again, to give her
time to appear. He was certain if he tried the same route, everything would work out fine. But it was late, and the arrival of his train put a stop to his plan.”~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about Clarisse McClellan (Character: Guy Montag), Page 29
“The girl? She was a time bomb. The family had been feeding her subconscious, I’m sure, from what I saw of her school record. She didn’t want to know how a thing was done, but why. That can be embarrassing. You ask Why to a lot of things and you wind up very unhappy indeed, if you keep at it. The poor girl’s better off dead.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about Clarisse McClellan (Character: Captain Beatty), Page 57
“But Clarisse’s favorite subject wasn’t herself. It was everyone else, and me. She was the first person in a good many years I’ve really liked. She was the first person I can remember who looked straight at me as if I counted.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, about Clarisse McClellan (Character: Guy Montag), Page 68
20 Fahrenheit 451 Quotes About Censorship With Page Numbers
I’m antisocial they say. I don’t mix page number
This Clarisse McClellan quote is on page 27 of Fahrenheit 451.
Clarissa McClellan Character Traits
Clarisse McClellan is a 17-year-old girl who questions the world around her and challenges the status quo. She has a passion for knowledge and a thirst for life, which stands out amongst the contentment of the other citizens in Fahrenheit 451.
Her inquisitive nature and intellectual curiosity act as a catalyst for Montag’s journey of self-discovery. She does not conform to societal norms, choosing instead to think and question her environment.
Her rebellious attitude and independent spirit make her an agent of change in the novel and serve as a beacon of hope for Montag’s inner transformation.
“She didn’t want to know how a thing was done, but why.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, (Character: Captain Beatty), Page 57
Fahrenheit 451 Quotes About Society
Clarisse McClellan death in fahrenheit 451
Clarisse McClellan disappears from the novel. Later, Montag finds out that she was killed. It’s implied that she was killed by a speeding jet car.
“There was a girl next door,” he said, slowly. “She’s gone now, I think, dead. I can’t even remember her face. But she was different. How? How did she happen?” Beatty smiled. “Here or there, that’s bound to occur. Clarisse McClellan? We’ve a record on her family. We’ve watched them carefully. Heredity and environment are funny things. You can’t rid yourselves of all the odd ducks in just a few years. The home environment can undo a lot you try to do at school. That’s why we’ve lowered the kindergarten age year after year until now we’re almost snatching them from the cradle. We had some false alarms on the McClellans, when they lived in Chicago. Never found a book. Uncle had a mixed record; antisocial. The girl? She was a time bomb. The family had been feeding her subconscious, I’m sure, from what I saw of her school record. She didn’t want to know how a thing was done, but why. That can be embarrassing. You ask Why to a lot of things and you wind up very unhappy indeed, if you keep at it. The poor girl’s better off dead.” “Yes, dead.” “Luckily, queer ones like her don’t happen, often.”
~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, (Guy Montag and Captain Beatty), Pages 57-58
Montag is devastated by her death and blames the society which prevented her from living a meaningful life.
Clarisse was a bright, curious young girl who posed a threat to the establishment. Despite her young age, she had a powerful desire to make the world more accessible and unique.
25 Important Fahrenheit 451 quotes meaning explained