Clarisse McClellan is a seventeen-year-old girl who lives in the neighborhood of Montag. She plays a character of a person who appreciates life with no limits. Clarisse is a non-conformist who is not afraid to stand her ground. Her free mindedness, unquenchable curiosity and daring character gets her labeled ‘time bomb’ by Beatty, who plans to pay her revenge on Montag by destroying Clarisse. Unlike any other teenage child, who would be interested in social life and watching TV programs and movies, Clarisse loves nature. She has weird interests like those of autumn leaves, enjoys seeing rain, dandelions and flower scents.
The fact that the girl is not into vacant socializing and has odd interest draws her to Montag. She challenges him with humiliating questions about his job. She refers him as a fireman who has no fireman traits in him. She goes ahead to ask him why he does what he does, a question that Montag opts not to answer since it is quite humiliating. Clarisse prompts Montag with a number of issues and this gets him doubt-ridden. She enquirers from him if he is happy with what he does. The lady seems not to teach him anything new rather invites him to do things for himself and leaves him alone struggling. As a result, he feels compelled to evaluate himself after keenly examining the ethics of the job he does. She causes Montag painful, but necessary change for she makes him believe that thinking is an option.
When Montag has come to self-realization, he values the time that he and Clarisse spend together for he has developed a liking for her. He appreciates the fact that she is a lover of life and thinks she has a better taste of life than Millie. Whenever they are not together, she cannot wait, but think about their next meeting. It is odd how much they later come to be so close. Clarisse is a girl who is incompatible with her surroundings and possibly she is a human being who cannot be in the many people existence. However, to Montag she exists and she is significant because she changed his thinking capacity and brought about his change.
As the novel ends, Clarisse dies in a road accident whereby she is knocked dead by a car. Montag learns this from his wife after she had ceased from visiting him for some time. He is the most affected by this occurrence. He feels he has lost a friend who brought about spiritual revitalization and self-awareness in him. She made him know love and contentment. It is later in the novel that he realizes that the untimely death of Clarisse was engineered by his then boss, Beatty.
Beatty and Montag had some misunderstanding that made him plan Montag’s downfall. Since the start of the novel, Montag’s boss seems not to be at peace with him. He observes that Montag has been behaving differently from other firemen. As he was planning to destroy Montag’s dwelling, he discovers a small radio in Montag’s ear and is curious to know who is on the other end so that he can destroy him too. He, therefore, accomplishes his mission of hit-and-run on Clarisse. Montag, though, seeks revenge on him and decides to kill him. He lights him up and watches him burn to ashes. The boss though does not try to run away which shows he had given up his life.
