In Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag, the main character of the the story, underwent serious growth and maturity when he met a girl named Clarisse McClellan.
Montag was a middle-aged man who fit into society. Or rather, he tried to fit in. Everyone that Montag knew was mindless and absorbed by technology, and they proclaimed books as illegal and dangerous. Montag was a fireman, a person hired to burn down those dangerous books. Yet, he was different than all of the other firemen and people. Unlike them, he was not happy with his job or his life, and did not feel accomplished. Montag continued to feel this way and simply put on a mask for the rest of society to see.
This all changed when Guy Montag met Clarisse McClellan, a teenage girl who just moved in next door to him. Clarisse too did not fit in with society. She was thoughtful, was not a slave to technology, spent time with her parents, and could see straight through Montag's exterior mask.
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"Are you happy?" she said. "Am I what?" he cried.
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She questioned why Montag was not happy and why Montag was not like the other people she knew. This hit Montag directly, because this was the first time someone had pointed out his feelings of uncertainty and unhappiness. After this, Montag's mask came crumbling down. Completely crushed, Montag tried to talk to Clarisse again. However, she was unable to keep a conversation with Montag for very long due to how erratic her pattern of communication was. And one day, Clarisse disappeared. Montag, no longer able to keep in his emotions, and turned to his wife, Mildred, for support. However, Mildred could not see Montag's inability to enjoy life and feelings of insecurity. Mildred was already too consumed by technology and her fake "family" to truly care for Guy Montag. Utterly confused, alone, and unhappy, Montag turned to the only stable element he had left. That element was Faber, an old professor he met long ago.
"There, you've said an interesting thing," laughed Faber, "without having read it!"
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Montag tracked Faber down and asked for help. Faber revealed to Montag that the source of his unhappiness was from the lack of competition or differences from other people.
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Everyone in their society was indoctrinated by the government, and all that was taught by them was seen as truth. As a result, no one ever had conflicts in thought or learning from one another. While this made the country peaceful and fight-free, it took away the basic ability to think for one's self. This lack of self-thought was keeping Montag from truly enjoying his life. Faber then showed that the answer to opening Montag's mind and letting free thought through was in books. Books, although rejected by society and seen as the cause of much violence and sadness, only conveyed what their authors meant to say, and nothing more. Books were up to the reader to interpret in their own way. Once Faber had explained the importance of books in this way, Montag understood why he was unable to really be happy. At last, Montag had seen the true flaws in his society through maturing.