In thinking about Clarisse's friendship and her death, Montag goes " ... trembling along the hall to the kitchen...". Why has his brief interaction with her made such an impact on him?
Clarisse's main role in the novel is to function as a catalyst for Montag's reassessment of pretty much everything in his world. Clarisse is a breath of life in a world gone stale. She is an anomaly that helps break him out of his trance-like state induced by methodical state-run brainwashing. She asks Montag to begin asking questions beginning with the simple yet profound, "Are you happy?" Everything about Clarisse is different from her enlightened manner, to her attractive youth to he family who actually talks to each other. Montag begins to question his relationship with people, his job, Mildred and society as a whole. When she dois, Montag is terribly shaken: the girl that helped him see truth is no longer alive.
