Montag meets Clarisse McClellan

Guy Montag, a fireman who burns books for a living, encounters a seventeen-year-old girl named Clarisse McClellan while walking home from work. Clarisse is a curious and observant young woman who asks Montag questions about his job and his happiness, challenging his assumptions about the world. She tells him about her love for nature, walking, and thinking, and mentions that her family is considered peculiar because they talk and sit together. Montag is both unsettled and intrigued by her, and her question "Are you happy?" lingers in his mind, planting the first seed of doubt about his life.