Montag's true character is revealed a bit in this second mini section of The Hearth and the Salamander. As is common with good authors, Bradbury uses another character and a conversation to show Montag's true colors. In this case, the character is a strange girl named Clarisse McClellan who likes to smell things and walk around. For more about my opinion of Clarisse, see the post before this one.
The eye-opening conversation between these two characters starts as Montag is walking home from work, whistling to himself and being generally cheery. As he approaches a corner on his homeward route, he gets the sneaking suspicion that someone is either watching him, was just there, or both. He turns the corner, and he finds that Clarisse is standing right there.
She proceeds to start studying him as they walk to their houses together, talking about strange things like how he smells of kerosene and asking him if he ever reads the books he burns. Remarks from her follow seemingly average things Guy does or says, such as when he laughs and she asks him why laughed instead of actually thinking about what she said.
Eventually, they reach Clarisse's house, which is right across the road from Montag's house. He is puzzled by the fact that the lights of Clarisse's house are all on this late at night, and they hear her family talking together and laughing. He asks what they could possibly be talking about when they talk for so long, and Clarisse laughs and asks him if he is happy. Naturally, he answers yes, but before he can ask her why she asked him, she is laughing and running into her house, leaving Montag with his thoughts.
This is one of my favorite parts of the book, partly because Clarisse is introduced in it, but also because Montag's character is developed. The first few paragraphs of the book make him seem scary and mean, but his conversation with Clarisse throws a different light on him. It suggests that he is more than just a man who burns books, that he actually may think and like to think. He just doesn't because no one else does.
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