Fahrenheit 451 Group

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mitchell2
mitchell2
Student
High School - 10th Grade

In "Fahrenheit 451", what happens to Clarisse McClellan in section 2?

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Posted by mitchell2 on Thursday December 18, 2008 at 6:22 PM and tagged with analysis, characters, details, fahrenheit 451, section 2, summary.

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  1. mrs-campbell Teacher
    High School - 11th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    The simple answer is that she disappears.  What happens to  her exactly is more complicated.  The book never fully explains it.  Mildred says that she heard that the "whole family moved out somewhere", and that Clarisse was "run over by a car".  Beatty hints that girls like her are "better off dead."  So, she could have been taken away by the government because she was trouble, she could have ran away, or she could have been killed.  The vague rumors that float around about her do help to keep it something that can't be pinned down and blamed though, which is handy if the government did take or kill her.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/fahrenheit-451/characters

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    Posted by mrs-campbell on Thursday December 18, 2008 at 6:28 PM


  2. ladyvols1 Teacher
    High School - 9th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    In the firt part of "Fahrenheit 451," Mildred tells Montag that Clarisse is dead.  He wants to know if she is sure.  She tells him she is not sure, but she thinks the girl got run over by a car.  She tells Montag that the family moved out about 4 days ago; that Clarisse was killed four days ago.  The second part of the novel opens with Montag reading to Mildred.  He is reading from a book and he mentions Clarisse saying, "We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed."  Mildred again tells him that she is dead.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/fahrenheit-451/characters
    http://www.enotes.com/fahrenheit-451/summary
    http://www.enotes.com/fahrenheit-451/themes

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    Posted by ladyvols1 on Thursday December 18, 2008 at 6:57 PM