a little bewildered by this newcomer to his world. Note in the following exchange the first suggestion that Montag may be growing weary with the destruction he has devoted his life to inflicting on others:

"Of course," he said, "you're a new neighbour, aren't you?"
"And you must be"-she raised her eyes from his professional symbols-"the fireman." Her voice trailed off. "
"How oddly you say that."
"I'd-I'd have known it with my eyes shut," she said, slowly.
"What-the smell of kerosene? My wife always complains," he laughed. "You never wash it off completely."
"No, you don't," she said, in awe.

When Montag observes regarding the kerosene used in the performance of his duties that "you never wash it off completely," he is not only stating a fact with regard to personal hygiene and the resilience of the highly-flammable liquid he uses to burn books, but he is also, subconsciously, commenting on the moral responsibility he carries with him for inflicting so much pain on others for the benefit of an autocratic regime. His observation is prescient, as he will soon rebel against this totalitarian system he has faithfully and diligently served. The traces of kerosene in his pores and on his clothes is a daily reminder that he carries out a highly immoral function from which he cannot easily escape.

When Montag first meets Clarisse, he is coming home from work, and she accurately guesses that he is a fireman. That is when he explains to her that the smell never really comes off.  The literal meaning of that is that because he uses kerosene at his job, it's hard to wash off, and so he always smells a little bit like it.  It's kind-of like a car mechanic who always has car grease under his nails.  It's just one of those things that happens in that profession.

To look at a deeper, or symbolic meaning, you could connect it to how later in the book, Montag feels horribly guilty for the books that he has burned, and the people that have died as a result; that knowledge and guilt "never washes off."  He has to carry the burden of what he has done as a fireman with him for the rest of his life, like a weight on his shoulders.  He can't get rid of it, just like he can't get rid of the kerosene smell from his job.  By the end of the novel you will see Montag do a complete turnaround--at the beginning he loved his job and kerosene was "like a perfume" to him.  By the end, he will have done very drastic things in the name of rebellion and independence, and that is something that he has to live with. He can't shake off his old life cleanly; the repercussions will stay with him.  I hope that those thoughts helped; good luck!

Consider what Montag really does for a living. He destroys people's lives; he burns their homes, heralds their removal from society, and takes away everything that they knew and loved.  This is not something to take lightly.  Montag will never be able to wash off the responsibility of what he has done to people's lives.  He can never wash off the guilt of what he has done to others.  Later in the book, an old lady, Mrs. Blake, chooses to perish in the flames rather than be removed; this weighs heavily on him.  He is so distraught and tormented by guilt that he becomes physically sick at the thought of her dying in her house, and that he was the one that lit the match.  So, he is not able to wash off the guilt of what he has done.  It will serve as a constant reminder of how his society got to that point, and will hopefully propel him to change for the good.

When Montag, the fireman and protagonist in Ray Bradbury’s 1953 science fiction classic Fahrenheit 451 meets Clarisse for the first time, they have the following exchange:

"Of course," he [Montag] said, "you're a new neighbour, aren't you?"

"And you must be"-she raised her eyes from his professional symbols-"the fireman." Her voice

trailed off.

"How oddly you say that."

"I'd-I'd have known it with my eyes shut," she said, slowly.

"What-the smell of kerosene? My wife always complains," he laughed. "You never wash it off

completely."

"No, you don't," she said, in awe.

He felt she was walking in a circle about him, turning him end for end, shaking him quietly, and

emptying his pockets, without once moving herself.

"Kerosene," he said, because the silence had lengthened, "is nothing but perfume to me."

While Montag assumes a posture of  professional nonchalance regarding the chemical tool of his trade, Bradbury could be argued to have another underlying context for his character’s observation that “you never wash it off completely.”  Fahrenheit 451 opens with the following description of a typical workday for Montag and his fellow firemen:

“It was a pleasure to burn.  It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.  With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head . . .”

Kerosene is the chemical compound the firemen use to burn the books and houses of those found to have them.  It is the firemen’s lifeblood.  As the story develops, however, the other meaning for the observation in question – “you never wash it off completely” – becomes increasingly clear.  Montag’s comment is intended not just as an innocent aside, as a simple observation, but as a metaphor for his inability to separate himself from his immoral and destructive job in the service of a totalitarian government.  He will never be able to wash off the taint of his profession.  As he ultimately seeks redemption and flees to parts unknown, Bradbury returns to the issue of the chemical smell that Montag carries with him:

“My name's Granger." He held out a small bottle of colourless fluid.

"Drink this, too. It'll change the chemical index of your perspiration. Half an hour from now

you'll smell like two other people. With the Hound after you, the best thing is Bottoms up."

Montag drank the bitter fluid.

"You'll stink like a bobcat, but that's all right," said Granger.

A radical transformation is required to break from his past, and the counteraction of chemicals offered by the people he encounters on his escape represents the final and definitive resolution of his moral quandary.  He is no longer a fireman in the service of a dictatorship.