Seventeen and Insane

Seventeen and Insane
What kind of person should be labeled as ‘insane’? A girl who stays up all night walking around aimlessly? A woman who is addicted to television? A person who befriends strangers on the street, or a person who subconsciously overdoses on sleeping pills? Is it the person who behaves with the least logic, or the person who behaves least like acceptable society?
Mildred and Clarisse of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 are two such people. Mildred is married to Montag, the story’s protagonist, and is a typical member of acceptable society. She constantly listens to her Seashell radio, a nonstop broadcast from a piece that fits comfortably into her ear, and considers the characters on her wall-size television to be her family. Clarisse is nearly the opposite. She does not fit in with others at all. Clarisse doesn’t watching TV or listening to the radio, at least not as much as she enjoys going on walks, observing nature, and talking to people – all very peculiar to the people in the world that Ray Bradbury has placed her in. When she meets Montag, she claims to be, “seventeen and insane.” But is she really? To decide, it would make sense to compare her to an accepted person of society – such as Mildred.
Mildred, as what is considered to be a normal part of society, avoids learning and most forms of knowledge. She is almost ignorant, and intentionally so. If the new knowledge is different from something she already believes, or might complicate her life in the slightest, she denies it completely. Mildred never questions anything. Clarisse, on the other hand, questions nearly everything, and enjoys knowing different pieces of information and learning them. These traits are displayed in her various conversations with Montag, in which she both displays knowledge about how the city used to be and asks questions about Montag. In addition to asking questions, Clarisse learns things through observation and contemplation. One example is her thought process on the speed people go when driving.
In addition to new knowledge, Mildred doesn’t really like new anything. This is implied by her contentment to do the same things repeatedly, but also by her reaction to her husband’s books. She has a routine and a comfort zone, and she doesn’t want it disturbed. Clarisse loves to try things. She tries everything, “once, sometimes twice.” To her, everything is something to be discovered, experienced, and understood. Montag witnessed her trying a variety of things, from shaking trees, to knitting a sweater, to leaving flowers on porches.
Another trait Mildred has is that she is very isolated. This isn’t to say that she doesn’t like people, or doesn’t have any friends, because she does. However, she doesn’t feel compelled to get to know very much about them. Mildred, like everyone else, dislikes conflict, which is easy to come by when people express different opinions. So in addition to keeping any opinions that they might have to themselves, people don’t seek to know the opinions of others. Instead, Mildred sticks to her wall-sized TVs, or parlor walls, which are far less antagonizing than the inner workings of other people. In contrast, Clarisse is very, maybe even overly, friendly. Much of her curiosity is aimed towards people, or other living things, such as nature. It is possible that she doesn’t like other people all that well, since many people regard her as a freak and most likely treat her very poorly, but she is still interesting in knowing people and all about them.
Mildred is regarded as the normal, sane person of society. However, she is not happy. This conclusion is easily drawn from her potential suicide and the descriptions of her lifelessness. Clarisse is seen by most people as an oddity, but she doesn’t seem to really mind this. In fact, she seems to be perfectly content with her unconventional habits. So who here is really insane? More importantly, does it matter?