Part 1, Summary

p. 1 - 20. The narrative begins with a description of the intense sensual and emotional pleasure experienced by fireman Guy Montag as he aims his kerosene-fueled flamethrower at stacks of books and then at the home that housed them. After cleaning himself up at the firehall, he walks home in the night, encountering a pretty girl, Clarisse, dressed all in white.. They introduce themselves, and Clarisse recognizes him as a fireman by the salamander tattoo on his arm and the phoenix emblem on his chest. Conversation reveals that Montag and Clarisse are living in a future society in which firemen cause fires through burning books and the homes that house them rather than putting them out as they did in the past.

As they part, Clarisse asks Montag whether he's happy, leaving him unsettled as he returns home, where he pauses beneath a ventilator...