As the story opens, Montag and his fellow firemen are burning books. Montag enjoys the act of burning and at this point in the story, he has not given any real thought to what the act of burning truly is beyond it being merely an activity. He has not thought about the implications of his job and he has not thought about why they (the firemen, the government) burn books. He just knows that owning books is illegal and as a result of that illegal activity, he and the other firemen burn books and arrest people. It is Clarisse who begins to get Montag to consider what he is doing. She has singled him out to talk to. She asks him questions and he lives in a society where questions, real, thought-provoking questions, are seldom asked of people. The main question she asks that starts him on the road he takes through the story is "Are you happy?" It's after this that he begins to question what he is doing and why he is doing it.
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