There are three different sections in the novel Fahrenheit 451. The Hearth and the Salamander is the first section. This section is about the main character, Guy Montag's, life at home. Guy is a fireman in the twenty-fourth century. As a fireman he does not put out fires, but he creates them. More specifically, the firemen burn books. Montag lives in a world where everyone has to be equal. They have to look the same, think the same, and do the same things. Anyone who is not "normal" is considered crazy.
One day Montag comes across his neighbor, Clarisse. Clarisse thinks differently from everyone else. She likes to read and go on walks. Clarisse somewhat scares Montag, but she also fascinates him. She makes him wonder what life is really about. Soon, Clarisse and Montag are talking everyday.
At home, Montag's wife, Mildred, is pretty boring. She is always absorbed in her three wall television set. Mildred calls the family in the show that she watches her family. Montag and Mildred barely ever talk. They do not even really like eachother's presence. Montag finds that Mildred took too many sleeping pills, thus trying to kill herself.
At the job Montag starts to question a lot of things. He does not like to do a lot of things he used to do. He used to bond with the other firemen by making their mechanical dog chase down others animals and kill them. They saw this as fun. One day, while going to set some books on fire, Montag unconciously steals one of the books. When the firemen go to burn the books they also burn the old lady in the house. Montag feels terrible about this.
Soon Montag finds out that Clarisse has died. His chief, Mr. Beatty, notices certain changes in him, so he comes to Montag's house and has a chat with him. Montag also realizes that he does not love his wife Mildred at all.
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