Why was Clarisse considered anti-social in Fahrenheit 451?

Clarisse was considered anti-social because her family believed in slowing down.

Clarisse is Montag’s neighbor. She is just a teenager, but she is also wise. Her family is very unique in Montag’s society. In a world where everyone drives fast and never stops to talk, Clarisse’s family sits around socializing. They think that people are more important than television.

"Oh, just my mother and father and uncle sitting around, talking. It's like being a pedestrian,...

Clarisse was considered anti-social because her family believed in slowing down.

Clarisse is Montag’s neighbor. She is just a teenager, but she is also wise. Her family is very unique in Montag’s society. In a world where everyone drives fast and never stops to talk, Clarisse’s family sits around socializing. They think that people are more important than television.

"Oh, just my mother and father and uncle sitting around, talking. It's like being a pedestrian, only rarer. My uncle was arrested another time-did I tell you?-for being a pedestrian. Oh, we're most peculiar." (Part I)

Clarisse is seventeen, but doesn’t like kids her age because they like to drive too fast and do not care if they kill each other. She is the one killed when a “beetle” runs her over. Montag is saddened when he finds out, but no one else seems to care.

Beatty warns Montag that Clarisse’s family is bad news. He seems to think she is better off being dead.

Clarisse McClellan? We've a record on her family. We've watched them carefully. Heredity and environment are funny things. You can't rid yourselves of all the odd ducks in just a few years. The home environment can undo a lot you try to do at school. (Part I)

According to Beatty, Clarisse really was “seventeen and crazy.” He thinks that her entire family is made up of bad seeds. They do not conform to the expectations of society. This is why Clarisse was so philosophical. Her family taught her to ask questions and think for herself.

Clarisse changed Montag’s entire worldview when she asked him if he was happy. He had already been having doubts about being a fireman, but Clarisse’s cheery attitude and philosophical conversation helped him see that he wanted more from his life than a distant wife and a career stamping out intellectualism.