I saw a small kind of significance in the exchange that the narrator and Clarisse exchanged about him being the same fireman. Although the words seem normal enough, as I was reading it I believed that it was clear that Clarisse understood a little something about how the fireman felt.
First of all, she says that he "must be the fireman." The fireman seems to think that the way she says this is strange. She then tells him that she would have known he was a fireman even if she had her eyes closed. This leads me to believe that she knows there is something about the firemen that is distinguished and makes them easily identifiable. The fireman, though, sees only the surface of what she is saying and thinks that she is able to recognize this because he smells strongly of kerosene from lighting fires. He tells her that his wife hates the smell which is unfortunate because you can never quite get the smell out.
The part that I find significant is when Clarisse says, "No you don't." She says this in awe as if she already knew this. I believe that this goes deeper than simply the smell of kerosene. I think that when she says you do not ever entirely get the smell of the kerosene out no matter how furiously you scrub, she means that you never quite wash off the mark of being a fireman, no matter how hard you try. Being a fireman is not just an occupation but rather a state of life that leaves such a mark that you can never quite get it off even when you try your hardest. The things they are involved in with the burning of books burns something into your conscience that can never quite stop nagging at you no matter how hard you try to block it out and keep it from influencing you. This one small comment made a big impact on the way I view Clarisse.
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