Fahrenheit 451 Captain Beatty Analysis

Montag gets up in the morning and decides he does not want to go to work as a result, he calls in sick. Montag tells Mildred he is thinking about quitting his job, but she doesn't respond. Captain Beatty soon shows up with the intention of checking on how Montag is feeling. In all honesty it seems that he knows that Montag has at least one book. In a casual conversation in which he never directly confronts Montag, Beatty reminds him that books are not only illegal they are, also a waste of time. He then tells Montag that many firemen, at one time or another, steal books however, he says that it is a phase they quickly outgrow. Beatty then recalls the time when people read entire books. As time passed, all the books were condensed into short digests. Books slowly disapeared, and all anyone read were comic books and sex magazines. Before long, books were gone all together. Beatty claims that the government didnt make any formal statement of censorship but advanced technology simply made books useless. Then it was unanimously decided that men should all be alike and equal in intelligence. Since books were “loaded guns” that could give a person extra knowledge, they were all destroyed.

.“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door...Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man?” This statement i beleive was beattys attempt at trying to convince nmontag that books were bad.Firemen then became the protecters of the new laws they were ordered to burn any books that were found and to destroy the home of the criminal that possessed them. “With school turning out more runners, jumpers, racers, tinkerers, grabbers, snatchers, fliers, and swimmers instead of examiners, critics, knowers, and imaginative creators, the word 'intellectual,' of course, became the swear word it deserved to be.” Beatty changes the subject to education in which he stated. The time in school was shortened, and the study of languages and philosophies was dropped. The government felt that people only needed to learn how to press buttons, push switches, and pull levers. Reading was considered to be a distraction that mereley got in the way. While Beatty is speaking, Mildred begins to straightin her husband’s bed. Montag paniked as he remembers the book he took from the old lady’s home and hid under his pillow. He then stops Mildred from finishing the bed. Beatty goes on talking. He suggests that Clarisse was killed and her family was forced to move away because she had begun to think too much and to question too many things. Montag is horrified at the explanation. Before he leaves, Beatty makes a final remark. He mentions that once in a while, a fireman starts wondering about what lies inside the books he burns; but Beatty emphasizes that nothing of value is found in any book. Montag bravely asks what happens to a fireman who takes a book home. Beatty, unfazed, answers that the fireman is given twenty-four hours to burn the book. If he does not burn it, the firemen will come to his home and do their duty. After this explanation, Beatty finally leaves. Captain Beattys arrival though supposedly unexpected, seems planned. It is obvious that he is suspicious of Montag. In order to make him uncomfortable and eager to relently release his secret, Beatty gives an precise explanation on books and how they became illegal. He also explains the changes in education. He ends his lecture by explaining how some firemen become curious about the books that the burn some even steal some of the books. Montag is brave enough to ask what happens to a fireman who takes a book. Beatty explains he has twenty-four hours to burn the book, or the firemen will come to his house to do their duty. It is ironic that while Beatty drones on about books and their uselessness, Mildred begins to straighten her husband’s bed. Montag is terrified, for he remembers the book that he has taken from the old woman’s house and hidden under his pillow. Before he is exposed, he manages to stop his wife; but there is a marvelous moment of suspense carefully created by Bradbury.