Captain Beatty

In Fahrenheit 451, the antagonist of the book is a man named Captain Beatty. Captain Beatty is the head firefighter and Montag's boss. The reader is first introduced to Captain Beatty when he finds Montag cowering away from the Mechanical Hound (Bradbury 27). He is a very intimidating figure and we later see that his way with words is his favored tool of intimidation. An example of this is when Beatty comes to Montag's house and says "I have to read a few in my time, to know what I was about, and the books say nothing.... all of them running about, putting out the stars and extinguishing the sun. You come away lost." (Bradbury 62). This verbal attack confuses Montag and it also gives the reader some insight into Captain Beatty. I find that the metaphor that he uses is pretty significant. Fire is used in the book is a way to destroy and by using a metaphor that involves putting out fire may mean to stop destruction and doing the impossible. It's also interesting that Beatty admits to have read a book. Even in the novel, Beatty will often quote books and seems to be incredibly well read. This leads to me to think that perhaps Beatty found himself unhappy with the world, much like Montag, but he did not try to change anything and accepted his society. Maybe this is why he is now so against books because he once put his faith in them and feels that books have failed him. This theory could be backed up by events later in the novel when Montag's house is on fire (Bradbury 119). When Montag turns the flamethrower on Beatty, the captain never once backs down or seems to register the threat (Bradbury 119). He just continues to stand there and mock Montag while quoting literature (Bradbury 119). Any other person would probably beg for their life at that moment, but not Beatty. It is almost as if Beatty wants to die and is unhappy.

Bibliography: Bradbury, Ray. Farenheit 451. New York: Ballantine, 1953. Print