In Fahrenheit 451, did Captain Beatty really want to die as Montag suggested? What extreme circumstances, both internal and external might have existed for him to provoke Montag to turn the flamethrower on him?
...ty’s complex character. Beatty, in his explanation of censorship, carries almost an oddly ambivalent tone, along with traces of bitterness and perhaps despairs in his voice, suggesting that Beatty’s seemingly passionate conviction for book burning serves merely as a disguise for his true feeling. Being an intellect of the past, Beatty is totally aware that the authorities suppress the public by denying them knowledge and “[cramming the public] full of noncombustible data, chock them so damned full of facts they feel stuffed, but absolutely ‘brilliant’ with information. Then they’ll feel they’re thinking…” (Bradbury 61) However, his assertion of his preference for the illusionary sense of happiness seems rather superficial. Having a basis of comparison from the past, Beatty understands that he is indeed not happy. Beatty’s unhappiness is possibly the result of his constant regret over his cowardly conformation to the norm, and his betrayal of the truth – the value in books. Not only had he been a coward, in choosing life, prosperity, and prestige over truth and freedom, he had also made himself the very enemy of truth, a follower “[of] the most dangerous enemy to truth and freedom, the solid unmoving cattle of the majority.” (Bradbury 108) Beatty is certainly self-conscious that he had made a villain of himself by siding with the majority; nevertheless, he continues to live a life of hypocrisy, in which he so desperately tries to implant in himself and Montag the notion that they are the “custodians of [the] peace] of mind” and the happiness of society. (Bradbury 59) When Montag refuses to concur to Beatty’s philosophy on the treacherous nature of books, it is evincible to Beatty, more clear than previously, that censorship has no value, other than detriment to the health of society. This forces Beatty to faces the reality and thus shattered the purpose in his life – which is to enforce peace among humanity through the burning of books. Throughout the novel, Beatty had made several attempts to sway Montag into conforming to society. His efforts to persuade Montag into compliance are almost portrayed as satanic: he mercilessly throws quotes from Shakespeare, the Bible and other literature mercilessly at Montag to perplex him. The way Beatty manipulates literature appears to be no different than how “the Devil cite scripture for his purpose.” (Bradbury 106) In part three of the book, Burning Bright, Beatty ...