Beatty in Ferenhiet 451

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Bradbury has chosen these final words for Beatty to show the readers that by using literature, Beatty dares Montag to end his life. There is a sense of irony in the cause of Beatty’s death because what drives Captain Beatty to die is the shame of discovering that he had been lying to himself about his feelings for books. Captain Beatty was not worried about any threats because he already “wanted to die,”(122) he didn’t fear death, on the contrary, he looked forward to it. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the Caesar believes he’s God and that he has so much power that he needs to be reminded that he is mortal. The fire chief is telling Montag, through literature, that he doesn’t care about anything Montag says because he believes in his ideas and he doesn’t respect Montag’s believes. Captain Beatty wants Montag to believe what he says, despite the fact that he does not want to live with according to what he is so firmly defending and with what he considers to be right. The contradiction of Beatty’s character gives Fahrenheit 451 a more radical turn as it compares self-censorship with the control of the government in society. The novel shows how technology, the lack of books and education can influence people and change culture. Captain Beatty is a clear example of wasted knowledge as he is influenced by society and the government. Even though he is a literary expert, society has manipulated him to lie to himself and encouraged him to the burning of books, even if he knew perfectly their value. Captain Beatty reads all the books and is literate enough to know that books are necessary for society. Yet, he burns them because he claims that society, in its search for happiness which is brought by minimizing cultural offenses through what he believes is political correctness, will bring the suppression of literature. This is an act of self-censorship where the
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