Captain Beatty - The Educated Book Burner
From the moment he is introduced, Captain Beatty is a perplexing character. He seems to enjoy Guy's company and somehow sympathize with his turmoil however; Beatty's actions are in line with his position as Chief Fireman. It is almost as if he senses Guy's subtle changes in attitude and he tries to draw Guy out in order to catch him red-handed. Beatty invites Guy to play cards and to keep his "hands in sight ... Not that [they] don't trust [him], understand, but-" (Bradbury 102). For a master enforcer of book burning, the captain is in fact very knowledgeable about books and can cite passages from various forgotten works. He claims that he is "full of bits and pieces" (38) as "most fire captains have to be" (38). Equally puzzling is Beatty's standoffish attitude that pushes Guy to immolate him. After that macabre event, Guy has an epiphany and realizes that "Beatty wanted to die" (116). This leaves open the question of how different Beatty is from Guy. Perhaps, Beatty is just a Guy that never had the courage to rebel. It is hard to decide if Beatty is a friend or a foe.
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"People want to be happy, isn't that right? Haven't you heard it all your life? I want to be happy, people say. Well, aren't they? Don't we keep them moving, don't we give them fun?"
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