Fahrenheit 451: Plot Question
"Montag only said,'We never burned right...' 'Hand it over, Guy,' said Beatty with a fixed smile. And then he was a shrieking blaze, a jumping, sprawling gibbering manikin, no longer human or known, all writhing flame on him,"(Bradbury113).
What events provoked Montag into killing Beatty? 
Emily- In my belief, I think there was really only one major event in the novel that triggered Montag into killing Captain Beatty. On page 118, it says, “Beatty switched the green bullet off and thrust it in his pocket. ‘Well- so that’s more here than I thought. I saw you tilt your head, listening. First I thought you had a Seashell. But when you turned clever later, I wondered. We’ll trace this and drop it on your friend’” (Bradbury 118). Montag felt the urge to kill Captain Beatty because he wanted to protect his friend Faber. Faber is a character in the novel that was introduced about midway. Faber helped Montag to believe in the power of books. Together, Montag and Faber had a master plan to try and print books and distribute it amongst the city and later on, the world. Montag felt that it was his duty to protect his friend who once protected him. Since Montag had an emotional attachment with Faber, Montag wouldn’t possibly let anything happen to Faber. Since Captain Beatty was in the way of Faber’s safety and their plan to revive books, Montag thought that it was best to go ahead and kill him. Overall, I think Captain Beatty threatening Faber’s life caused Montag to snap and kill Captain Beatty.
ReplyDeleteMany events have led to Montag killing Beatty. Considering that Beatty was someone who was almost willing and wanting to die in the first place, it would've made a bit of sense if he was able to drive someone over the edge in the first place, especially Montag, who ended up burning his whole house down due to Beatty. He also knew that Beatty knew about the receiver in his ear, and if Montag hadn't done anything, Beatty would probably be hunting down Faber after he had finished arresting Montag. Beatty also began provoking Montag before and after he had burned his house down, stating that Mildred pulled the alarm on him. ""She saw everything. She didn't do anything to anyone. She just let them alone." "Alone, hell! She chewed around you, didn't she? One of those damn do-gooders with this shocked, holier-than-thou silences, their one talent making others feel guilty...""(114). After the house burned down, Beatty began with this: ""Give a man a few lines of verse and he thinks he's the Lord of all Creation. You think you can walk on water with your books. Well, the world can get by just fine without them. Look where they got you, in slime up to your lip. If I stir the slime with my little finger, you'll drown!""(Bradbury 118). Beatty also provoked Montag by threatening to go after Faber. "Well - so there's more here than I thought. I saw you tilt your head, listening. First I thought you had a Seashell. But when you turned clever later, I wondered. We'll trace this and drop in on your friend" (Bradbury 118).
ReplyDeleteI agree with Julia that the point where Montag really considered killing Beatty was when he found the green bullet, as well as with Noah that Beatty was kind of pushing Montag to kill him. In the part where Beatty tells Montag to burn down his house it says, “I want you to do this job all by your lonesome, Montag. Not with kerosene and a match, but piecework, with a flame thrower. Your house, your clean-up,” (Bradbury 109). I think this is where Beatty is really trying to push Montag, like Noah said; he gives Montag a very dangerous weapon, while Montag is emotionally unstable. As well as Beatty added on saying, “‘When you’re quite finished,’ said Beatty behind him. ‘You’re under arrest,’” (Bradbury 111). This meaning that Beatty is going to make Montag pay for what he has done not only by making him burn down his house but taking away his life, and locking him up. The final moment that pushed Montag to kill Beatty is again what Julia said about how Beatty threatened Faber’s life, when it says, “ Beatty switched the green bullet off and thrust it in his pocket. ‘Well-so there’s more here than I thought. I saw you tilt your head, listening. First I thought you had a Seashell. But when you turned clever later, I wondered. We’ll trace this and drop in on your friend,’”(Bradbury 112). Montag took that very personally and I think he felt accountable for Faber and if anything happened to him he wouldn’t forgive himself.
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