Examples Of Villains In Fahrenheit 451

Villains. We either love them or hate them, generally leaning more towards hatred. But what is it that makes these characters so appealing? What about them triggers such strong emotions in us that we feel the need to pay attention to how their every move influences how the protagonist behaves? It’s simple really, heroes are socially normed to be the good, and villains the evil; yet villains have a depth that heroes lack. It’s this depth, this sharp awareness and experience the villain has and the hero has yet to undergo which turns the villain into the arch-nemesis; purely because their experiences have molded them in a different way than what we see in our hero. After all, narrations are almost always from the hero's perspective. And yet we

It is essential for one to understand the nature of a character’s villainy before coming to a conclusion. For example, in Fahrenheit 451 our main villain is Captain John Beatty, the Fire Chief at the fire station at which Montag works. His villainy is not out of simple abhorrence for our protagonist, but out of experience with the same curiosity and the very same newfound indulgence in forbidden knowledge. His villainy is not to sabotage Montag, no, for it serves a far greater purpose to the story in its whole. Beatty is the alternative Montag, he may have ended up the same way had the circumstances been so. Beatty is one of the pivotal characters shaping Montag’s view. The reason for Montag to have formed his opinions and carried out his actions as he did was due to the external influences from Faber, Beatty, Clarisse and a multitude of others. And so, in Fahrenheit 451, it is established that Captain Beatty is the villain of the story, for he has experienced feelings similar to those of Montag before, and it represents the alternative form in which curiosity alongside a thirst for knowledge can affect one’s

I know, I've been through it all." (Bradbury 102) He uses this statement to clearly express that books lead one to become arrogant, and feel as if they have been enlightened by a great force, and look down upon those surrounding them. Beatty immediately begins to target Montag with his initial statement, calling him “a beast which in all tongues is called a fool”, (Bradbury 101) indicating his awareness of Montag’s involvement in researching, obtaining and deciphering forbidden knowledge. As soon as the game of poker starts, Beatty begins to take jabs at Montag, such as mentioning how the firemen would like to have Montag’s hands within visibility; and proceeding to make a sardonic statement about how it wasn’t because of any sort of lodged distrust. Beatty then lays his bait, by slowly startling Montag with a parley into how everyone does stray but knows their place well enough not to bite the hand that feeds them, whilst purposefully making use of quotes from books. He makes jeering remarks at how one tends to think the world is in their palm as soon as they've obtained knowledge from a forbidden source such as books. Then leading on towards an even greater mockery of Montag’s