Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

In life, there is a reason behind every decision a person makes; Whether that decision be what to eat for breakfast, or how to respond to an email, one thing always remains constant… There are many factors that have a say in how every moment plays out. This same logic also applies to Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. In the story, Montag’s imminent arrest, Beatty’s constant taunting, and Beatty’s subconscious desire to die bring about Montag’s decision of murdering Beatty.

Knowing he was to be arrested the moment he left his home made Montag willing to murder Beatty and live with the results. In the story, Montag would take books and stash them in his home for later use. In their society, reading books for educational purposes was illegal,

In the story, Beatty continuously quoted from books, and would sometimes even ask, “What do you think of that, Montag?” (Bradbury 108). In doing this, Beatty was showing Montag he had access to books, and previously read them. Even though Montag knew he was not supposed to read books, he still felt the urge to take them while at the fires. Having Beatty periodically quote books only went to show Montag what he could not have, which resulted in him going mad, and taking it out on the Captain. Also, when Beatty quoted the books, he revealed that he had read the books enough to memorize parts of them. One might even say that Beatty was still reading the books; And yet he felt it necessary to go and tell Montag that books are “a loaded gun” (Bradbury 62). This is in the sense that all books brought to people was stress and inequalities. Even though Beatty had been telling Montag that books were not meant to be read, he would stand there and rub it in Montag’s face that he in fact was reading them; Thus, taunting Montag with his knowledge. In addition to those reasons, Beatty also called Montag a “fumbling snob” (Bradbury 121). Beatty would say things like this in hopes to rouse Montag, and get him to admit his faults. However, Montag realized this and was able to hold his tongue; But Beatty’s taunting and harsh phrases made it hard for him to keep in his emotions. In the end, when

Throughout the story Beatty would quote pieces of literature from authors such as Sir Philip Sidney and Alexander Pope. Beatty knew that reading books was illegal in their society, and yet he felt the need to go and tell Montag different things he had read. When hearing this, it seems only reasonable that Montag would see this as Beatty’s way of communicating his desire to die. A sane person would not openly announce they had read a book, for they would know the consequences that would accompany it. With that said, when Beatty was sharing the quotes, he was doing so in a secretive manner, as to not alarm the other firemen of his ways. Also, Montag said that Beatty always told him, “‘...don’t face a problem, burn it...” (Bradbury 123). Beatty and Montag, both being firemen, used fire to resolve the society's problems. When Beatty said this to Montag, it was as if he was telling Montag it would be ok with him for Montag to burn him. Beatty was fully aware that he was one of Montag’s main problems; for he was one of the few who knew he had been reading books. Then, later on in the story after Montag killed the Captain, he stated that “Beatty had wanted to die. He had just stood there, not really trying to save himself, just stood there, joking, needling...” (Bradbury 124). It is the human reaction to fight back when someone is trying to kill them. However, Beatty did