Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury
Table of Contents
Captain Beatty
Beatty is the chief fireman. In an addendum, Bradbury theorized that he made Beatty as obsessive as he was, since Beatty had numerous psychological problems and turned from book lover to book hater because he saw that books did not provide him with a solution to his grief. Beatty consequently went on a crusade in which he engineered a pogrom against books and contrived reasons for their burning. He was, as the story shows, hugely successful.
Beatty is a perplexing and enigmatic character. He seems to be aware of Montag's intention and actions; we get the feeling that he may have been the one who programmed the Mechanical Hound to pick up Montag's deceptions. He may have been playing around with Montag, aware from the beginning of his diminished enthusiasm in his profession. He had, as he said, received two calls regarding Montag's book reading and collection and ignored them, sadistically leading Montag to believe that he was safe, yet having the Hound terrorize him with its prowling. Beatty seems to be fanatical in his occupation; however, when Montag turned upon him, the Chief Fireman made little if no effort to resist, leading Montag to believe that Beatty courted death. The description of that scene lends support to Bradbury's addendum that Beatty was a frustrated, unfulfilled man who deeply longed for books but hated them with pathological terror.
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