3 Text Explorations (Stage 3)

Page 122. Montag is running away from his burned house at this point, running towards Faber’s house. Right after this, Montag keeps on running towards Faber’s house, trying to escape the other firemen and the Hound who are arriving on the scene. I chose this scene because I think it could give me some insight on to what made Beatty want to die earlier in the text, which is a crucial point in the book for understanding Beatty.“Beatty wanted¹ to die. In the middle of the crying Montag knew it for the truth. Beatty had wanted to die. He had just stood there, not really trying to save himself, just stood there, joking, needling², thought Montag, and the thought was enough to stifle³ his sobbing and let him pause for air. How strange, strange, to want to die so much that you let a man walk around armed and then instead of shutting up and staying alive⁴, you go on yelling at people and making fun of them until you get them mad⁵, and then…”

1 [Word definition]: Wanted can mean desired or needed. This means that apart from not wanting to live anymore, he actually desired death, or needed death. Perhaps this could indicate that he, for some reason, no longer valued life.

2[Wording/Style/Syntax]: It’s interesting that Beatty was joking, but needling. Joking is to make jokes, or to jest, which would seem to be a more friendly thing to do. Needling, though, is to annoy, pester, provoke, or even torment someone. This would seem to be not friendly, even mean or cruel. So it’s interesting that Beatty would do both at the same time right before his death (pg. 119). On one side, he seems to want to annoy Montag, but on the other hand, he seems to be friendly with Montag, even though Montag was ready to kill him. This indecisiveness, I think, is clear evidence of the sort of subconscious agreement Beatty has with Montag and what he does.

3[Word definition/Wording/Syntax]: Stifle can mean to kill by producing a choking sensation or by making it difficult to breathe. It’s an interesting choice of words to say the thought stifled Montag’s sobbing instead of stopping Montag’s sobbing or a similar term. However, it gets even more interesting to look at when you consider the result of the stifling of Montag’s sobbing- it let him pause for air. This is strange, because letting someone or something breathe is the exact opposite of what stifling does. This relates to Beatty’s confliction between joking and needling. In a sense, this shows a relationship between Beatty and Montag in an interesting way. It’s connecting Beatty to Montag through the conflicting terms.

4[Wording/Style/Syntax]: Firstly, I notice the repetition of “strange” and “and then”. The repetition of strange is emphasizing that it was weird that Beatty would let Montag kill him instead of fighting back. I see this as showing that Beatty didn’t care about life at all. He was so willing to die that instead of fighting back, or running, or calling for help, he just yelled at Montag. The repetition of “and then” is also interesting. For one thing, it extends the sentence into one long, running sentence. That type of sentence is like a contrast to Beatty’s monologue on page 119 before he dies- Beatty spoke in short, choppy sentences, unlike the longer, running sentences spoken by Montag in this piece. This shows some contrast between Montag and Beatty, in a way juxtaposed to the similarities shown right before that line. It shows that Montag and Beatty were similar in some ways, but different in others, and that Montag and Beatty have some defining characteristics that set them apart from one another.

5[Trouble]: This piece of the text is fairly straightforward in terms of wording and style, but I think this is interesting all the same. If we look back throughout the text, Beatty is most often a calm and collected person. He never yells, and when he makes people mad, which actually is surprisingly rare, it’s in a subtle way that kind of builds up, not a blatantly obvious statement. So, it’s troubling that Beatty’s character changes so drastically in the moments before his death that Montag describes to us here. The switch from a calm, controlled person to one who is yelling and screaming and visibly enraged is strange- but what it means, at least to me, is that Beatty’s character is changing. The reason for this seems to be his realization at what he has been doing (burning books, killing people, etc.), which seems to occur right as he’s about to die.

Page 119. At this point in the book, Montag has just burned his house down, but has taken the flamethrower and is now threatening to kill Beatty with it. Immediately after this, Montag does, in fact, kill Beatty, and, after collecting the remaining books in his house, begins to flee the scene. I chose this part of the book because I think it shows a vital part of Beatty’s life in the book- right before he dies. I think there is a lot of valuable information on what Beatty thinks/feels for real and what he does to hide his true thoughts and feelings. “Beatty grinned his most charming grin¹. ‘Well, that’s one way to get and audience. Hold a gun on a man and force him to listen to your speech². Speech away. What’ll it be this time? Why don’t you belch Shakespeare at me, you fumbling snob³? “There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats, for I am arm’d so strong in honesty that they pass me as an idle wind, which I respect not!”⁴ How’s that?⁵ Go ahead now, you second-hand litterateur⁶, pull the trigger.⁷’”

1[Word definition/style/syntax]: A grin is a way to express pain by drawing back the lips and showing the teeth, or it can mean a forced or unnatural smile indicating stupid wonder or something similar. This is interesting for several reasons. First of all, the fact that Beatty is grinning at all means he’s uncomfortable in some way, either due to pain or perhaps being worried, in which case the smile would be forced, to make it look like he was not worried. Also, a grin could be indicating stupid wonder, which could be the sudden realization of what he had been doing, and wonder of why he’d been doing it for so long. Secondly, it’s strange that a grin, which is unnatural or indicative of pain, could be considered “charming”- a word that means highly pleasing or delightful to the mind or senses. However strange the word choice is, it connects to a lot of things in the book, like on page 119, where Montag’s sobbing was stifled, allowing him to breathe, or when Beatty was joking but needling. Both of these were two words or phrases are conflicting one another. This kind of connection happens throughout the book, but it is most prominent here. It perhaps makes a comparison between Montag and Beatty, which could indicate their suddenly agreeing interests and ideas.

2[Wording/Syntax]: Like in number 1, despite Beatty’s confident-seeming tone, this may be a disguise for a feeling he doesn’t want to express. This connects, in a way, to pages 54-59, where Beatty talks to Montag about the history and purpose of firemen. In that passage, Beatty is smoking, and the smoke covers his face. That’s another indication, perhaps, that Beatty says things, but thinks something completely different. A troubling aspect of this part, though, is Beatty’s purpose, whether it be confident, meaningful, or not at all. He seems to not care if Montag kills him. He seems like he knows it will happen. Even more, it seems like he wants it to happen- he’s carefree, telling Montag to tell him his speech.

3[Word definition/Syntax/Trouble]: Firstly, let’s look at the word belch. It means to vent words or feelings vehemently or violently. Beatty seems fairly angry in this scene, and it seems like he wants Montag to be angry too. He wants Montag to yell Shakespeare at Beatty, in a sense. To follow that up, to make Montag even angrier, he calls him a fumbling snob. A snob is a vulgar or ostentatious person, so using this term to describe Montag is meant to make him angry. When analyzing the purpose of this though, I ran into something interesting. Making Montag mad will make him mad at Beatty. This will have 2 consequences. Firstly, and more obviously, Montag will be more likely to kill Beatty. This is probably an intention of Beatty’s, as he has shown he wants to die. But, looking more deeply, you run into a second consequence. Montag will be mad at Beatty. Beatty, though, is, at least to Montag, someone who is in league with society. So, in a way, Beatty is getting Montag angrier at society, and the system he lives in. He made Montag burn down his house, his books, and his life, basically (pgs. 113-117). Perhaps, Beatty is showing Montag how terrible the system is in the only way that wouldn’t jeopardize himself- by doing things legally to show Montag what is really there. Finally, Beatty tells Montag to yell Shakespeare at him, which is troubling because Beatty is one who is supposed to burn books, so we get more insight into Beatty’s knowledge of books.

4[Trouble/Wording]: Clearly, the first thing that meets the eye is that Beatty, a fire chief whose life is burning books which even Beatty says are only made to confuse people and make them sad (pages 58 and 59), is quoting books. This is a simple trouble in itself. When we look at WHAT Beatty quotes, though, things get even more interesting. His quote is very applicable to the situation he finds himself in. The quote essentially says that one’s honesty can protect one’s self from the threats of others by essentially diverting them so they pass by you harmlessly. Beatty is saying that his knowledge is worth more than Montag’s threats of killing him, further showing that Beatty isn’t scared of death, but more importantly, that Beatty’s knowledge is very helpful and important, and it’s worth a lot. Montag would know at this point that Beatty’s knowledge includes an extensive amount of information on books, considering he could pick a quote that applies directly to the situation. In a subtle way, maybe even without realizing it, Beatty is giving Montag information on the importance of knowledge of books, something that Granger will emphasize towards the very end of the book (around page 152).

5[Wording/Syntax]: A simple question, but it holds a decent amount of weight for its small size. Right after he quotes Shakespeare, obviously something surprising and strange to Montag, Beatty follows up with a rhetorical question- “How’s that?” This rhetorical question emphasizes the fact that Beatty said that quote, and the importance and meaning of the quote.

6[Word definition/Wording/Syntax]: With this line, Beatty seems to try and further annoy and anger Montag. Calling Montag a “second-hand litterateur” is seemingly insulting Montag’s literary skills. Litterateur means a literary person. So, Beatty seems to tell Montag that he’s not really a literary person, he just thinks he is, or saying that Montag wants to be a literary person. He seems to be goading Montag to kill him at this point. Montag notices this as being very strange on page 122, when he notes that it was “…strange, to want to die so much that you let a man walk around armed and then instead of shutting up and staying alive, you go on yelling at people and making fun of them until you get them mad…”. But this behavior does emphasize and repeat the fact that Beatty does want to die. This fact is repeated over and over again, in different ways, to show the importance of Beatty’s acceptance of death at this point in the book.

7[Wording/Style]: Like number 6, Beatty again tells Montag to go ahead and kill him. There is the possibility of like a double meaning here- Beatty knows that by saying this, he might scare Montag or make Montag not want to kill him. But, because Beatty has made Montag enraged (or at least he hopes to have done so), then Beatty probably thinks this will further goad Montag into ending Beatty’s life.

Pages 53-54. In this part of the book, Beatty has come over to Montag’s house after Montag said he wouldn’t come into work because he was sick. Beatty has come over and begins to talk to Montag. After this section, Beatty will continue talking to Montag more specifically about what he’s talking about, and display his thoughts on it. I chose this piece of the book becaue  I think it shows some interesting parts of Beatty, including what he may be hiding, and some information he may be giving to Montag. “Beatty puffed his pipe.¹ ‘Every fireman, sooner or later, hits this. They need only understanding², to know how the wheels run. Need to know only the history of our profession³. They don’t feed⁴ it to rookies like they used to. Damn shame.⁵’ Puff. ‘Only fire chiefs remember it now.’ Puff.⁶ ‘I’ll let you in on it.’⁷”       

1[Wording/style]: Beatty puffs his pipe a lot. One possibility for a symbol of puffing a pipe, making a lot of smoke, as mentioned in the text, could be hiding something. For example, the term “blowing smoke” basically means lying. At one point in the text, on page 56, Beatty was “invisible, a voice behind a screen of smoke.” This could mean he is lying, or his actual feelings and thoughts are hidden, but only his words can be seen. Here, it is the same thing- his puffing a pipe could mean that perhaps his words later on are not entirely reflective of what he truly believes- something that would identify why he could, for some reason, be aiding Montag.

2[Wording/Syntax/Trouble]: Beatty tells Montag that understanding is evidently a key part to being a firemean- understanding of the history of the firemen. He says that it might at first hurt, because the knowledge Montag gained about firemen made him sick (pages 52-53). Yet, Beatty thinks that knowledge is important. In a way, it seems that Beatty is telling Montag that knowledge, in the end, is always important to have, even if it is bad at first. This, embedded in talk of the firemen, is a key piece of information for Montag to use, and another example of  Beatty giving that information.    

3[Wording/Style]: It might seem at first that the history of the firemen is the only thing that Beatty thinks people need to know. But, if we look at the smoking, and the fact that Beatty may, in fact, be hiding his real thoughts and feelings, he may be subconsciously not agreeing with this. The fact that Beatty smokes may indicate this to the reader, but not to Montag. The way Montag figures out what Beatty is really saying is the fact that Montag doesn’t agree with Beatty- as a fire chief seemingly against books and one who burns the books, anything Beatty says, Montag is likely to disagree with, especially due to his extra knowledge and rebellion against society’s ways. So, in a way, Beatty is giving Montag information that he hides.

4[Word definition/Wording/Syntax]: It’s an interesting choice of word to say that the information should be “fed” to the rookies. The definition as it is used here is basically to give to satisfy someone. So, the information is even more important, as it once satisfied people to know this information- Beatty thinks it was good that the old rookies used to be fed the information. So, here’s another time where Beatty seems to be pro-knowledge, something not common in his time. This is emphasized by using “feed” instead of “give”, or a similar term. The information is given, yes, but given for a reason- to satisfy what seems to be a thirst for knowledge that people have.

5[Wording/Syntax/Trouble]: In this line, it becomes more evident that Beatty thinks that the giving of information is important- it’s a “damn shame” that information is not given to the firemen anymore. So, perhaps Beatty is showing some of his other side, his true feelings and thoughts, but it’s still covered somewhat by him saying that it’s the information about the history of firemen that needs knowing. It’s troubling, though, that Beatty is possibly so secretive- he would seem like a person who has little need for secrets, as most fire chiefs would probably have completely acceptable views within the society. This makes Beatty a VERY different character in the very same role as many other characters who are just pawns in society- the fire chiefs. Beatty seems to be someone who doesn’t agree with what society does, at least inside of him, but he acts like he does at all times- a very good actor. But, if we assume he does, in fact, have some hidden feelings, some ideas that he might have do slowly come out through what he says and does.

6[Wording/Style]: The puff here is obviously Beatty blowing smoke from the cigarette. But the repetition of this puffing is interesting. The fact that he continues to keep “puffing” the smoke out means you can never get a clear view of Beatty- you’re always looking at him through the smoke. It’s certainly interesting that Bradbury would make Beatty smoke so often, especially when his character is immediately a little abnormal for the society, considering he quotes books even though he’s a fire chief. This aligns with #1, where we see that it could mean we don’t get a clear view of Beatty as a person, or what his true beliefs are.

7[Wording/Style/Trouble]: Here, Beatty is clearly trying to give Montag an obvious bit of information- the history of firemen. But if we connect this one line with the previous part of the quote, we see an interesting progression: Firemen need understanding and knowledge, and it’s bad that they don’t get it anymore and basically no even remembers it anymore. Then, Beatty goes on to tell Montag that he will give Montag the information- so Beatty seems to want to give Montag the information, as he thinks it’s helpful. But, of course, Montag might not agree with Beatty, because they disagree seemingly on how society works. But, the reader does get an indication of Beatty giving Montag a lot of information that might not be relevant in its content, but certainly is relevant in the very idea of the power of information itself. This idea is something that Montag is much more willing to agree with, because he already thinks that knowledge is power, and that’s the whole basis of his rebellion against society. So, throughout Beatty’s small dialogue, he gives Montag small tidbits of information that reinforce things he agrees with- and this seems strange for a fire chief to do- the only real reason would seem to be his true feelings interfering with his actions in small ways.