Fahrenheit 451: Part 4

The first irony in this blog is that Montag never felt like watching television until he was at Faber’s house and the news cast was about him.  Of all the times to watch television, during the middle of a massive manhunt for you so they can kill you is not one of them. 

            The next irony is that Captain Beatty is is a fireman but he seems to know a lot about books.  He says that he had a dream where Montag and himself were arguing about books, “"And you said, quoting, `Truth will come to light, murder will not be hid long!' And I cried in good humour, 'Oh God, he speaks only of his horse!' And `The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.' And you yelled, 'This age thinks better of a gilded fool, than of a threadbare saint in wisdom's school!' And I whispered gently, 'The dignity of truth is lost with much protesting.' And you screamed, 'Carcasses bleed at the sight of the murderer!' And I said, patting your hand, 'What, do I give you trench mouth?' And you shrieked, 'Knowledge is power!' and 'A dwarf on a giant's shoulders of the furthest of the two!' and I summed my side up with rare serenity in, 'The folly of mistaking a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself as an oracle, is inborn in us, Mr. Valery once said.'" (Bradbury 50)  For someone that is supposed to be destroying books, he sure knew plenty of quotes.  Maybe at one point of time he had looked for purpose in books, like Montag, but found nothing.  Then again, if that was the case why did he keep on reading book after book to the point where he was very well-read?  Would it not make sense to stop after the first or second book after becoming dissatisfied?  Perhaps he was just using his job so he could pick up more books while no one else was looking, like Montag did.  If this was the case he would have had to go about each day pretending like he despised books so that he would not be suspicious.  By doing so, he would have been living a life that is not his own, which could take an emotional toll after so many years.  Then when he realized that Montag was likely to kill him he was not scared because his life was so miserable that it gave him no purpose anymore.  This idea could be completely wrong, but it is strange how how Beatty knew so many quotes and still remembered them from long ago if he had stopped reading since. 

            Another irony is when Mildred says, “"I've heard that, too. I've never known any dead man killed in a war. Killed jumping off buildings, yes, like Gloria's husband last week, but from wars? No." (Bradbury 44)  If no one dies in war, defined as an “armed fighting between groups”, then what happens and what are they for.  It is sad how a person in this story thinks that dying by jumping off of a building is more common than war casualties.  Even Mildred is suspected of trying to commit suicide by overdosing on pills. 

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967. Print.