Angel Fang
Mr. Hayes
English 10: Composition
25 October 2024
Conformity in Fahrenheit 451
Conformity is a word that reflects the status quo of modern society. People are afraid to speak up against authority in the system. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury uses Beatty, the fire station captain, as an example of the victim of conformity. He has always been the one who is trying to uphold the whole system and doing his best to prevent people from reading books. However, his mind and Ray Bradbury depicts Beatty as a person who follows the lead of the authority blindly even when his inner thoughts are conflicted with the system, which reveals the peril of conformity.
As the fire station captain, Beatty has invested in upholding the system of the society for the common as-told good of the majority. Beatty lives in a world where people are not allowed to read books. His duty was to burn the books to maintain the order of the system. When the woman is found hiding books in her house and not confessing the hiding location, Beaty “[slaps] her face with amazing objectivity” (Bradbury 33). His violent actions implies his loss of humanity, demonstrating his deep firm will of following the censorship at any cost. His belief of maintaining the order of the society is superior to a woman’s life. There is a huge contrast of the reactions between Montag and Beatty. While Montag is protesting about leaving the woman alone without trying to save her life, Beatty aloofly tells Montag that “[they are] due back at the House” for there is more important thing to do than saving the fanatic’s life (Bradbury 36). His words clearly demonstrate that he put his business of maintaining the order of the society as his first priority, even though it is at the cost of human lives. His reaction illustrates his indifference to human lives, indicating that he has lost the basic morality on his path of reinforcing the system.
Although Beatty claims to believe in the system, some of his thoughts and actions have exhibited his internal conflicts about the system. When Beatty finds out Montag is rebelling against the system, he is trying to make him back on track like he has done to other firemen before. He claims that “every fireman gets an itch” on books, implying that he once had the curiosity about the books and read some of them before (Bradbury 59). He believes that “a book is a loaded gun” (Bradbury 56). The metaphor he is using affirms that he is clearly aware of the power of books and believes it is detrimental to the system. However, when he is convincing Montag back to the right path, he uses the “loaded gun” to achieve the goal. He has used a lot of the quotes in books, intending to show how conflicted books are. He attempts to make Montag believe that the books are just “one professor calling another an idiot, one philosopher screaming down another’s gullet” and in the end everyone “comes way lost” (Bradbury 59). The deep-seated knowledge from books which Beatty uses as a justification of the system and the censorship of books in the society creates an irony. The captain is trying to use the forbidden knowledge to convince Montag and himself that the system is right and books are wrong, which reveals his conflicted mind between books and society. He is trying to convince himself while he is persuading Montag that “[happiness] is important. Fun is everything” (Bradbury 62). He hypnotizes himself that the society and the system are the right one to believe even though his unwavering mind has been shaking for a long time after reading the books. He is suppressing his feelings and desires no change for his status quo. In the end, the accumulating conflicted ideas eventually come to a breakout. When Montag shows his intention to kill him, Beatty totally loses his mind. Instead of running away or succumbing for his life, “he took one step toward Montag” and uses insulting words to irritate Montag (Bradbury 113). His desire to die indicates that he has given up his struggle. His suppression of his individuality for years in his mind eventually leads to his catharsis through death.
The actions of Beatty demonstrate great obedience to the system, even though it is unreasonable in his deep mind. He blindly believes that the system is always right, and even uses the knowledge of the books to justify the correctness of the system that he does not have faith in. The tragic ending of Beatty signifies the harm of repression of the inner thoughts. In our lives, there are a lot of people who are afraid of speaking up against authority, which leads to the end of a country. However, the only way society can improve is through different opinions about the status quo. We should always be brave to point out the problems we have at present so we can improve society in the future.
Works Cited
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2013. New York.