I want to talk about Beatty. I have seen that this book is read in some schools, and I can't say nothing against it. But because of that, I found some resumes (I read a twice of them), critics and explanations arround the web. Also my personal copy which my mother boughth me, was an school edition and it had a critic. My surprise came when this critics talked about the Beatty character, it reflects him as a the bad guy, or the representation of the society, despite being a culte person. I don't think I am the only one who's thinking that but I think Beatty is a good person.
My point of view is, I can't believe that someone who knows so much about literature (he knows way much than me and the high majority of the commun people nowadays), wanted that society. He made a good point when he said that a society without books/infromation/freedom is a happy place, but if he truly believed that, why he knows so much about literature. He admits that he were interested, but someone who talked a pair of full pages referencing writers that I didn't know, is far away than just "interested". He knows that the society are secure without freedom, "Relay a TV show with the songs that the public knows to fool them thinking they are intelligent".
He knows perfectly the two sides of the coin, and he's an important person of one of them. So my point of view is; He wants to change the world, but he's afraid to do it, he's so confortable no matter if he's stuck in the wrong side. When he knew that Morag is taking the same steps, he showed them these two parts of the coin without filters. Beatty didn't let Morag extinguish his fire inside them. Beatty give him no chances besides to revolutionize, to choose the right side of the coin. Beatty was Morag's master who showed them the way, obligating him to kill a fireman boss and being trapped in the right side of the coin. Beatty was the catalyst that Beatty himself didn't had.
In some situations, when Morag is escaping from the hound, a group of adolescents try to kill them just for fun. In another part of the book, it is told that the half of the adolescents don't arribe at the adult age, in fact is said that Blanca has been murdered by a car. They live in a society that don't appreciate people as people but as objects. Morag discovers that he's not in love with his wife neither is she. All of his friends occur the same situation, no one cares about the people next to them.
In real world you cold see the same patron, again, in the metro, nobody treat people like people, no matters if there is a grandma that needs the seat more than you. People doesn't talk to each other. A psicologist once publish an article titled "hairy balls that talk" referring to the humans sees other humans as hairy balls that could talk. He did a twice of experiments, one staying inside an elevator and saluting people, some of them didn't respond the simple gesture. Another experiment asked people who used the taxi what they remembered about the pilot, the half of them didn't remembered casual things like what colour was he wearing, only one of the asked clients know the name of this pilot. He suggested another experiment who anyone could try it, this experiment is, when you seat near someone in public transport, just say to them "Hi". Probably that unknown person would surprise because nobody talks to strangers at the bus. In the big picture, we are all humans, each one with his own problems, the autor can't understand why is so difficult to appreciate other people and don't tract them if it was a fluffly ball two metters above your phone. In addition the autor says too, after saying "Hi" to that person, we should say "How are you", that person may treat you like a weird or crazy man. maybe our society is not so different from what Bradbay writted seventy years ago.
Back to the random attacks from the adolescents in this book, I see the same connection with the paragraph before. These adolescens don't have any respect for other people, they treat other people like objects too, they don't feel any empathy for people. These people want to kill somebody just for fun, or maybe they just want to have a nice time driving and, if for a chance, their encounter a poor guy, killing that guy may complete their expectations for the rest of the week.
The conclusion there is; poor Montag, he where the wrong time at the wrong place. But this happens in real life, this year, a man stabbed another poor guy, randomly. Maybe this is happening for years and is nothing new, but I don't think so. Earlier on this year, a man stabbed another randomly, well, for being too happy. Again the poor guy in the wrong time at the wrong place. Is it not fault of this poor guy, is it the killer who is it doing the tings wrong, but the poor guy is dead. It wouldn't be dead if he stayed at home, just like in the book. What we should do now? Being afraid of walk across the street? The fault is not from the girl who's dressing with tight clothes, it is the rapist. Why then, in the metro again, every two stations the megaphone screams to be aware of thiefs?
