Guy Montag used to be an ordinary fireman; he used to burn books, and then he burned the ashes. But things changed when he stole a couple of books, met a professor who taught him to understand the words in the books and together, they formed a plan. They figured out that if they were able to hide a couple of books in the fire station, the firemen would be forced to burn down the station. If the fire station collapsed, people could no longer call firemen to burn the books found in the city.
After leaving the house of the professor with an earpiece to communicate with him, Guy gets home and makes the mistake of reading a book to his wife and her friends. He leaves the house and goes to the fire station with some books in his arms but turns one into Captain Beatty (so he doesn't raise suspicion) and when Guy is about to hide the rest of the books, an alarm goes off indicating that the firemen should leave to burn some books somewhere in the city. Guy is surprised (to say the least) when they arrive at his house. It turns up that Guy´s wife was the one who called the fire station and then left the house with all of her belongings. Guy is forced to burn down his own house with a vacuum that ejects some type of liquid fire. On the communicator, Faber tells Guy that he should try to get out of that house as soon as possible if he doesn't want to go to jail. Guy can't get out of there though, “The Hound” is in his neighborhood. Unfortunately, Captain Beatty discovers the communicator in Guy's ear and takes it away. Worried that the captain might discover Faber, Guy burns (and kills him in the process) the captain with the vacuum but is attacked by “The Hound” that injects Guy in his leg with a liquid that makes his leg go numb. Then, Guy destroys “The Hound” and retreats from the crime scene with a few books he was able to save in his hands (and a couple hundred dollars just in case). Montag becomes a fugitive, he can hear alarms going off in the city and announcements for the citizens to look out for a man with books in his hands that is running on foot. He later arrives at Faber´s apartment and tells the professor that he should take all the money since he could be dead by noon. Faber tells Guy about the “walking camps” that live past the river and the railroads, they are people just like Montag that broke the law because of reading books and now live with other people just like themselves. Montag leaves in search for these people.
“´This is happening to me,´ said Montag. ´What a dreadful surprise,´said Beatty. ´For everyone nowadays knows, is absolutely certain, that nothing will ever happen to me. Others die, I go on. There are no consequences and no responsibilities. Except that there are. But let’s not talk about them. eh? By the time the consequences catch up with you, it's too late, isn't it, Montag’ ” (115)
This quote is said by Captain Beatty to Montag while Montag is burning down his own house. I think that what he is saying is completely and utterly true. I think this because Beatty killed people when he burned down their houses, yet he thought no one will ever kill him or that he would never die. His consequences did catch up with him and he ended up being murdered by the one thing he loves the most; fire. Not to mention that he was killed by his own coworker (which is a bit sad to be honest). But something that I will never understand (and neither will Montag), is that Beatty wanted to die. He didn't even move out of the way when Guy pointed the vacuum to him, he stayed in his place and kept talking nonsense to Guy (he definitely had a death wish). Montag, on the other side, was open to the idea of death. He knew that nothing lasts forever and that one day he would be nothing more than a heap of ashes, but he never thought that his own house would have to be destroyed because he owned books. He was always the one that burned the books along with the houses in which they were hidden, yet now, he is burning down his own house and trying to save the books that were hidden inside of it.
“‘I feel alive for the first time in years,´ said Faber. ´I feel I'm doing what I should've done a lifetime ago. For a little while I'm not afraid. Maybe it's because I've done a rash thing and don't want to look the coward to you. I suppose I'll have to do even more violent things, exposing myself so I won't fall down on the job and turn scared again. What are your plans?´ ” (131)
Faber was scared, but he's not anymore. Why? Because he is not alone anymore. He's got Guy now, and together they can do the things that neither of them would've done alone. I don't think I've ever been scared enough so that I regret my choices like Faber. I like to think that there hasn't been anything in my life so far that prevents me from making the right choices. Faber on the other side, had the government against him since he believes books shouldn't be banned (and I completely agree with him). He doesn't go with the flow and maybe that is the reason for his fright or cowardice. Maybe I am going with the flow and that is why I'm not afraid of making choices.
So this is almost the last post and there are still things happening in the book that surprise me. For example, Mildred is a traitor. She just told on her husband and left the house they lived in together! But I guess you can never trust anyone these days. Anyway, I really, really hope that Guy can get to meet the “walking camps” before the book ends or before he ends up dead (which can always be a possibility). Also, I'm very happy due to fact that “The Hound” is officially dead (was it alive in the first place?). Captain Beatty is also dead so that was astonishing to me but I can't say that I'm not relieved because he literally screamed trouble. I have no ideas on how the book will end so I can't make a guess like I usually would but I just hope that it doesn't end in disaster.
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