Of all the literary works concerning dystopian societies, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is perhaps one of the most bluntly shocking, insightful and relatable. Set in the United States of the future, this novel tells of a government that has banned books and a society that constantly watches television. However, Guy Montag, a fireman (one who burns books instead of actually putting out fires) discovers some books and a spark of desire for knowledge ignites within him. Unfortunately his boss, the belligerent Captain Beatty, notices his newfound thirst for literature. A man of great duplicity, Beatty tasks Montag with having his house destroyed and him expelled from the city. On the other hand, Beatty is a much more rounded character than he initially seemed. Beatty himself was once an ardent reader and even uses literature to his advantage against Montag. Additionally, Beatty is a critical character in Fahrenheit 451 due to his morbid cruelty, obscene hypocrisy, and general remorse for his life. Beatty is the ideal antagonist of Fahrenheit 451 mainly because his great cruelty and abrasive personality contrast sharply with Montag's more sensitive nature. Indications of Beatty's cruelty are made by the cruel games he plays with the other firefighters at the station. The firefighters own a mechanical dog (which has a superb sense of smell and a needle that injects its victims with paralyzing substances) on which Beatty allegedly bet on the cruel games in which he involved the dog. For example, Beatty “set the ticking patterns of the Hound's olfactory system and let loose the mice in the firehouse, and sometimes the chickens, and sometimes the cats. . . to see which of the cats, chickens or mice the Hound would catch first” (…… center of the card…… a flamethrower at his opponent, Beatty simply “stood there, not really trying to save himself, he just stood there , to joke, to prod” (122) Beatty finally gives up his life to Montag, deprived of true passion and joy of living. Captain Beatty is perhaps one of the most critical characters in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: he is. artfully cruel and malicious, adept at twisting the truth into a web of hypocrisy, and ultimately giving up his own life. As Beatty attempts to continue the holocaust of books his generation began, he is actually only depriving himself of a world of knowledge. ., imagination and intuition shows that giving up one's dreams and aspirations may be the easiest way out of conflicts and insecurities, but it will cancel out the wonderful revolutions that can be undertaken by those who have the will and determination to persevere...