Beatty seems to be the antithesis to Montag. In many ways, he is instrumental in Montag's development. Beatty provides the absolute justification for the Status Quo in terms of why the firemen are needed, their importance, and why they do what they do. He is vital for how Montag sees his consciousness at the outset of the novel. Over time, things end up changing, and Beatty's resistance to this change along with his continual support for the Status Quo help play a role allows Montag to grow in his own right and understand. It is Beatty who ends up forcing the greatest amount of change in Montag as he leads the firemen to burn down Montag's home. This moment of colliding values results in Montag killing Beatty as both values crash into one another. Beatty ends up providing the reference point for assessing Montag's level of change and transformation throughout the novel. Beatty does not change, but Montag does and the more the latter changes it proves to distance himself from the former.
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