In Part Three of Fahrenheit 451, Montag is confronted by Beatty and forced to set fire to his house. Montag suspects Mildred is the person who reported his books to Beatty for a couple of reasons.
First of all, Montag is suspicious of Mildred because she flees the house without acknowledging him, which he interprets as a sign of her guilt:
Mildred came down the steps, running, one suitcase held with a dream-like clenching rigidity in her fist, as a beetle-taxi hissed to the curb.
Secondly, while there are other characters in the story who know about Montag's collection of books, Mildred is the only one who is likely to call the alarm. This is because Mildred is a conformist character; she fears books, believes in the fireman system, and has no intention of rethinking her attitude.
Montag's suspicions are soon confirmed by Beatty: Mildred turned him in immediately after her friends, Mrs. Bowles and Mrs. Phelps, reported him. Beatty had no choice but to act, though it comes at great cost to himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment