At the end of Part 2, Montag pulls up in the Salamander with Beatty in front of his own house. This is the "special trip" that Beatty has been referring to. Beatty continues to taunt him as Montag realizes what a great trap has been laid for him. Montag watches as Mildred, his wife, leaves with her bags packed. She won't look at him or interact with him. No, she just enters a waiting taxi...
At the end of Part 2, Montag pulls up in the Salamander with Beatty in front of his own house. This is the "special trip" that Beatty has been referring to. Beatty continues to taunt him as Montag realizes what a great trap has been laid for him. Montag watches as Mildred, his wife, leaves with her bags packed. She won't look at him or interact with him. No, she just enters a waiting taxi with her suitcase, muttering about her "family". Beatty begins to grow more suspicious as Montag's words and tilted head indicate that he's talking to someone else. Finally, Beatty slaps Montag and the ear piece that Faber was using to communicate flies out of Montag's ear. Beatty grows more sure of himself and arrogant, insulting Clarisse and threatening Faber. Montag grows more agitated, finally taking action:
He twitched the safety catch on the flame-thrower. Beatty glanced instantly at Montag's fingers and his eyes widened the faintest bit. Montag saw the surprise there and himself glanced to his hands to see what new thing they had done. Thinking back later he could never decide whether the hands or Beatty's reaction to the hands gave him the final push toward murder. The last rolling thunder of the avalanche stoned down about his ears, not touching him. (44)
In a mirror image to the first few lines of the text, Montag's hands appear to act of their own volition. Beatty doesn't really seem to believe that he'll do it and he continues to move towards Montag.
Montag only said, "We never burned right..."
"Hand it over, Guy," said Beatty with a fixed smile. And then he was a shrieking blaze, a jumping, sprawling, gibbering mannikin, no longer human or known, all writhing flame on the lawn as Montag shot one continuous pulse of liquid fire on him. There was a hiss like a great mouthful of spittle banging a redhot stove, a bubbling and frothing as if salt had been poured over a monstrous black snail to cause a terrible liquefaction and a boiling over of yellow foam. Montag shut his eyes, shouted, shouted, and fought to get his hands at his ears to clamp and to cut away the sound. Beatty flopped over and over and over, and at last twisted in on himself like a charred wax doll and lay silent. (44)
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