Captain Beatty is a very arrogant, prideful and self-righteous man. He takes his position as captain of the firemen very seriously, so he probably feels like he is a great guy. He agrees with the laws that support the burning of books, so for him to be in charge of the men who go around burning down people's homes simply because they own them, makes him feel powerful. Beatty shows his power and authority when he visits Montag's home. The captain feels it is his duty to educate Montag on the history of the firemen. He's so confident about his position and knowledge that he takes his time to get comfortable before he begins his lecture. Beatty acts accordingly as follows:
"Beatty puffed his pipe. 'Every fireman, sooner or later, hits this. They only need understanding, to know how the wheels run. Need to know the history of our profession. They don't feed it to rookies like they used to. . . ' Puff. 'Only fire chiefs remember it now.' Puff. ' I'll let you in on it. . ." Beatty took a full minute to settle himself in and think back for what he wanted to say" (54).
Beatty seems so full of himself in this scene. He's puffing away between sentences to let ideas sink in. He's acting confident and then puts himself on a pedestal by saying that fire chiefs are the only ones who know the importance of their history.
Later, he tells Montag that he had a dream where the two of them had a battle of words based on how well read each one was. He spits out quotes from famous authors to prove that information in books is useless. By using authorial quotes to beat down the pro-information argument, he acts as if he is superior to Montag and worthy of the task and duty of burning books. It is ironic, though, that Beatty eventually dies upholding his position to the argument for censorship just like the old woman kills herself to uphold the one against it.
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