It is very ironic that the firemen are the ones that have been forced to burn the books in Fahrenheit 451. This is a symbol of that those we thought we could trust and those we did trust have turned against us and no can be trusted. The few that trust each other, as stated by Stafford on page 193, “are protecting each other, right in the center a few pages glow a long time.” Stafford wittingly uses this symbolism to represent the few men and women who have held on to the books and are educated in the power within their pages. Although many are burning around them they protect each other. The last example of irony is the most moving. The captain of the firemen, Beatty, is represented by a phoenix. Many who know of these mythological creatures know that when they die they are reborn from the ashes. This is a representation of when Montag must burn a house down with the woman still inside. From the ashes of the woman something was born, something not directly from the ashes but something inside Montag. From that woman’s death Montag was given an opinion. Based on what had happened he formed an opinion, which was basically unheard of. He then didn’t want to burn these people’s houses, he didn’t want to see them die, and he was granted with the gift of curiosity. He was curious of what was in books that was so important that a woman would die for