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How does the government end the chase scene in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury? Do you think this ending is inevitable?

At the end of Fahrenheit 451, Montag outwits the Mechanical Hound by doing the following: he runs to the river, strips down to nothing in the water and douses himself with whiskey, he changes into Faber's dirty clothes and shoes, and he lets the river carry him downstream. Because the chase is being broadcast by TV and radio, Montag can hear what is going on in the chase with his radio Seashell. As he...

At the end of Fahrenheit 451, Montag outwits the Mechanical Hound by doing the following: he runs to the river, strips down to nothing in the water and douses himself with whiskey, he changes into Faber's dirty clothes and shoes, and he lets the river carry him downstream. Because the chase is being broadcast by TV and radio, Montag can hear what is going on in the chase with his radio Seashell. As he floats down the river, though, he sees the Hound come to the edge of it. The lights from the helicopters almost find Montag, but he dives underwater and avoids capture.


When Montag reaches the hobo camp later on, they show him that they have been following the chase on their portable TV. They explain to Montag that since he fooled the Mechanical Hound, the authorities had to keep going with the chase so as not to upset their viewing public. Not only that, but the government can't afford to show the public that a fireman—one of their own—escaped from the Mechanical Hound. A man named Granger explains the rest of the chase as the authorities go after another victim and simply call him "Montag." Granger says the following:



"Watch... It'll be you; right up at the end of that street is our victim. See how our camera is coming in? Building the scene. Suspense. Long shot. Right now, some poor fellow is out for a walk... Don't think the police don't know the habits of queer ducks like that... the police have him charted for months, years... And today, it turns out, it's very usable indeed. It saves face" (148).



The Mechanical Hound is programmed to kill the guy out for a walk, but the TV announcer says the Hound found and killed Montag. The government ends the chase by killing someone else in Montag's name. Once they started broadcasting the chase, they needed to prove that they got their man any way that they could in order to demonstrate their power over criminals. If they would not have killed someone in Montag's name, they would have lost credibility with the populace, which may have led to further issues for them later. Governments don't appreciate looking like they are incompetent or fools, so they created cover-ups. 

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