Beatty claims that the firemen are the guardians of society, protecting people from being unhappy.
When Montag sees the woman commit suicide with her books, he wonders about the meaning of it all. What is so great about books that a person would do such a thing? Montag steals a book, and falls into a deep depression as he ponders the very meaning of his existence and his role in the world.
Montag’s boss, Captain Beatty, is well aware of what is going on. He goes to Montag’s house when he calls in sick and lectures him on the importance of eliminating books in society. Without books, everyone can be happy. Beatty previously explained to the woman that the books do not agree with one another. They are dangerous. He tells Montag that a fireman’s job is to protect society.
We stand against the small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought. … Don't let the torrent of melancholy and drear philosophy drown our world. We depend on you. I don't think you realize how important you are, to our happy world as it stands now. (Part I)
Montag is not convinced. He wants to know what is in the books. He also questions Beatty’s claim that the firemen were founded by Benjamin Franklin and have always burned books. Beatty tells Montag that society slowly evolved into a book-free zone as people were more and more unhappy.
What the firemen really do is terrorize people. Clarisse comments that people are afraid of firemen. They come in the night and burn up your house. The houses are fireproof, but not what’s inside them. People inform on each other, like Mildred does to Montag, and the firemen set the Mechanical Hound on them. It is hardly an existence dominated by happiness.
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