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Books are weapons, according to antagonist Captain Beatty. He refers to them as "loaded guns" as he attempts to brainwash protagonist Guy Montag. Beatty believes that books are harmless to own as long as the owner does not read them.
To further brainwash Montag, Beatty creates a complicated revisionist history which even includes a reinterpretation of the United States Constitution. Beatty maintains that by not reading and learning, citizens will be able to attain the "equality" named as a right in the Constitution.
As part of his propaganda, Captain Beatty tells Montag that the firemen (or book burners) are "custodians of peace of mind." If everyone has the same small amount of knowledge, they will not be "unhappy with conflicting theory and thought." To preserve peace of mind, all books must be burned to prevent reading.
In the novel there is a small group of people who memorize books in order to preserve them. They do not own physical books, but carry them in their heads and constantly recite the words. These people are pariahs and are forced to perpetually walk by the railroad tracks.
According to a 1953 quote, Ray Bradbury described the job of the firemen in his novel: they "came to your house to start fires instead of to put them out."
Fahrenheit 451; Ray Bradbury; 1979
Fahrenheit 451 Reading Group Guide; Alice Jones-Miller; 2001
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You're reading How is reading attacked in the book'Fahrenheit 451?'
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