What does montag mean when he says we never burned right?

Answer 1

The society of Fahrenheit 451 censored literature and text in order to limit the people from gaining any knowledge or ability to think independently in order to maintain equality among the people. This is why the firemen burned books and libraries.

As the novel progresses, Montag realizes that fire is being abused to destroy responsibility and consequences. Like Beatty says, "[If] a problem gets too burdensome, then into the furnace with it" (115). At his confrontation with Beatty, he says, "We never burned right..." - foreshadowing him burning his boss.

He later does agree that fire can be used to remove problems simply, as demonstrated in his murder of Beatty. To answer your question, I think Montag meant that by "We never burned right..." he means that society was burning incorrectly. Instead of burning books to eliminate any chance of an intelligent, independent, and humane society, the society should have burned people like Beatty and the other firemen for subscribing to such an ideology. By burning Beatty, Montag uses fire to "burn right" and eliminate the problem - the ideology of censorship to dehumanize and make all people equal.

Answer 2

When Montag says "we never burned right," he is reflecting on the realization that his society was wrong to suppress knowledge and critical thinking by burning books. He recognizes that their actions were misguided and that they should not have been afraid of knowledge and ideas.