We meet Mr. Black, a fireman, when he and Stoneman, who like Beatty, are symbols of social orthodoxy, read Montag the five first rules of the Fireman of America:
- Answer the alarm swiftly.
- Start the fire swiftly.
- Burn everything.
- Report back to firehouse immediately.
- Stand alert for other alarms.
The rules emerge as a lie, for the book says they were written by Benjamin Franklin in 1790. Readers of the novel will know this is untrue, even if the men don't. It is also ironic that in a society that uses fireman to enforce a book ban, they have a rulebook.
Later, Mr. Black accompanies Montag, Stoneman, and Beatty to the house of the woman who shocks Montag by immolating herself when they burn her books.
Mrs. Black comes into the picture as Montag sneaks into her house to plant books, part of the plan he and Faber have concocted...
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to sow distrust of firemen and help bring down the book banning regime. He thinks, as he sees her sleeping:
This isn't good, but your husband did it to others and never asked and never wondered and never worried. And now since you're a fireman's wife, it's your house and your turn, for all the houses your husband burned and the people he hurt without thinking.
She is, in other words, yet another symbol of people who mindlessly collude with the system. Having planted the book in her kitchen, he calls in his report of her illegal book ownership and contemplates how she will have to stand shivering outside and watch the roof of her house fall in as the fireman burn it down.
It is ironic that none of this will matter, because the city is soon to be destroyed in a nuclear attack.
She is married to one of the firemen with whom Montag used to work.
In Part Three of the novel, Montag kills Captain Beatty and becomes an enemy of the state. After barely escaping the Hound and crossing a dangerous highway, Montag sneaks up to Black's home. Black is the last name of one of Montag's former coworkers. Montag quietly approaches their house and asks himself if Mrs. Black is home. He wonders if she is asleep and mentions that what he is about to do isn't good. Montag justifies his actions by commenting that Mrs. Black's husband destroyed so many people's lives over the years by setting their homes on fire. Montag then creeps into her home and places several books into her kitchen. Montag then enters a phone booth where he calls the authorities on Black's home. The authorities immediately drive towards Black's home, and Montag is able to escape safely to Faber's home.