In this quote, Montag is, for the first time in his life, expressing frustration over the way that his society and government seem to be running things. For all of his life up to this point, Montag has just gone with the flow, just content as could be, or at least he thought. He meets Clarisse, and she opens up his eyes to the fact that his life is indeed just a series of meaningless entertainment and emptiness. Even as he has this realization that is life is unhappy, and that his wife is so miserable that she tries to kill herself, jet bombers are flying overhead. All throughout the novel, the jet bombers are mentioned; war is always on the verizon.
Here, Montag expresses frustration--why do they always have to be at war? Why does the rest of the world hate his country? Why does no one in his society care that they are fighting all of the time? He is highly disturbed by Mildred and her friends, and how glibly and shallowly they talk about war, and about family members fighting and dying. They don't even know what the wars are about, or why their husbands are dying. In fact, they seem to care more about that night's programs on television than the fact that their men are dying. This disturbs Montag deeply--where is the depth of emotion? Where are the familial ties that bind people together through love and loyalty? And, how is it that his society can afford to just play and entertain and do mindless things all day--it doesn't make sense. Who is doing the real work? Who is producing? Is his country stealing from other countries to make their lifestyle so nice?
This quote shows Montag's increasing disenchantment with his society, and the beginnings of his total and complete rebellion against it. In it, he questions things about his world that he feels are wrong, but isn't sure why they are that way. He goes in search of answers, and is led down a path that he probably wouldn't have imagined just weeks before. I hope that helped; good luck!
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