Faber makes this comment in part three; it is meant to suggest that he and Montag have lost sight of bigger issues in their flight from the hound. There is a certain irony to it, however. The war is meant to be understood as the “big issue,” but in fact, Montag’s swift transformation from fireman to activist to fugitive is more important to Bradbury’s theme (Montag remarks earlier in this passage, “My God, how did this happen? . . . It was only the other night everything was fine and the next thing I know I'm drowning”). The risks Montag and Faber are taking are essential and heroic, and their actions exist in the story specifically to counteract the “official” narrative of the war. This distinction is played out in some detail in this section, as when Montag imagines watching his own pursuit by the hound on TV. The televised...
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“story“ of his pursuit and capture, like the “story” of the war, is fake in a way. Montag’s actual flight, and his need to survive and fight against firemen, may seem insignificant or merely “personal,” but in a way, his disobedience is the “real” war.
This quote appears in Part Three of Fahrenheit 451 when Montag is at Faber's apartment and is preparing to flee the city. To put this quote into context, Faber comments that the war has started but neither of the men have noticed it because they are so focused on their immediate problem of escaping the Mechanical Hound.
In terms of social commentary, this is significant because it suggests individuals often become wrapped up in their own lives and fail to consider bigger issues. In the society of Fahrenheit 451, it is this remoteness which enabled censorship to take hold. The attention of individuals was so focused on entertainment and pleasure-seeking that nobody noticed the decline of education and learning and the rise of the firemen.
Through this quote, then, Bradbury is sending a warning to his readers. He says to never lose sight of the bigger issues in society because this is how governments are able to implement dangerous policies, like censorship, and, once this has happened, it may be too late to change.