How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Life Is Beautiful.
Quote #1
[Men run out of the uncle's home.]
GUIDO: Uncle!
UNCLE ELISEO: Barbarians.
GUIDO: Who were they?
UNCLE ELISEO: Barbarians.
GUIDO: Why didn't you cry for help?
UNCLE ELISEO: Silence is the most powerful cry. Is he your poet friend?
Guido arrives at his uncle's house to see a bunch of men running out; they've assaulted Eliseo. This is the first open act of prejudice in the story, and it's not entirely clear that the act is anti-Semitic—after all, they could just be random vandals. But it'll be come clear soon enough.
Quote #2
PRINCIPAL: We know. As you know, the inspector came to Rome to talk to us about the race manifesto signed by the most well-versed Italian scientists. He will, and we're very honored, demonstrate to us that our race is a superior race, the best of all. [Claps her hands.] Take your seats. Go ahead, Inspector.
GUIDO: Our race—
PRINCIPAL: Is superior.
GUIDO [laughing]: Naturally! Our race is superior. I've just come from Rome, right this minute to come and tell you in order that you'll know, children, that our race is a superior one. I was chosen, I was, by racist Italian scientists in order to demonstrate how superior our race is. Why did they pick me, children? [Jumps up onto the table.] Must I tell you? Where can you find someone more handsome than me?
Do we even need to dive into this one? It's a state-sanctioned discussion on why a nation's race is superior to other races, based on "science," of course. The best part of this racial screed is, of course, that Guido isn't Aryan. He's Jewish.
Quote #3
ELISEO: The usual barbarians, vandals. It's sad. What nonsense. "Jewish horse."
GUIDO: Don't get upset. They just did it to—
ELISEO: No. They didn't do it to…they did it "to." You'll have to get used to it, Guido. They'll start with you, too.
GUIDO: With me? What could possibly happen to me? The worst they can do is undress me, paint me yellow, and write, "Achtung, Jewish waiter." [Laughs.] I didn't even know this horse was Jewish. Let's go. I'll clean him up in the morning. [To someone else.] Take him back to the stall.
We learn that this is another anti-Semitic attack on Eliseo through his use of the phrase "usual barbarians," which mirrors his description of the attackers earlier. It's also telling that he refers to them as "usual."
What we're witnessing are the social restraints being slowly chipped away. Hatred is becoming the norm, and the result will be that the more atrocious acts in the second half of the story will become possible. The Nazis' M.O. was to gradually isolate and demonize the Jews so that their eventual deportation and extermination was just the next "logical" phase.