How we cite our quotes: (Scene, Line numbers)
Quote #4
FIRST SOLDIER: Those are Protestants. What they have to be Protestants for?
MOTHER COURAGE: They ain't bothering about faith. They lost their farm.
SECOND SOLDIER: They're no Protestants. They're Catholics like us.
FIRST SOLDIER: No way of sorting 'em out in a bombardment. (V, 27-33)
Darn, those peasants just don't stand out much. Peasants in Mother Courage tend to be portrayed as anonymous, innocent victims of warfare. When the soldiers debate about whether the injured peasants are Catholics or Protestants, it becomes even clearer how far outside the reach of wartime politics the peasants are. As Mother Courage says, they're probably more concerned with farming than with religious schisms.
Quote #5
MOTHER COURAGE: How nice, found another baby to cart around? Give it to its ma this instant, unless you'd have me fighting for hours to get it off you, like last time, d'you hear? (V, 52-54)
Just because Kattrin doesn't say, well, anything, doesn't mean we don't get to know her. In fact, we can often draw conclusions about Kattrin's thoughts and desires based on what her mother says about her. This, for instance, is where we learn about Kattrin's desire to be a mother. The fact that she still can have maternal longings when she has been so damaged by war is another indicator that her innocence seems able to defy wartime misery and cynicism. She is a symbol of hope. But as the play suggests, hope can be dangerous.
Quote #6
MOTHER COURAGE: Wish I knew what went on in that head of hers. Just once she stayed out all night, once in all those years. Afterwards she went around like before, except she worked harder. Couldn't get her to tell what had happened. Worried me quite a while, that did. She collects the articles brought by Kattrin, and sorts them angrily. That's war for you. Nice way to get a living! (VI, 269-275)
When it comes to Kattrin, mysterious doesn't even come close to describing her. There are aspects of Kattrin that remain inscrutable even to her own mother. Mother Courage seems to understand that Kattrin has sexual desires and a longing for a family of her own, yet she can't quite understand what stops Kattrin from acting on these desires and running off. In the end, this inscrutability adds to an image of Kattrin as sacrificial and innocent, almost to a point beyond comprehension.