How we cite our quotes: (Scene, Line numbers)
Quote #10
THE YOUNG PEASANT forced to his knees, with the pike threatening him: I won't do it, not to save my life.
FIRST SOLDIER: I know what'll change his mind. Goes towards the stable. Two cows and an ox. Listen, you: if you're not reasonable I'll chop up your cattle.
THE YOUNG PEASANT: No, not that!
THE PEASANT'S WIFE weeps: Please spare our cattle, captain, it'd be starving us to death.
Save the cattle! In a feudal society, which describes much of Europe in the seventeenth century, peasants are in the lowest social class. Mother Courage mostly portrays them as faceless bystanders. In this scene, the peasant's son is willing to sacrifice his life over that of his cattle. The soldier knows that if he kills the cattle, the entire peasant family will die. This glimpse into the lives of the peasant class suggests a world in which individual lives and heroism are less valued than the survival of the group.