How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"We have to be on the stage, in the arena. We have to perform and direct the action, otherwise our kind will be manipulated by those who do. And they'll all too happily pull a fast one on us." (9.24)
In his first meeting with the little clown named Bebra, Oskar first learns the valuable lesson that he must manipulate other people before they have a chance to do the same thing to him. For Bebra, this is a matter of pure survival, and one of the best ways to manipulate people is to be a performer. This conversation is what inspires Oskar to hide under grandstands and manipulate the Nazi marching bands.
Quote #5
[…] toward theft: for with my most silent of screams I cut a circular section from the shop window at the lowest level of the display opposite the desired object, and with a last lift of my voice pushed the glass disk into the interior of the display case, so that a quickly muffled tinkle, which was not however the tinkle of breaking glass, was heard (10.16).
Oskar's love for manipulating people doesn't end with marching bands. He gets a much more demonic enjoyment from tempting people to commit theft. In his own words, he likes to teach people not to be hypocritical, since many of the people who end up stealing from shop windows are the very same people who would talk about the immorality of stealing in their daily lives. His plan usually succeeds.
Quote #6
I saw Jan Bronski cross higher up the street on the right from where I was posted, pass the jewelry store without glancing up, then hesitate, or better yet pull up, as if in response to a challenge; he turned, or was turned—and there Jan stood, before the shop window, among the hushed maples laden in white (10.30).
Of all the people Oskar tempts with his glass cutting, the most important one is his uncle Jan because he tempts Jan with stealing a necklace that Jan could give to Oskar's mother, Agnes. Jan is a shy, careful person, and he would probably never steal something for himself. In this scenario, Oskar uses what he knows about Jan to nudge him towards stealing.