How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Quickly he buttoned the trousers that fear and an overwhelming need for refuge had bidden him open under her skirts. He fiddled quickly with the buttons, fearing an all too rapid cooling of his rod, for the weather carried the threat of autumnal chills (1.35).
The book opens with a pretty absurd and explicit sexual scene, setting the stage for the other unusual sexual shenanigans throughout the book. (You gotta wonder how the actual physics of this strange conception worked.)
Quote #2
And just what, you may ask, is Oskar looking for under his grandmother's skirts? Does he wish to imitate his grandfather Koljaiczek and take liberties with the old woman? (10.8)
Oskar just wants to clarify that there was nothing sexual about it. But do we take his word for it? He's preoccupied with the smell under there. Anyway, he denies it vehemently, but nobody's asked. Hmmm…
Quote #3
That's how Anna Koljaiczek sold her produce. Meanwhile I grasped the magic of temptation, but not the temptation that lured fourteen-year-old boys into the basement with Susi Kater to play doctor (10.12).
Oskar probably hears rumors about the neighborhood teenage floozy, but at this point he's too young to appreciate what's the big deal about it. That changes pretty quickly for Oskar, thanks to Maria.