How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
When, on Sunday afternoon a week later, I entered City Hospital to visit my nurses and present my new, vain self in tiptop form, showing all my best sides, I was the proud owner of a silver tie pin, set with a pearl (36.9).
New vain self? Like he hasn't always been vain? What Oskar seems to be expressing is that he's actually happy with his appearance for the first time—he bought a tailor-made suit, the first fancy grownup clothes he's owned, and he wants to show off. Oskar's accepting of how he looks; he knows people stare at him. But here you get the impression that he's actually getting a kick out of himself and his new duds.
Quote #8
Oskar forced a smile. Painfully, it's true, but he smiled, crossed his arms above, his legs below, wagged his delicate black shoe, size thirty-five European, and enjoyed the moral superiority of the abandoned (36.32).
When Oskar takes a nurse out on a date, he realizes pretty quickly that the nurse is embarrassed to be seen with him. She eventually ditches Oskar, leaving him to sit by himself at one of the bar tables. Even in the face of rejection, though, Oskar is able to feign a sense of superiority, which he calls the "superiority of the abandoned." Check out that "defense mechanism" website again.
Quote #9
I couldn't help hearing that the coconut fibers were giving Sister Dorothea a feeling much like the feeling fizz powder had given my beloved Maria all those years ago, except that the fizz powder allowed me to hold up my end fully and triumphantly, while here on the coco mat I was a total and humiliating flop (41.22).
Here's a rare admission of failure on Oskar's part. It's especially humiliating because he's typically very proud of his sexual prowess.