How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
LANKES: They're gathering prawns, sir…
HERZOG: Clear the beach immediately, it that understood?
LANKES: Yes, sir. But they're just gathering prawns.
HERZOG: Man your machine gun, Lankes! (27.183-186)
This scene represents the absurdity of war—a group of nuns gathering food for an orphanage are gunned down. It's arbitrary and unnecessary. It's an example of the "just following orders" defense that many Nazi war criminals used after the end of the War.
Quote #8
In July of nineteen-forty, shortly after special communiqués had announced the rapid success of the campaign in France, bathing season opened on the Baltic (21.31).
This is a pretty awesome example of Grass's juxtaposition of the backdrop of the war against the everyday lives of the people living through it.