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Flags symbolize the rampant factionalism and rising extremism that Christopher witnesses in Berlin during the early 1930s. Throughout the novel, Christopher recounts the rise of Nazism in public life. During his time on Ruegen Island, for instance, he walks on the crowded beach to see that beachgoers have marked their chairs with the flags of their city or political affiliation (including the Nazi flag). The need of these beachgoers to show their alliances to others, whether or not they are Nazi party members, speaks to the factionalism present in pre-World War II Germany, which divided the public and fueled rising extremism that led to the war.
Flags Quotes in Goodbye to Berlin
The Goodbye to Berlin quotes below all refer to the symbol of Flags. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3: On Ruegen Island, Summer 1931
Quotes
The other morning I saw a child of about five years old, stark naked, marching along all by himself with a swastika flag over his shoulder and singing “Deutschland über alles.”
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Flags Symbol Timeline in Goodbye to Berlin
The timeline below shows where the symbol Flags appears in Goodbye to Berlin. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3: On Ruegen Island, Summer 1931
...the village becomes more crowded. Christopher describes the crowded beach, on which families fly the flags of their German cities and political affiliation. He notes a child marching with a Nazi...
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