Cigars

Cigars serve a dual function throughout the novel as symbols both of Franz's increasing worldliness and of his friendship with Freud. Franz becomes enamored of the elaborate regional descriptors that accompany the various cigars he sells, committing them all to memory and even informing others of their power to transport. They also function as a sign of trust and friendship between Franz and Freud, as Franz brings them to Freud's house when he first comes to visit the doctor.

Newspapers

Newspapers are a symbol of the importance of knowledge and information in the face of censorship. At the beginning of the novel, Otto insists that Franz read newspapers voraciously, and he does so despite not fully understanding them. When fascism comes to Vienna, though, Franz is able to recognize the difference between a free press and an unfree one, and this awareness allows him to rise...