Lale’s Supply Bag Symbol Analysis

Because Lale’s supply bag indicates that Lale technically works for the “political wing of the SS,” the bag—in which Lale keeps his tattooing instruments—comes to signify the added protection that Lale’s job affords him. When Lale first becomes the tattooist, he learns that none of the Nazis will bother him if he carries his bag everywhere he goes, since none of them want to be accused of interfering with somebody affiliated with the SS. Of course, this also means that he is directly involved with the Nazis and therefore that he is—however unwillingly—part of the regime working to persecute his fellow prisoners. As a result, Lale’s bag comes to represent not only the safety that Lale gains from his position, but also the fraught implications and interpersonal dynamics that come along with working for the SS.