From these lines we can see how stoic and heedless the officer is to the innocent lives he just took, the innocent fish he is frying – indirectly; he is not performing the tasks but he bears the full responsibility nonetheless – and we can see that the Frenchmen mean no more to the Prussians than the fish they had caught. These fish are food, as well, representing the supplies and aid and hope being withheld from the French people by the Prussians, by the evils of war – for all over Paris people were starving.