Character Analysis
Like the chaplain, the cook works for the army but is not an enlisted member. Also like the chaplain, he has to endure some nasty treatment by the general in Scene II. He depends on the war for his livelihood, but his work is degrading. If he were a soldier, he might be able to move up the ranks or, like Eilif, be singled out for some noteworthy deed. But as a cook, he will always be part of a military underclass.
Not only is the cook a member of the underclass in Mother Courage, he is also symbolic of a demoralized working underclass in general. For Brecht, this means that he takes an ironic view of those in power. From his position as both an outsider and a peon, he is able to see power relations the way they really are. But unlike Mother Courage, he's not looking to capitalize on the war. So, in the end it comes as no surprise that he just wants to get away from it all and run his mother's inn back in Utrecht.
Though the cook sees things for what they are, he doesn't seem interested in changing them. Like the other characters in Mother Courage, his main ambition is making it through the war alive. This also explains his frequently ironic tone when discussing the war. (For more on the cook's irony, mosey on over to our section on "Tone.")
When the cook gives his speech about the Swedish king bringing "freedom" to Germany (III, 189-207), a speech that is positively dripping with irony, we don't hear someone who thinks he is empowered to alter the situation. Aye, there's the rub: while irony can allow the cook to say something he might not otherwise be allowed to say, it doesn't necessarily change the fact that he's not allowed to say it. Sometimes irony masks a tacit resignation to the reality of how things are.
If we put it all together, we see the cook as a character symbolizing a working underclass that has lost—or maybe never had—the will to challenge the injustice of its social position. In other words: a class of capitulators. And that's a common theme throughout the play. We see it most clearly in Mother Courage's Song of the Grand Capitulation in Scene IV, but it's also there in the cook's decision to retire to Utrecht and try to forget the war ever happened.
By the way, the cook's real name is Peter Lamb. For a comment on that name, check out our section on "Character Clues."