The Tin Drum
Günter Grass's novel, The Tin Drum, skillfully exposes bits of World War II history through a German boy's unusual life and humorous fantasies. It is written as an autobiography of Oskar, who decides to stop growing on his third birthday, when he is but three feet tall. The tin drum he receives as a present that day gives him a purpose in life, and in time his constant drumming mesmerizes some people and agitates others.
Oskar's mother, who gave him the tin drum, accepts her son's stunted growth and all that goes with it. He loves her in return but is uncertain about who may be his father. He guesses that his great-uncle Jon is his "presumptive" father, although his m other married Matzerath, a German party member. Jon, an employee across the German border at a Polish Post Office, avoids a German attack one night by hiding out and playing cards with Oskar and a dying Polish man. Although Jon is soon captured and shot, Oskar escapes with his drum. But he feels guilty that his father is caught and he isn't. He can't resolve the question, "What had my drum in common with the blood of Poland?"
Later he feels guilty about his mother's death. He fears that "...because of Oskar, she didn't want to live any more." Soon her husband marries a girl Oskar is fond of. He hates Matzerath until the man is killed by invading Russian soldiers. Then Oskar again blames himself. Only Anna, his grandmother, is left. She often lets her three-foot tall grandson bring his tin drum and take "...refuge again beneath [her] four skirts." He likes that even more than hiding in a cupboard or under the dinner table.
When his friend Herbert dies after trying to rape an ancient wooden statue of a girl in the museum, Oskar feels more guilt. Or for the store man that sold drums who the German soldiers killed. Or for his midget girlfriend killed by a stray bullet. Or for the dead night club owner who served onions, to make patrons cry over their troubles.
Oskar never directly takes sides in the war, but one time he breaks up a German rally by hiding under the outside platform and drumming a different rhythm than the military band. The crowd ignore the propaganda and enjoy themselves dancing to a new rh ythm. Then, prior to the Normandy invasion, Oskar visits the pillboxes on the Atlantic shore of France where a group of nuns gathering shells are mistaken as the enemy. Finally, Oskar, his step-mother and half-brother are jammed into a freight car with more ref ugees who want to escape to West Germany. A German official, whose job had been to spray all the war prisoners for lice, had taken over their home. At every train stop, young boys break into the railway cars and take money and clothes from the refugees.
Towards the end of the novel, Oskar begins calling himself Jesus, which helped relieve his guilt. He had impressed members of a local youth gang with his ability to break glass with his piercing voice. They all break into a Catholic church one night a nd from one statue hacksaw the baby Jesus off the lap of Virgin Mary. Then Oskar and his drum are lifted up and left "...sitting so naturally in Jesus's place, all ready to be worshipped."
Finally after being accused of murder, Oskar ends up in a mental hospital. There, on his 30th birthday, he rationalizes that he is still Jesus, but in need of disciples.
Grass's ability to mix reality with the near-impossible is what makes The Tin Drum so appealing. It was his first novel and nearly 600 pages long, probably because of his obvious enjoyment in creating such unique characters. But readers must de cide for themselves why Jews are never mentioned in the story.
The book was first published in Germany in 1961, and later translated into English. In 1999 it was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.