The Tin Drum

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1959

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Book 1, Chapters 1-8

Book 1, Chapters 9-16

Book 2, Chapters 1-9

Book 2, Chapters 10-18

Book 3, Chapters 1-12

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Background

Authorial Context: Gunter Grass and the Danzig Trilogy

Gunter Grass was a German author, playwright, and sculptor born on October 16, 1927, in Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland). He was one of the most important literary figures of the 20th century and a central figure in the post-war German literature. Grass was raised in a working-class family in Danzig, where his father worked as a grocer. After attending local schools, he was drafted into the German army in 1944 at the age of 17. Grass's experiences during World War II had a profound impact on him and informed much of his later work. After the war, he worked in a mine and as a stonemason before studying art in Düsseldorf and Berlin. He began writing poetry and plays in the 1950s, and his first novel, The Tin Drum, was published in 1959.

The Tin Drum tells the story of a young boy named Oskar Matzerath, who decides at the age of three to stop growing, and who communicates with the world through the piercing scream of a tin drum. The novel is set in Danzig in the years leading up to and during World War II, and explores the themes of German identity, the rise of Nazism, and the complicity of ordinary Germans in the crimes of the regime. The novel was an instant success, winning the 1959 German Literature Prize and establishing Grass as one of the most important voices in post-war German literature. It was later adapted into a highly acclaimed film by director Volker Schlondorff.

Grass went on to write many other works of fiction, including Cat and Mouse, Dog Years, Local Anesthetic, The Flounder, and The Rat. Cat and Mouse and Dog Years, together with The Tin Drum, form a loose collection of works known as the Danzig Trilogy. His work was marked by a concern for social justice, a commitment to leftist politics, and a deep engagement with the history and politics of Germany. In The Tin Drum, the protagonist wrestles with the pain and trauma experienced by a child growing up under the Nazi regime. Oskar shares many of Grass's biographical details, such as working as a stonemason and being related to a family of grocers.

Grass was also a committed political activist and was involved in a number of causes throughout his life. He was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and a vocal critic of the Vietnam War. He was also a prominent opponent of German reunification, arguing that it would lead to a resurgence of nationalism and a return to the politics of the Nazi era. In 2006, Grass ignited controversy with his admission in his autobiography, Beim Häuten der Zwiebel (Peeling the Onion), that he had been a member of the Waffen-SS during World War II. The revelation shocked many of his readers and led to a heated debate about the relationship between personal history and artistic legacy.

Despite the controversy, Grass remained a respected figure in German literature and continued to produce important works of fiction and nonfiction until his death on April 13, 2015. He was awarded numerous literary prizes during his lifetime, including the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1999, and his work continues to be read and studied around the world.

Historical Context: The City of Danzig

Danzig, also known as Gdansk, is a port city located on the Baltic Sea in northern Poland. In the early 20th century, Gdansk was part of the German Empire, but after the end of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles, it was turned into a free city under the protection of the League of Nations. This allowed Danzig to develop as a bustling port city, with a thriving economy and a multicultural society made up of Germans, Poles, and Jews. However, in 1933, the Nazi party came to power in Germany and began its campaign of aggression and expansionism. Danzig, with its German majority, was seen as an important city to reclaim for Germany. The Nazis, led by Adolf Hitler, used Gdansk as a pretext to launch the invasion of Poland in 1939, which marked the beginning of World War II.

The Battle of Westerplatte, which took place on September 1, 1939, was the first battle of World War II. It occurred in Gdansk when a small garrison of Polish soldiers resisted a much larger German force. The Polish soldiers held out for seven days before surrendering, but their resistance became a symbol of Polish bravery and defiance. After the Germans took control of Danzig, they implemented a series of brutal policies that affected the city’s diverse population. Jews, Poles, and other minorities were subjected to persecution, forced labor, and extermination in the city and its surrounding areas. The Stutthof concentration camp, located just outside of Danzig, became a place of mass murder for tens of thousands of Jews, Poles, and other prisoners.

Danzig was also the site of the Danzig Massacre, which occurred in the early days of the war. The massacre involved the killing of Polish civilians and wounded soldiers by German paramilitary forces, with estimates of the death toll ranging from 200 to over 2,000. During the later years of the war, Danzig became a target for Allied bombing raids. The city suffered heavy damage, with many of its historic buildings destroyed or severely damaged. The Port of Danzig, which had been a major hub for trade and commerce, was also severely impacted by the war, with many of its facilities and infrastructure destroyed.

After the end of World War II, Danzig was transferred to Poland and became part of the People’s Republic of Poland. The city adopted the Polish name Gdansk and was rebuilt, with many of its historic buildings and landmarks restored or reconstructed. However, the city’s German population was expelled, and many of its Jewish residents were killed during the war. In the post-war period, Gdansk became an important center of resistance against Communist rule in Poland. In 1970, workers in the city organized a series of protests against rising food prices and poor working conditions. The protests were met with violent repression by the government, leading to the deaths of dozens of protesters.

The Tin Drum portrays a fictionalized version of Danzig in the middle of the 20th century. In the novel, many moments from the history of the city are replicated in allegorical form. The Battle of Westerplatte, for example, is transformed into the battle for the control of the Polish Post Office. A team of Polish postal workers defend their building from a squadron of German soldiers, providing a brave but ultimately doomed defense of the building just as the real Polish soldiers defended their city.