The Tin Drum

Oskar wakes up in the “laundry basket full of letters“ (150) with gunfire all around him. The Post Office is under siege from the German soldiers. Jan and the Polish postal workers try to fight back but they are outnumbered; to Oskar, they seem to fight as though “Poland was at stake“ (153). Oskar finds a room to hide; Jan is already there, cowering with his hands over his ears, finding it almost impossible “to be brave“ (156). Kobyella the janitor is also in the room.

As the Germans fire guns, Oskar notices a brand-new drum on the other side of the room. As the bullets ricochet around him, he reaches for the drum but cannot quite grasp it. Kobyella and Jan cannot help him as they are under attack. The firefight rages on. At one point, Jan purposefully tries to get shot in the leg. He hopes that a minor injury will allow him to survive while looking like a hero “with an exaggerated limp” (157). The Germans raise the stakes. They storm the building with tanks and heavy weaponry. As the fight intensifies, Oskar is able to finally grab hold of “a new drum” (158).

Jan helps the wounded Kobyella down a staircase as he is “steadily losing blood” (159). He is helped by Viktor, another Polish postal worker. Jan believes that the British and French will come to the aid of the Poles and defeat Germany.

Amid the battle, Jan and Viktor decide that the best option is to play cards. Together with Kobyella, they play a game of skat. During the game, Kobyella's injuries almost make him pass out. However, he always recovers in time to play his next card. Jan becomes confused during the game. He starts referring to Oskar as Agnes and Kobyella as Alfred. Kobyella dies from his injuries and “can't go on” (163).

Just before the game can end, the German soldiers burst into the room, armed with flamethrowers “to smoke out the remaining defenders” (164). Oskar notes Jan was about to win at skat. The Poles are led out of the building, knowing that they are in danger. As they are marched out, Oskar sees a film crew recording the entire incident. Fearing that they might realize that he is a teenager in a three-year-old's body, he begins to cry like a toddler. As he looks up to his uncle, who is “smiling foolishly” (165), Oskar realizes that Jan has completely lost his nerve.

Oskar confesses that he has not been entirely truthful. Rather than just crying like a child, he pointed at Jan and implied to the soldiers that Jan had “dragged an innocent child” (166) to the Polish Post Office against his will. Oskar's last memory of Jan is him and the other postal workers being led away and lined up against a brick wall.

Several days after, Jan's wife is told by the government that her husband was executed for “irregular military activity” (167). Hedwig is told nothing about the location of her husband's body; furthermore, the German government has seized her property and she must immediately evacuate her home. Sometime later, Oskar learns where Jan is buried when he meets “Crazy” Leo in the street. Leo wordlessly hands him “an empty shell” (170). He then leads Oskar to Saspe, where Jan was executed by firing squad. Leo is one of the few people who knows Jan's burial place because he attends every funeral in the city. Leo also hands Oskar the playing card that Jan had with him when he died.

Oskar is filled with regret. He wishes that he could write a letter, taking the blame for Jan being at the Polish Post Office. Oskar spends time in the hospital. During this time, his family is very kind to him. Their kindness only makes him feel guiltier for his uncle's death.

Oskar also notes the speed with which the German Army entered Poland and conquered the country. When Oskar is released from the hospital, the Germans have taken over Poland. The meeting with “Crazy” Leo happened after Oskar left the hospital. Oskar goes to his grandmother, Anna, and hands her two items: a playing card from Jan's final game of skat and the bullet casing from the site of his execution. He whispers into Anna's ear: “he lies in Saspe” (173), hoping that this will help her deal with the untimely death of her nephew.

According to Oskar, the tin drum is a witness to the “secret shame” (174) of how he betrayed Jan. When he plays the drum as forcefully as he can, he pours his emotion into the action. The drum is soon broken. Oskar wants a new drum but his father Alfred buys him a selection of other, non-drum presents for Christmas.

Just as Oskar is worried about an “impending disaster” (175), his father hires a new employer who helps Oskar: Herbert's younger sister, Maria Truczinski. Alfred hires Maria to work in his failing grocery store. Maria quickly puts the store back on track, while the only thing Alfred can teach her is how to “boil, roast, and stew” (177). Furthermore, she earns Oskar's admiration by recognizing his need for a constant supply of new tin drums. Oskar speaks at length about Maria's beauty. According to Oskar, Maria was his “first love” (178), hence why he spends so much time praising her. His love for her is noticeable in the way he plays his tin drum, affecting a tender and passionate rhythm whenever he thinks about her.

To Maria, however, Oskar still seems like a three-year-old. Both Oskar and Maria are technically in their late teenage years, but he has not grown up physically. Maria takes care of Oskar as though he were a toddler, changing his clothes and bathing him before bed “without embarrassment” (179). One day, she takes him to the beach. On the way, they pass by the cemetery in Saspe where Jan is buried. Oskar feels a sudden rush of guilt.

At the beach, Maria enters the changing rooms with Oskar and feels no compunction about changing into her bathing suit in front of him with “rapid, energetic movements” (180). Oskar—overcome by fear and attraction—cannot help but stare. He feels himself becoming aroused but does not know what to do, so he runs to Maria and smothers his face in her naked flesh. As he notes her “vanilla scent” (181), she laughs. She chides him for running toward her naked body, even though he has no idea about sex. 

Oskar discusses a type of fizzy candy that he refers to as “fizz powder” (182). On the day that he visits the beach with Maria, she finds a small packet of fizz powder in her bag. The powder fascinates both Maria and Oskar. Needing water to activate the candy, Maria tells Oskar to spit in her hand. He does so and the powder begins to fizz. The fizzing powder has an effect on both of them. Maria has a sexual awakening, which is described as “a feeling, a feeling, a feeling…” (184). Maria eats the spit-soaked powder and, once the powder is gone, feels suddenly embarrassed. When she is happy that no one is watching her, she asks Oskar to spit in the powder in her hand again. Now, however, Oskar has no spit left in his mouth. He runs across the hot sand to the nearby drinking fountain, takes a big drink, and dashes back to Maria. When he returns, she seems to have forgotten about the fizz powder. He feels disappointed, as though the somewhat romantic moment has passed, and they go “home right after that” (185).

At home, Alfred tells Maria and Oskar that he plans to spend more time playing skat with his fellow Nazis. On these nights, he wants Oskar to stay at Maria's house. Maria and Oskar are pleased with this arrangement. They will share a bed on two nights each week, as Oskar is “just a half-pint anyways” (186). On one of these nights, Oskar notices the fizz powder in Maria's room. He may have placed it there on purpose, hoping for her to notice. Over the coming weeks, Maria and Oskar go through “over a dozen” (187) packets of fizz powder. They play with the powder in different ways, such as when Oskar pours the powder into Maria's belly button. When he spits on the powder, she tries to lick it up.

When they are finished, Maria falls asleep. Oskar stares at the sleeping Maria, feeling himself becoming aroused. He convinces himself that Maria “trustingly” (188) falling asleep is some kind of invitation to have sex with her. Oskar describes the way in which his penis seemed to think for itself. He claims that he did not have a choice when he sexually assaulted Maria in her sleep.

Sat in the psychiatric hospital, Oskar wishes that he could acquire some fizz powder. He asks Bruno; Bruno cannot find any, though he finds a lab technician who is able to concoct something similar for Oskar. Maria visits the hospital and Oskar shows her his powder. When he places “the little white packet” (191) in her hand, she seems ashamed of this “foolishness” (192). She asks him to change the subject and claims not to remember what he is talking about. Her memory of the incident is not as pleasant as Oskar's memory. Instead, she wants to talk about Oskar's son, Kurt Matzerath.

Oskar returns to his memories. Just over a week after the incident in Maria's bed, he remembers catching Maria and Alfred having sex in the kitchen. He is shocked and immediately runs to the couple, hitting them with his three-year-old fists. Even though Maria is only 17, Alfred marries her. Maria is pregnant and Oskar is convinced that the baby is his, though it will be raised as Alfred's child for respectability's sake. This baby is Kurt. Oskar remembers the moment when he caught Alfred and Maria having sex. Alfred pushes him away with ease, but a “furious” (194) Maria comforts him, angering Alfred. As Maria consoles him, Oskar hears reports on the radio about the German Army. He plays his drum while Maria goes to dress herself.

When she returns, there is an awkward silence between her and Oskar. Hoping that she is not “ashamed” (195) that he caught her in such a compromising position, he tries to deal with the situation by running to the store for a packet of fizz powder. Maria does not respond, so he pours the powder into his hand and spits on it. Maria kicks him hard in the chest and knocks him across the room. As he leaps up, she washes her hand with a towel and accuses him of being “a dirty pig” and someone who “should be thrown in the nuthouse” (196). As Oskar is about to unleash a glass-shattering scream, Maria stuffs the dirty towel in his mouth. He calms down and she laughs. As she tries to comfort him, he punches her between the legs and continues to hit her until she begins to cry. Eventually, they are both crying in the kitchen. 

Oskar remembers Greff, his father's friend whose wife played such an important role in educating Oskar. Greff is notably in shape for a middle-aged grocer. He is a “practical” (197) man who was once the leader of a troop of boy scouts. As such, he rarely spent time with his wife. Greff also has an obsession with the weighing scales he uses in his grocery store. He has a “childish tendency to tinker” (199) and designs increasingly elaborate scales; the scales can play music but are not necessarily practical or accurate. As such, he gets into trouble with the authorities, who accuse him of trying to cheat his customers.

Greff is a witness at the wedding between Maria and Alfred. At the wedding, Maria is noticeably pregnant. Oskar watches her belly grow with loathing. He is determined that she should not have the child that he believes is his “future son and heir” (200). One day, he pushes her off a ladder. Maria sprains her ankle but the baby is unharmed. Maria recognizes Oskar's “murderous rage” (201).

Sometime later, Oskar tries to end the pregnancy by stabbing Maria's belly with a pair of scissors. Maria snatches the scissors from him before he can stab her. She tells Alfred that Oskar cannot live with them until after the baby is born, though she hides the true extent of his violent behavior. Oskar is sent to live with Maria's mother until Kurt is born.

At the baptism, Oskar does not want to go to the church as he refuses to “set foot in the Protestant church” (204). Alfred accepts this. He fears that Oskar might break all the windows in the church. Small details send Oskar into terrible rages. When he is served vanilla pudding by Alfred for a dessert, the smell reminds him of his time with Maria, the “prime source of all vanilla” (205). He throws a tantrum. He remembers running to Frau Greff and grabbing hold of her skirts so that he could smell something other than vanilla.

The Germany Army wins many battles across Europe during the “era of mud” (206) in the early days of World War II. Oskar compares his life to the mud-soaked battlefields left behind by the German Army. He spends more time with Frau Greff, littering his descriptions with sexual innuendo. He seems to want to replace Maria with the “ailing” (207) Frau Greff, but he is confused by his true feelings.

Oskar remembers another meeting with the circus worker Bebra, who had such a profound influence on him at a young age. Shortly after his mother's death, he met Roswitha Raguna. Roswitha is Bebra's colleague and she is also a little person. Though he has no idea about her age, Oskar is immediately attracted to her. During this time, Bebra has joined the Nazi Party and risen through the ranks until he is a part of “the entourage of the Rhenish upstart Joseph Goebbels” (207). Oskar decides to continue his education by asking Frau Greff to teach him, though he is vague in his demands.

Greff himself is deeply affected by the war. He grows increasingly distant when his troop of Boy Scouts is all drafted into the military. Many of them die in the war, including his “favorite” (208). Instead, Greff lingers in his store and plays with his scales. He ages rapidly as he sinks into a deep depression. While Greff is distracted, Oskar hints that he and Frau Greff have a sexual relationship. Greff enables this relationship, bringing a “basin of warm water” (209) into his bedroom for Oskar's use. He is more interested in showing his new scales to Oskar than in his wife's infidelity. Greff's mechanical tinkering leads to the construction of a mechanical drum. Oskar loves the mechanical drum, hinting that it will be an important part of Greff's imminent “finale” (209).

One day, Oskar goes to the grocery store but finds the shutters pulled down. Oskar knocks and Frau Greff appears, leading him inside. She calls for Greff but he does not answer. She looks for him in the basement and begins to scream. Greff has hanged himself using one of his inventions. According to Oskar, someone reported Greff to the authorities for being a pedophile. Oskar inspects the basement. He sings a nursery rhyme to himself. The noose is attached to the drum machine, which plays a raucous din when the police try to cut down Greff's body.

In his hospital room, Oskar tries to reproduce the rhythm of the drum machine. He can almost replicate the “organized din” (214), which he titles “Seventy-Five Kilos” in tribute to the weight of the potatoes which Greff used as a counterbalance on his final invention.