The Tin Drum

The Tin Drum is a 1959 novel by German author Gunther Grass. In the novel, a man named Oskar tells the story of his life, particularly focusing on his experiences during World War II. The novel employs satire, absurdism, magical realism, and allegory to wrestle with the pain and trauma of life under Nazi rule. The Tin Drum was adapted into an Oscar-winning film in 1979 and has been hailed as a landmark in literary fiction. In 1999, Grass was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

This guide uses an eBook version of the 2009 Vintage Classics edition, translated by Breon Mitchell.

Content Warning: The source material contains sometimes graphic depictions of political, domestic, and sexual violence, implied pedophilia, and death by suicide.

Plot Summary

Oskar Matzerath is a patient in a psychiatric hospital, which is referred to in the text as a “mental institution” (9). He begins to write his autobiography using supplies given to him by his keeper, Bruno. Oskar begins with the story of how his grandparents met. Anna Bronski is a potato seller who hides a fleeing arsonist named Joseph Koljaiczek beneath her many skirts.