This is one strange chapter! And true to form, the wit of Grass comes out during the most important passages.
The entire chapter is full of memorable images and passages. This quote is taken right after Oskar is baptized:
,(page 137).
Oskar did not have his powerful voice at the time of his baptism, he also did not have his tin drum at this time. I see the narrator struggling with his own faith here. Although the chapter does gives the reader a fantastic image of the workings of Oskar reasoning and how he lost his faith, there may be events that happen to the narrator later in his life that affected his belief system, and the narrator chose to introduce it here, while Oskar is a baby. I almost feel that the narrator sees himself as being doomed, or damned from birth.
During the baptism of Oskar it is Jan who vocalizes Oskar’s renouncing of Satan. Oskar wants to shake his head, no, I do not renounce him. Satan has the connotation of evilness and wickedness. The narrator is telling this tale as an adult. Something happens to make this narrator believe he is damned and he may be trying to convince not only himself, but the reader as well, that he was born evil. This would take control away from the narrator for any bad deeds he may have committed during his life. The narrator gives me the impression that he feels he is truly an evil and bad person. This is kinda sad. I’m feeling sympathy for both Oskar and the narrator, because I am seeing them blend a bit more.
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