Ch. 5 Smash a Little Windowpane

Suzanne · Tue Aug 17, 2010 5:14 pm

The Tin Drum, Gunter Grass

Book 1; Chapter 5
Smash a Little Windowpane

Suzanne · Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:46 pm

Clever Oskar upon his third birthday has decided to stop growing and he has devised a way for this phenomenon to be accepted by the adults in his life. Oskar carefully, and with diligent planning, falls down the stairs. Of course he takes great measures to protect his drum. Oskar is very pleased with himself and says:

“On my very first day as a drummer I had succeeded in giving the world a sign; my case was explained even before the grownups so much as suspected the true nature of the condition I myself had induced”, (page, 63).

He continues with this thought, and his successful manipulation of adults when he recalls the standard explanation given by his family concerning his lack of growth with,

“. . . our little Oskar fell down the cellar stairs, no bones were broken, but he just wouldn’t grow any more”, (page 63).

I bolded the word wouldn’t because I find it an odd choice of word. It is possible that the word became wouldn’t through translation. However, the word wouldn’t suggests that Oskar has indeed chosen not to grow. A more appropriate word in this context would be can’t.

In this chapter we are introduced to Oskar’s ability to smash glass with his voice. A very special talent indeed, a talent he uses only when his drum is threatened. This ability is a self defense mechanism for Oskar, one that separates himself from other children. He explains:

“Only children who play are destructive out of mischief. I never played, I worked on my drum, and as for my voice, its miraculous powers were mobilized, in the beginning at least, only in self defense. It was only when my right to drum was threatened that I made weapons of my vocal cords”, (page 65).

Clocks and the theme of time and machinary are introduced in this chapter. The glass encasing a clock in Oskar’s home is the first causality of Oskar’s powerful voice. Oskar’s parents are horrified that the clock is broken, however Oskar does not understand the reaction of his parents and states:

“. . . there is something very strange and childish in the way grownups feel about their clocks—in that respect, I was never a child. I am willing to agree that the clock is probably the most remarkable thing that grownups ever produced. But being grownups, they have no sooner created some epoch-making invention than they become a slave to it”, (page 67).

Another aspect of Oskar’s life begins to take shape in this chapter. This aspect would be Oskar’s feelings toward his parents, and his father specifically. Oskar never refers to, Matzerath, as his father. Oskar is also aware of a peculiar relationship between his mother and his Uncle Jan. There seems to be a severe doubt in Oskar’s mind that Matzerath is his father, and Oskar shows distain towards him.

It is also almost impossible not to notice the similarity of the names; Matzerath, and Nazareth. Grass is a deliberate writer, I can’t help but to believe this similarity is intentional, and as religion is introduced into the book, this similarity in names, may be something to watch.

Jake · Fri Sep 10, 2010 10:02 pm

Hello. I am new here and have a few thoughts for those who are still with the book. I promise to not give anything away - the plot is so bizarre, anyway. Knowing does not compare to the experience.

I read it and had to write a paper on it for college (in 1985) - I did not, at that time, 'get' the book in any way. I scanned through the other papers in the box for pickup and there was an A+ and I read that paper. That student really got the book. I will start reading this again now - I think your contributors are very nice people, and I like being around nice people.

A couple of points to keep in mind:
- A speak passable German and once compared the German text to the Mannheim translation and was astounded at the freedom the translator took. But he had no choice, because the German is so unusual and literary and intensely demanding. So if you think this is bizarre and unreal, so is the original.
- I just finished Vols I and III of the Evans history of Nazi Germany (really stupendous achievements!) and these inform the events of The Tin Drum to a very great extent. The book was published as long after the War as we are now from 1995. So personal feelings and histories and remembrances from pre-war through current post-war days are vivid and "alive" for not just Grass, but all of his countrymen and, is it a word?, "continent-men".
- So the comment about the truncated Oskar relating to the truncated Germany is not just accurate, it should suggest a wide range of other allusions from the novel to the actual events in Germany in the 30s and 40s and possibly earlier. And, "no", this is not a Dan Brown puzzle-filler. That is, connecting an image or event in the novel with something from real history is not done because we are supposed to enjoy the act of completing the puzzle. Instead, I think that in hundreds of ways that we now do not grasp (because of our cultural and historical distance from that time) , The Tin Drum was immediately understood and felt in very deep and intense ways by Germans who read it who had gone through the war as adults. Some of the things we puzzle over and enjoy for a purely literary worth were immediately recognized for what they represent in the actual history just lived.
- The journey here is then, if you are interested, enjoying the literature, and also understanding and making connections to "what it must have been like", historically.
- I got a C+ on that paper and am in no position to explain anything! But if you know German history, it will greatly deepen your experience of this book.
Regards,

- Jake

Suzanne · Sat Sep 11, 2010 7:03 am

Hello and welcome to BookTalk and to the discussion Jake

I really enjoyed your comments. I agree with you that a knowledge of the history during this time periord would give the reader an advantage and insight into this novel.

I also agree with your comments about how to read this novel. It should be read without the need to ask yourself "what does everything mean". I had a professor once who gave me some good advise once, he said, "don't worry about "getting it", eventually the book will get you". I think this is true. I have to admit, I am one to pick apart novels and feel that there are always hidden meanings that I need to understand right away. But I think "The Tin Drum" is a book that may affect people differently. This is my third reading of this novel, however, the last reading was 20 years ago, so I am trying to read it this time with new but more mature eyes.

Jake, you spoke a bit about the translation, and how it is different from the German original. Can you expand on this a bit, have you noticed examples of this? There is a newer translation of this book, the reviews I read have said that it is closer to the German original. I choose not to use that translation only because many of the reviews commented that this new translation, (Mitchell) had such liberty with the writing that many sentences were enhanced which made the reading of this newer translation cumbersome and burdensome on the reader. Something is bound to be lost in any translation. I've often said to myself that I should learn Russian, so I could read all the great Russian novels as they were intended to be read.

Thank you again for you contributions to this discussion, I will look forward to hearing from you again.

Jake · Sat Sep 11, 2010 3:36 pm

Suzanne, my German is unreliable, but I will try just this once. The last sentence of the 3rd paragraph of the first page, in Manheim's, he wrote: "He raises his hands in horror, tries to give his rather expressionless face an expression of extreme disgust, and abandons his polychrome project." The text of the Grass original is: "Entsetzt schlaegt er dann seine Pflegerhaende ueber den Kopf zusammen, versucht in etwas zu starrem Gesicht allen Schrecken gleichzeitig Ausdruck zu geben und nimmt Abstand von seinen farbigen Plaenen."

The original says "... tries to express in his rather expressionless face all horrors simultaneously and to give up his colorful plans."
Translation says " ... tries to give his rather expressionless face an expression of extreme disgust, and abandons his polychrome project."

The alliteration is Mannheim's, not Grass' (polychrome project) and the increased precision ('extreme disgust' vs. 'all horrors') is Mannheim's.

So I completely trust this translation, because the work is current and the English chosen is modern. The new translation of Buddenbrooks, however, is far superior to the classic. That book is over 100 years old and the classic translation probably 90 years old. Read the classic Buddenbrooks and you can tell it was aiming at an inter-war British audience - this is aimed at a modern, post-war American audience.

GaryG48 · Sat Sep 18, 2010 3:02 pm


	Jake wrote: The original says "... tries to express in his rather expressionless face all horrors simultaneously and to give up his colorful plans." Translation says " ... tries to give his rather expressionless face an expression of extreme disgust, and abandons his polychrome project." The alliteration is Mannheim's, not Grass' (polychrome project) and the increased precision ('extreme disgust' vs. 'all horrors') is Mannheim's.

The Mitchel translation is "struggles to arrange his somewhat inflexible features into an expression of manifold shock, and drops his polychrome plans."

So Mitchel keeps the alliteration of Mannheim which begins with "polychrome" but changes "project" back to "plans." A bit closer to the original but still with an added literary technique.

Meanwhile, back to Chapter 5: "But grownups have a strange are childish relationship to their clocks, childish in the sense in which I was never a child,. Yet the clock may well be the grownups' greatest achievement. Be that as it may: to the extent that grownups can be creative, and with diligence, ambition, and a little luck actually are, they become creatures of their own epoch-making inventions the moment they create them." Hum, Industrial Revolution, Modern Arms, propaganda?

lindad_amato · Fri Sep 24, 2010 7:03 pm

GaryG48,
I think you're right on with the Industrial Revolution, Modern Arms idea. Oskar (Grass) wants to stop time by shattering the glass and stopping his growth.

Suzanne · Sat Sep 25, 2010 12:50 am

The thing about the clock, is the clock still works, only the outside shell of glass is broken. The adults are upset about the broken glass, the outside image. The adults scream that the clock is broken.This is something Oskar does not understand. This would suggest to me that what is important is the inside workings and the outside persona when broken or chipped or damaged does not affect the more crucial underlying mechanism. Breaking the outside shell, breaking the outside image, or breaking sterotypes may not be such a bad thing. It's the emotions and morality we find inside that can still work. But people hold on tightly to the outside shell and the face that is projected to the world. The inner workings of clocks, or people are exposed when the hard casing is broken.

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