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Ch. 3, Moth and Light Bulb

#87: Sept. - Oct. 2010 (Fiction)
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Suzanne

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Re: Ch. 3, Moth and Light Bulb

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Hello IGotThis2 and welcome to the discussion.
IGotThis2 wrote:I think that the question of whether this story is a novel or an autobiography is a moot point.
I don't know if it is a moot point. As the novel progresses I have found that the narrator, I, the man in the instituion is writing an autobiography. However, Oskar comes across as a character somewhat detached from the narrator who oftentimes uses the first person of I. In this sense, there is both a novel and an autobiography included in this story, Oskar then becomes a character. Not many writers include a detailed description of the moment of their birth within their autobiographies, and yet, the novel states that this is indeed an autobiography.

IGotThis2 wrote:Then midway through the second paragraph, he lists every possible (are some even impossible?) outcome for the fate of the ship that starred in the escape of Koljaiczek from his pursuers. Thus, the narrator absolves himself of any responsibility to THE TRUTH.
This is terrific, and very thought provoking. "The narrator absolves himself of any reponsibility to the truth". I think you are correct, the reader is warned quickly that the events described may be fantasy. But I do see some kernals of truth, even inside some of these fantastic tales. The kernals of truth are in the emotions of the narrator and Oskar. The man in the institution is bitter and resentful, Oskar is coming across as more innocent.
IGotThis2
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Re: Ch. 3, Moth and Light Bulb

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I think you are right about the different voices that the narrator uses to distance himself from his current situation. It's a kind of freedom for him to be able to use his drum to travel on an astral plane throughout what he sees as his own and his ancestral history to explore the full range of possibilities, and, I believe, to allow himself to believe all of them for a brief moment.

BTW, I snipped your Faulkner quote and made it my FB status for the day... Love it!
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Re: Ch. 3, Moth and Light Bulb

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I've finished the book and think that possibly Grass was using Oskar to show the conflicted feelings that many Germans might have felt, or that Grass felt. He must have struggled with his military service for years before making it public. Grass has said that the Germans were "stupid" about seeing what was really going on within the Reich and what was happening to their national morality. Perhaps he means for Oskar conceitedness to represent the State or Nationalism. However, I think he would have made a better argument if Oskar was a more sympathetic character.
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