Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
The Tin Drum
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Quizzes
Portrait of young thinking bearded man student with stack of books on the table before bookshelves in the library
Famous Novels, First Lines Quiz
Young woman with glasses reading a book, student
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz
For a quiz about books/film adaptations. Clapper board and books or scripts. cinema, movies, motion pictures, clapboard, hollywood
Book-to-Screen Name Change Quiz
Person flipping through an open book to find information or reference material. Concept of research, knowledge, study, and learning resources
Guess the Book by its Chapter Titles
Textbook chalkboard and apple. Fruit of knowledge. Hompepage blog 2009, History and Society, school education students
The Literary World (Famous Novels)
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

The Tin Drum

novel by Grass
Also known as: “Die Blechtrommel”
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

The Tin Drum, picaresque novel by Günter Grass, a purported autobiography of a dwarf who lives through the birth and death of Nazi Germany, published in 1959 as Die Blechtrommel. The work’s protagonist, Oskar Matzerath, narrates the novel from an asylum for the insane. He claims to have consciously stopped growing at the age of three in protest against adulthood; although intellectually normal, he has the stunted body of a dwarf. Oskar’s voice is shrill...

Discover the world with Britannica

Subscribe to Continue Reading

Free Trial | No Ads | Exclusive Content
Explore Subscriptions
DNA
Right
Mobile