The novel “Die blechtrommel” by Gunter Grass: the problem of hero typology

This article analyzes the question of the typology of the protagonist in G. Grass' novel “Die Blechtrommel”. The two guiding traditions which influenced Grass' typology of a literary character are the novel about the artist and the picaresque novel. The main features of these genres are also analyzed in the article. In case of the novel about the artist the following is important: the tendency to self-reflection, thoughts about the art, the opposition between the artist and society are defined as the main features of the genre. Not all of them are equally important for G. Grass. The article focuses on one of the essential features of G. Grass's protagonist, i.e. the analysis of the motif of the opposition between the artist and society relevant for the late romantic literature (E.T.A. Hoffmann). The author shows that the motif of escaping descends from the romantic tradition, whereas the motif of a mask of a child - to the baroque literature. Oskar, the main character of the novel, considers himself as an “outsider”, who has a few contacts with the world, which surrounds him. So, we can suppose that “Die Blechtrommel” is a story of alienation. But denying the world of the adults Oscar lives among them, and the story, he writes, is most of all the story of his family and the history of Germany of the Nazi period, not the philosophy or the art or introspection. The novel is also a memory. The author of the article also points to the modification of the main features of the genre of the picaresque novel. The author examines the theme of the protagonist's development, showing that his attitude to the world of the adults changes from the beginning of the novel to the end. Grass's novel is interpreted by the author as a work influenced by the philosophy of existentialism.