Faith Hope Love

Faith Hope Love

In Grass’ The Tin Drum, the chapter Faith Hope Love stands out to me for a couple reasons.  I see it as one of the most beautifully written chapters with the repeating patterns and the raw emotion.  Nowhere else in the novel, so far, do we see the style found in this chapter; the repeating of, “Once upon a time”.  I think that this chapter also very much represents a turning point in the novel for Oskar’s character.  He goes from being a little boy with a glass breaking scream, to someone who has to actively search out his own drums.  However, I am hesitant to say he turns from a child figure to an adult one because Oskar still displays very childlike tendencies after this chapter.  For example, when Oskar and Jan are found by the Home Guard, Oskar sacrifices Jan for his own well-being by, “transforming the poor man into a villain who had dragged an innocent child to… use as a human shield” (229).  This is a childlike response in the way that Oskar disregards a father figure’s life to save his own.  So, while I will not say this chapter turns Oskar from child to adult, I do believe it is a turning point all the same because Oskar, at the very least, has to start taking his life into his own hands.

            I believe that this is spurred from the toy maker Sigismund Markus’ death.  Not only does this tragedy take away Oskar’s toy maker, but he also witnesses the brutal destruction of his toy drums.  He sees the drums as innocent and never having done anything to provoke violence.  Therefore he states, “I was worried about my drums.  They didn’t like my drums” (186).  From seeing the destruction of the toy shop and Markus dead at his desk, Oskar begins to question all the things he does not understand in the world.  The terror that he feels at seeing his drums destroyed makes him realize that finding new drums will be a challenge that he must take on.  No longer is his mother or Markus around to give him new ones effortlessly.  Oskar’s realization makes him take an active part in his life.  For instance, when his drum begins to ware, he takes it to Jan who he knows can fix it.  Although he does handle the situation like a child (as discussed above), at least Oskar tries to fix his drums instead of waiting for new ones to be handed to him.