The symbolic-associative understanding of "faith, hope, and love" in Günter Grass's novel "The Tin Drum"

Abstract

Among the variety of themes, motifs, structural, and aesthetic elements, the connection of the 'Tin Drum' to Christian worldview questions is particularly noteworthy. The biblical context plays an important role in the interpretation of the novel. We need to find out how the author uses the Christian triad – faith, hope, and love – in the construction of the novel as well as in the development of the characters. This will ultimately help us understand both Grass' worldview and his civic position. His attitude towards the German petty-bourgeois society itself, as well as his vision of the global problems of the world, the existential nature of humanity, and the social responsibility of the individual. Günter Grass uses the triad of the Corinthian letters both for the structure of the main parts of the novel and to explain the associative-structural characteristics of the relationships between the characters, revealing the archetypal-psychological "images" hidden in the human subconscious, in order to then initiate a game full of parody and grotesque with these "images."

A sentence from the letter of the Apostle Paul, introduced in the last chapter of the first book, becomes the thematic core of the novel around which all events revolve. All three parts of the book are structurally and symbolically built upon this. Drawing from the words of the Apostle Paul in the letter to the Corinthians, Günter Grass strips these of their Christian values and leaves them as dry formulas to illustrate the sudden metaphorical-demonic transformation of "faith, love, and hope" into violence and death. Chapter 16 is also titled: "Faith, Hope, Love." This chapter conveys the credo of the entire novel. It begins with blind faith, which, according to Grass, is the main cause of the epochal tragedy of World War II and the era of National Socialism, continues with false and immature love, and ultimately ends with hope as a chance to continue on the path.

The story of his era is told by the narrator in such a way that he remains an outside observer, and the events in question do not affect him. In fact, he divides his life into three periods, giving them epochal significance and character. The first book depicts Oscar's childhood and his drumming skills, which reach into the realm of secularized religion. This is a time of "faith." The second book portrays Oscar's youth and his erotic love experiences. This is the age of "love," and the third book represents a complete new beginning, as the now-adult protagonist moves to Düsseldorf and looks to the future full of "hope." "Faith, Love, and Hope" is the category that connects the individual story of the narrator, his autobiography, with the history of the era in a metaphorical-metaphysical sense.