Art versus War

The Tin Drum discusses World War II primarily by contrasting it with Art in Oskar's life. An underlying theme of the novel is that Art has the power to defeat war in human society. Oskar escapes fighting in the war by his devotion to music. He even manages to disrupt Nazi rallies by drumming waltzes and jazz tunes that set the audience dancing. Despite this power, Oskar never makes a concerted effort to prevent the war, although the reader is left with the lingering impression that such an effort, by many artists, would have been successful. In fact, later in the war, Oskar and other artists support the war effort by entertaining the German troops. This is a professional decision, rather than an ideological one for Oskar, but seems to imply that the war could not have existed without the collaboration of many people, artists included...