Cat and Mouse by Günter Grass

First published:Katz und Maus, 1961 (English translation, 1963)

Type of work: Novella

Type of plot: Bildungsroman

Time of plot: World War II

Locale: Danzig, Germany

Principal characters

• Pilenz, the narrator
• Joachim Mahlke, his schoolmate
• Tulla Pokriefke, a young girl
• Father Gusewski, a practical-minded priest
• Waldemar Klohse, the headmaster of the boys’ school, the Conradium

The Story:

Encouraged by his confessor, Pilenz writes down his recollections about the complicated cat-and-mouse relationship he had with Mahlke, his friend from school. He begins with a sunny day on the baseball field, when he set a cat on Mahlke’s enormous Adam’s apple; unable to resist, the cat scratched Mahlke, embarrassing him. Pilenz identifies himself with the “eternal cat” that will be Mahlke’s undoing.

A group of boys that included Pilenz, Mahlke, Hotten Sontag, and Schilling spent their summers swimming around the abandoned wreck of a Polish minesweeper in the Danzig harbor. Mahlke went to a great deal of trouble to learn to swim, and soon he swam and dived better than any of the other boys. He often swam down into the minesweeper, bringing back a variety of objects, including a medallion of the Virgin Mary, a fire extinguisher, and a Victrola. Sometimes the boys were joined by Tulla Pokriefke, a girl who greatly admired Mahlke.

Because of his enormous Adam’s apple, Mahlke wore a variety of objects around his neck, including the medallion and a screwdriver he brought up from the minesweeper. Once he even started a fashion trend by wearing yarn pom-poms as if they were a bow tie. These objects, according to Pilenz, did as much to draw attention to as they did to distract from Mahlke’s Adam’s apple.

One summer, Mahlke, exploring the insides of the minesweeper, found that he could reach a radio room that was not underwater. This became Mahlke’s sanctuary, and he transported many of his treasures to the room, cleverly protecting them from water damage on the way. He took the Victrola and several records to his secret room, where he played music while the boys sunned themselves on top of the minesweeper.

Mahlke, a Roman Catholic, was remarkably devoted to the Virgin Mary, although he professed no faith in God or in Christ. This excessive devotion set him apart from the other boys, even from Pilenz, who was often an altar boy at the church Mahlke attended. Mahlke sometimes dreamed of being a clown when he grew up, and he was certainly very conscious of himself as a spectacle at school. With his odd looks, his religious fanaticism, and his collection of bizarre objects hanging from his neck, Mahlke was the object of alternating ridicule and admiration from his schoolmates.

The boys attended the Conradium, an elitist all-boys school run by the headmaster Klohse, a member of the National Socialist Party. After an alumnus of the school who was awarded the Iron Cross for his service in the air force came to speak to the student body, all of Mahlke’s energy became focused on the Iron Cross. He began to dream of earning one for himself; the Iron Cross would be the perfect counterbalance to his Adam’s apple.

Another speaker came, and although Mahlke did not want to go, Pilenz dragged him along. This speaker, although extremely boring, also had the Iron Cross around his neck; after the speech, in the school locker room, Mahlke stole the medal. He wore it to school under his shirt and tie. Eventually Mahlke confessed to headmaster Klohse, who expelled him from school.

For a while, Mahlke attended the nearby Horst Wessel School. He spent a summer in paramilitary training and then joined the army in an effort to gain his own Iron Cross. Eventually he succeeded in doing so and returned to Danzig in triumph. He expected that he, like other illustrious alumni, would be asked to give a speech at the Conradium. When he approached Klohse, however, his speech already written, Klohse refused to allow him to speak to the student body. Mahlke, frustrated, sought out Klohse near his home, confronted him, and slapped him in the face. Because of this, and because he overstayed his furlough from the army, Mahlke became a fugitive. When his old priest, Father Gusewski, was unable to help him, he turned to Pilenz for help.

Pilenz took advantage of Mahlke’s total dependence on him. He refused to harbor him in his basement, instead suggesting that Mahlke hide in the old minesweeper. Even though it was not summertime, Mahlke and Pilenz rowed out to the minesweeper with two cans of pork and a can opener. When they arrived, Mahlke removed and carefully folded his uniform, put on the Iron Cross, and, wearing his old gym shorts from the Conradium, dived into the water with the tins. Pilenz, noticing that the can opener was left behind, pounded on the side of the minesweeper, shouting, “Can opener!” There was no response.

For years afterward, Pilenz searches for Mahlke among the clowns at circuses or at reunions for recipients of the Iron Cross. He never finds Mahlke and ultimately concludes that Mahlke, the eternal mouse, finally fell prey to the eternal cat, which Pilenz perceives as a combination of forces that include school, society, the army, and Pilenz himself.

Bibliography

Cunliffe, W. Gordon. Günter Grass. New York: Twayne, 1969. Places Grass’s work in its historical and political context. Includes a chapter on Cat and Mouse.

Grass, Günter. Peeling the Onion. London: Harvill Secker, 2007. Grass recounts the events of his life, including the revelation that he served in a Nazi combat unit during the last months of World War II. He describes how he turned people and events in his life into fiction.

Hayman, Ronald. Günter Grass. New York: Methuen, 1985. A survey of Grass’s work that places Cat and Mouse in the context of Grass’s aesthetic ideas and emphasizes the unreliable narrator. Compares the text to other works by German writers who have focused on the clown archetype.

Keele, Alan Frank. Understanding Günter Grass. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1988. Examines Cat and Mouse primarily as a political allegory, drawing parallels between Mahlke and Germany, as well as between Pilenz and Grass himself.

Lawson, Richard H. Günter Grass. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1985. This survey of Grass’s work includes a chapter on Cat and Mouse that discusses the text from a variety of perspectives. Includes a good discussion of the novella genre and traces the quest motif in the work.

Mews, Siegfried. Günter Grass and His Critics: From “The Tin Drum” to “Crabwalk.” Rochester, N.Y.: Camden House, 2008. Mews concisely summarizes the reception to Grass’s work that appeared in the popular press and scholarly journals between 1959 and 2005. Devotes a chapter to Cat and Mouse.

Preece, Julian. “Cat and Mouse: Is Pilenz Guilty?” In The Life and Work of Günter Grass: Literature, History, Politics. New York: Palgrave, 2001. Chronicles Grass’s career, describing how his experiences, including his stint in a Nazi combat unit when he was a teenager, shaped his novels and political essays. Devotes a chapter to a discussion of Cat and Mouse.

Reddick, John. The Danzig Trilogy of Günter Grass: A Study of “The Tin Drum,” “Cat and Mouse,” and “Dog Years.” London: Secker and Warburg, 1975. A good in-depth study of Cat and Mouse that examines the structure, imagery, setting, themes, and symbols of the work and relates it to the other elements of the Danzig trilogy.

Thomas, Noel L. Günter Grass: “Katz und Maus.” Glasgow: University of Glasgow, French and German Publications, 1992. A fifty-six-page study guide to the book, designed for high school and undergraduate students.