The Flounder (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Gunter Grass
- First Published: 1977
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Magical Realism
- Time of Work: The neolithic period to the late 1970’s
- Setting: Germany and Poland
- Genres: Long fiction, Magical Realism
- Subjects: History, Sexism, Trials, Feminism, Women, Food, Cookery or cooks, Germany or German people, Poland or Polish people, Fishes
- Locales: Germany, Poland
Characters Discussed
The narrator, a writer. He has lived many lives in the past, in particular as the husbands or lovers of a series of cooks, whose lives mirror important points in human history. The relationships between the narrator and these women illustrate the relationship between the sexes, in which men strive for dominance but remain subject to the will and cooking skill of women. The narrator, in his present life, is the weak and philandering husband of the pregnant harridan Ilsebill. He attempts to gratify himself sexually with the members of the Feminist...
[The entire page is 1670 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
