Chapter 32, Should I or Shouldn't I Summary

The Matzerath shop and apartment was turned over to a man named Fajngold. Fajngold is all alone in the world, but does not know it. He believes that he is still surrounded by a large family, including his wife Luba. Fajngold speaks to his imaginary family constantly. He hires Maria as a salesclerk, and helps them bury Matzerath's three-day-old body. After the widow Matzerath was evicted, Fajngold lets her live in the cellar storeroom with Kurt and Oskar.

Matzerath was buried in a rectangular coffin fashioned from a margarine crate. On the way to the graveyard, they pass drunken Russian soldiers racing bicycles and wearing brassieres like earmuffs. One soldier gives Maria a lovebird in a cage. Oskar deliberates for a few minutes over the open grave, and then throws his drum in...