Maria Truczinski Timeline and Summary

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• We first meet Maria as the sister of Herbert Truczinski, one of Oskar's friends. Maria comes to take over the business end of Alfred Matzerath's shop after Agnes Matzerath dies from fish poisoning.
• Immediately, Maria feels like a breath of fresh air to the business. She balances the books and treats customers well. People start coming back to shop there.
• While she runs the business end of things, Maria also becomes a caretaker for Oskar. Even though Oskar is around the same age as her, his tiny proportions make Maria treat him like a baby.
• One day, Maria takes Oskar to the beach. She finds a package of fizz powder (kind of like the candy called Pop Rocks), and gets Oskar to spit into it to make it fizz. The combination of Oskar's spit and the fizzing sensation seems to give Maria a sexual thrill.
• Maria's comfort with Oskar also leads her to strip naked in front of him when she's changing clothes. The two of them also share a bed.
• One night, though, when Maria may or may not be asleep, Oskar decides to have sex with her. Their relationship is never the same after this. Maria stops thinking of him as a little angel and calls him a filthy dwarf.
• After this, Maria starts an affair with Oskar's father Alfred. Soon after, she gets pregnant and gives birth to her son Kurt.
• After Alfred is killed by the Russians, Maria decides to pack up Kurt and Oskar and move to the city of Düsseldorf to live with her sister.
• When they get there, Maria uses her resourcefulness to sell synthetic honey on the black market.
• When her business fails, she depends on Oskar's income to survive. She refuses his offer of marriage and starts dating a guy who's already married.
• When Oskar makes it big with his drumming, he offers to buy Maria a delicatessen if she stops seeing the married man. She accepts immediately.
• Maria stays faithful to her friendship with Oskar and visits him regularly in the asylum.