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Gunter Grass's Book Peeling the Onion created confusion when published in Germany. By writing it the author has revealed that during the Second World War he had been enlisted into the Waffen SS. This is a book oscillating between self therapy and self creation. Grass says he has written an autobiography because he wanted to have the last word, but how should it be understood? On one hand we could assume the reason why Grass has written a book like this was to deal with his past, to get rid of feelings of remorse and guilt that had tormented him. On the other hand it is possible that this book came into being in order to create an image of Grass the way he would like to be seen. This article is an attempt at considering both options.