In the last section of Jonathan Safran Foer's, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close the character's secrets are revealed, and as the reader's we are allowed to sit back and analyze their own individual realities. The majority of the novel consists of Oskar's expedition's throughout New York searching for the lock to the key that belonged to his deceased father Thomas. The mystery behind the key became Oskar's purpose in life. Not only is this novel about a little boy who looses his father in the 9/11 attacts but also about a family torn apart and reassembled through deaths.
Grandfather Thomas was brought back to his wife because of Anna and Thomas Jr's death. Grandfather Thomas was also introduced to Oskar, who he would've never met if his own son hadn't died, as well as Mr. Black. The mother was introduced to Ron because she'd become a widow and the grandmother would've never married grandfather Thomas if Anna hadn't died in the Attacks on Dresden.
The novel is abstract and has many layers of depth. The ways the characters interact and their reasons for interacting are unusual. Oskar is extremely intelligent therefore he doesn't need much assisstance when he formulates his ideas, which he calls "inventing." Oskar is wel aware of situations around him and can't be easily convinced. Many of the things that Oskar knows he learned from his intuitive father Thomas. Oskar's father played a major role in the novel even in his absence and that proves how powerful the concept of death played in the entire novel. When Thomas was killed the entire novel took a turn and it's up too each reader to determine whether the turn was good or bad.
If you were Oskar what would you need in order to accept Thomas' death? Can closure be reached and if so, does Oskar ever recieve it?
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If I were Oskar, it would be incredibly difficult to say what I would need in order to accept the death of my father. With a loved one’s death or the abrupt discontinuation of any relationship, I feel that the individual affected never completely reaches closure but instead must accept the current circumstances laid out before him or her. Nevertheless, acceptance can take a lifetime to reach or never be reached at all, depending on the individual lost, the attachment to that individual, as well as the mindset of the individual affected. Even if the affected individual is determined to get over the death or loss of someone near and dear to him or her, time is the only true medicine and healer of this particular type of acceptance.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dani, Oskar has a long way to go before he reaches closure. He was very close to his father and losing him at such a young age, and in such a tragic way is very tramatic. I don't think Oskar has reached closure where the book ends, but I believe he is well on his way to accepting what has happend to him and his family. Losing a family member is hard whether it is sudden, or a long time in coming. Oskar's circumstances just make things harder for him to deal with the pain he is feeling. I think the book ends on a happy note in the sense that it is easy to imagine Oscar coming to some kind of closure for his father's death.
ReplyDeleteI believe that if I were Oskar and my father died I would not accept it either. He is just a young boy and although he is very intelligent, he cannot be expected to understand why his father was taken and to come to terms with it. I think that as he grows older and gains more of an understanding of death he will come to terms and accept his father's death but I think the only true way will be with time.
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