The Evolution of Grief Published in 2005, Jonathan Foer's fiction novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close takes it's readers on an intriguing journey into the life of a boy named Oskar Schell. The novel follows the nine-year old as he travels around all of New York City in search of secrets behind a mysterious key and the connection it has to his father, Thomas Schell, who died in the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. On his journey, Oskar accumulates many friends who aid Oskar’s grief as he aids them with theirs. As Oskar’s story blossoms, so do those of his Grandfather and Grandmother, who co-narrate the story with their grandson. These three narrations come together to introduce and develop a theme of grief. All characters within the novel grieve over something. They grieve of the loss of a father, a son, a sister; they are grieving over a marriage that lacks love; they are grieving for solutions that can never be resolved. Foer uses an assortment of characters to acknowledge a theme of grief that is slowly eliminated by Oskar’s uplifting spirit. Oskar’s grandmother is a critical character who strongly acknowledges the theme of grief throughout the novel. Like all characters in the novel, Oskar’s grandma experiences a great amount of grief- perhaps the most of any character. After her family fell victim to the Dresden bombings during World War II, the grandmother was left alone to live a life filled with sorrow. She later later is united with her sister Anna’s boyfriend, whom she marries. After the grandmother gets pregnant in hopes of saving her unsatisfying marriage, her husband leaves her. To top off the sorrow of her life, her son, Oskar’s father, was of course killed in the twin towers. Oskar’s g... ... middle of paper ... .... He interprets and realizes that there is nothing that can be done about his fathers tragic death, and therefore his grieving is lifted. Oskar uttered emotion, which in turn resulted in the loss of misery from his father’s demise. An evident theme of grief is clearly ascertained throughout the novel. However, it can also be seen that Oskar relieves this theme and as the book comes to a close, so does it's apparent theme of grief. It was his own grief that permitted Oskar to amend the others from their grief and allow them to discover a life full of prosperity. For this reason, it is grief that unites humanity and gives society a sense of peace. Therefore, it is grief that is extremely loud but also what brings us incredibly close. Foer uses an assortment of characters to acknowledge a theme of grief that is slowly eliminated by Oskar’s uplifting spirit.
In the story “The Beginnings of grief” Adam Haslett’s protagonist demonstrate the power that grief can have in a person 's life, and one may find comfort in pain and violent encounters with another human being while one is gathering the strength to survive.
Tony Palmer, the author of “Break of Day”, tells a story that takes place in and out of war. The story follows a man named Murray Barrett who lives in the times of ww2. He ends up finding himself in the middle of it, down at Port Moresby. During the midst of war, Murray ends up coming across an injured Sid Archer, a childhood enemy and the man who stole Will’s (Murray’s older brother) childhood lover. Murray helps Sid instead of abandoning him, despite their childhood drama. In this book, Palmer really focuses on the themes of family, death, and bravery. He presents to us how complicated families can get, how people deal with death differently from others, and how there are many forms of bravery.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer is a non-fiction novel written by an American author. The book mostly follows the three main characters, Oskar, his grandmother, and his grandfather, Thomas Schell, Sr. Oskar is a nine-year-old boy from New York whose father died in the World Trade Center on 9/11. He is exceptionally intelligent and curious and goes on a quest through New York City’s five boroughs to find the lock which belongs to a key his father had in his closet. Between chapters, a separate story is told of his grandparents marriage and life in Dresden, Germany. His grandfather, Thomas Schell Sr. is mute and collects stacks of daybooks in which he writes what he needs to say. His first love, Anna, died in a bombing while pregnant with his child. Shortly after starting his new life in the United States, he runs into Anna’s sister, they get married, and he leaves her after he found out his wife was pregnant. His wife, Oskar’s grandmother, lives across the street from Oskar and his mother and helped raise him.
A hero can be anyone, short or tall, big or small, and not necessarily empowered with super abilities. Heroes can be someone to look up to for their acts, and personalities, in the case of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel Extremely Loud and Incredible Close Oskar Schell is the unlikely hero. He exemplifies traits associated with the common hero like courage, as he enters into scenarios that under normal circumstances he would never dare confront. While also being slightly untraditional in the sense that he is only nine years old and suffering from depression as result of the loss of his father, and other ailments. Throughout Oskar’s journey he becomes molded into a stronger person as he comes to closure near the end of the novel thanks to those he encounters along his path.
In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Oskar Schell can be seen confronting several different types of trials, some of these being man versus man conflicts, and others being man versus self. One of the major man vs. man trials Oskar faces throughout the course of the book is in the form of the noticeable and consistent bullying he takes because of his awkward personality and odd quirks. Kids like Jimmy Snyder can be seen exploiting Oskar’s social shortcomings verbally, and even being ready to turn towards physical bullying (Foer 189-192). As Oscar is not the knight in shining armor, he rarely stands up for himself, instead fantasizing about actions he would like to take and follows that up by saying, “that’s what I wanted to do. Instead I just shrugged my shoulders” (Foer 203). Throughout the course of the story, Oskar also faces many internal conflicts. The death of his father has left Oskar traumatized giving him fears of taking showers and getting into elevators…people with mustaches, smoke, knots, tall buildings, and turbans” (Foer 36). As Oskar continues on his quest, he eventually comes face to face with many of his fears, and is forced to confront and ultimately overcome them. Oskar’s final and arguably most daunting challenge is facing his own inner demons in regards to the death of his father. A year after his father’s passing, he has
The critics who perceived this book's central theme to be teen-age angst miss the deep underlying theme of grief and bereavement. Ambrosio asks the question, "Is silence for a writer tantamount to suicide? Why does the wr...
The characters in Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones are faced with the difficult task of overcoming the loss of Susie, their daughter and sister. Jack, Abigail, Buckley, and Lindsey each deal with the loss differently. However, it is Susie who has the most difficulty accepting the loss of her own life. Several psychologists separate the grieving process into two main categories: intuitive and instrumental grievers. Intuitive grievers communicate their emotional distress and “experience, express, and adapt to grief on a very affective level” (Doka, par. 27). Instrumental grievers focus their attention towards an activity, whether it is into work or into a hobby, usually relating to the loss (Doka par. 28). Although each character deals with their grief differently, there is one common denominator: the reaction of one affects all.
...continue his dream. Both grief and compassion are transformative experiences, and this novel keeps that idea in the readers’ heads throughout every chapter.
It’s important to examine how Foer is able to accurately represent trauma in his story, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Todd Atchinson states, “Trauma literature depicts a survivor’s personal struggle in responding to and representing the mass atrocities suffered through the threats to individual, cultural and inhuman eradication.” Breaking that down, he is arguing that trauma literature like Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close attempt to follow a person’s journey to redefine themselves after facing a tragedy that as threatened their individual and cultural identities. The hardest part of this is creating a text that is both realistic and relatable, with a narrator that can be trusted to relay important information accurately throughout the story. Now if a reader were to try to think of a trusty narrator, Oskar might not pop into her mind right away. However, it appears that Fo...
Through an intimate maternal bond, Michaels mother experiences the consequences of Michaels decisions, weakening her to a debilitating state of grief. “Once he belonged to me”; “He was ours,” the repetition of these inclusive statements indicates her fulfilment from protecting her son and inability to find value in life without him. Through the cyclical narrative structure, it is evident that the loss and grief felt by the mother is continual and indeterminable. Dawson reveals death can bring out weakness and anger in self and with others. The use of words with negative connotations towards the end of the story, “Lonely,” “cold,” “dead,” enforce the mother’s grief and regressing nature. Thus, people who find contentment through others, cannot find fulfilment without the presence of that individual.
Several significant details throughout the novel have shown through this passage. This has shown us a better view of the novel. Oskar is a little kid of a gruesome matter. This is more unusual for his age because his life has been defined by the death of his father. Oskar imagines how the number of dead people is increasing even though the earth stays the same. He also described how there isn't going to be room to bury anyone else. This is an example of how Oskar uses his time to figure strange details to avoid bigger emotions of the reality of his father death and disappearance. In the novel, Oskar is convinced that his father died during the 9/11 attack on the world trade center. Oskar tremendously tries and when he thinks he is up to no
...at day had a key that could open the world to them and give them answers. There were no answers. So instead, Foer opted for equally touching but altogether more haunting moment: Oskar relinquishes control and opens himself to acceptance.
Elisabeth Kubler and David Kessler have a hypothesis in which they have discovered the five stages of grief. Many people experiences grief in many different ways, but they usually follow the 5 stages of grief. In the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly close they discuss the recent events of 9/11. Jonathan Safran Foer talks about grief through a nine year old's point of view about grief and the loss of his father. This novel was very real and personal it shows that type of human emotions you go through when you lose a family member, in this novel many people are able to go through the five stages of grief and it also shows how these characters are able to get through each death individually. Grief is one of the most powerful emotional forces
Tears fall from his already moist cheeks. They will be the last tears. He stumbles from the cemetery in a daze, as though walking through the gates is like emerging from the womb: a blind, raw being thrust into a strange new world. Now he stands like a soldier on the front line--faintly trembling, unsure of what lies ahead, but prepared to face it.
What happened to Oskar’s father will permanently be etched in his heart, hence, Oskar feels as if no matter how happy he tries to be, it will only be overshadowed by that tragedy: “I couldn’t explain to her that I missed him more, more than she or anyone else missed him, because I couldn’t tell her about what happened with the phone. That secret was a hole in the middle of me that every happy thing fell into” (Foer, 71). Everyone can relate to Oskar that there are just some instances or events in life that will always be memorable and their power to inflate or deplete him or her. The use of pathos in this novel indicates the never-ending regret or questions that Oskar has about his adversity: “Why didn’t he say goodbye? I gave myself a bruise. Why didn’t he say ‘I love you’?” (Foer, 207). Oskar’s experiences prompted him to mature and step up from in life at an early stage of his