Arters AP Literature 2016-17 discussion

Jonathan Safran Foer’s book, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” is a must read! Foer’s story follows Oskar Schell, a nine year old boy, who lost his father in the 9/11 attacks. While Oskar tries to make sense of his father’s death, a year later when going through his Dad’s closet, he discovers a key that he thinks will help him find the “answer” to why his dad had to die. The novel doesn’t just apply to the tragedy of 9/1, but it applies to all tragedy and the grieving process that follows. Foer displays pain and grieving through Oskar and his mental, physical, and emotional tribulations on his journey to find what the key fits. Oskar’s journey to find the key’s lock is a parallel to his grieving process and ultimately (spoiler alert) there is no “fit” for the key and no answer to why his father had to die on 9/11. The story is told from Oskar’s point of view and is extremely detailed. The most noteworthy thing about Foer’s writing was his use of syntax and dialogue. The sentence structure combined a lot of short, to the point sentences with longer, more complex paragraphs which made the writing more colloquial and relatable to the reader. Since Oskar is a nine year old boy, the syntax gave the book more spunk and characteristic. It truly displayed his overarching awkwardness and inability to connect with other people including his own mother. Even though overall I enjoyed the book, I still found myself irritated with Oskar’s character at times while I was reading. Yes, I know he was incapable of controlling his feelings and his awkwardness especially after he lost his father, but I became annoyed with how he would treat his mother and others around him. It was like he expected everyone to understand what he was going through and drop everything to help him. He is a very stubborn little boy and although I can relate with losing a loved one, I wouldn’t act as selfish. I don’t think Oskar realizes what he is actually doing and how he is acting selfish because that was how he was born. You’ll learn throughout the story that Oskar has always been a little different. I do sympathize with Oskar and feel bad about his loss but there is something in me that wishes I could just shake him and make him realize that there is NO answer to why things like the 9/11 attacks happen and there is not always a lock to fit a key. Through the novel and Oskar, I realized that grieving comes in many shapes and forms. Oskar was in deep denial about his father’s death and tried to comfort himself by looking for meaning through the key he found. His mother hibernated and went into her shell and had little motivation to move forward. This book has helped me to understand and better sympathize with those who have experienced tragedy. It has taught me that everyone has different grieving processes. Yes, it also made me thoroughly miserable and I cried more than I would like to admit, but it pulled at my heart-strings and kept me wanting more. Oskar Schell will always hold a special place in my heart and not only did I get to read a great book, but I got to learn more about 9/11. Not just the logistics and the facts about it, but I got to learn how the people affected by it might have felt and may still feel. The book should be called “Extremely Sad and Incredibly Depressing.” Don’t expect to read this without crying. I suggest keeping a box of tissues next to you at all times.

Mary Kate Kavanagh

Jonathan Safran Foer tugs at your heartstrings in this compelling novel about a young boy setting out to find answers about his father’s death. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is told through the eyes of nine year old Oskar Schell, who just lost his father in the 9/11 attacks. While still grieving and trying to cope with his father’s death months later, he stumbles upon a mysterious key in his father’s belongings. Determined to find answers about the key and about his father’s death, Oskar sets out in the big city to piece together any and all clues he can find. What makes this book so unique is how the reader is able to understand the story from an uncommon point of view. Not only do we see what Oskar sees, but we experience all of his emotions with him as well. Oskar suffers with anxiety and grief, which causes him to act and think differently than he would otherwise. I sympathize with Oskar because just like him, I lost a parent to a sudden accident. I think that the point of view the author chose to use was best for this novel because it helped readers who may not have had an experience like ours understand how lost and mixed up you can feel inside, and how hard it is to figure out how to move on in life. Foer perfectly exemplified through Oskar’s thoughts not only people like us, but anyone who has lost someone close to them may feel while they are still in the stage of grieving. Their thoughts can become completely out of whack, which lead you to do strange things such as, in Oskar’s case, finding everyone in the city with the last name Black just for the slight possibility that they could know something that would help him. Oskar was determined and though it was nearly impossible, he was going to stop at nothing to figure out this mystery.
This general plot line outlines the themes of this book. The main themes that stand out most when thinking back to this book are of love and loss. Not only is this relating to Oskar and his father, but also the backstory that is paralleling Oskar’s narratives through old letters. These letters were between Oskar’s grandmother and grandfather. The letters clearly showed the love they had for one another, until his grandfather left his grandmother, leaving her devastated and stuck to cope with the loss of her soulmate. The symbols really hit home for me when I finished the book. The key was a major symbol, representing hope. I believe that at some point or another, Oskar wanted to give up searching, but the idea that hope for a happy ending was within whatever lock this key opened gave Oskar enough hope to keep going with his quest.
Overall, I was extremely impressed and incredibly captivated by young Oskar’s story. He taught his readers that if you want something, you must stop at nothing to achieve it, as well as teaching us that it is okay to not be okay sometimes. As cliche as it sounds, we as a society are so worried about making our lives seem so great all the time, when in reality, we all have our ups and downs throughout life and nobody is perfect, but we can learn from our mistakes. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone, no matter the age, because it is a story that can touch the heart of anybody. I must warn though, you might want to keep extra tissues near by!