In Oskar Schell's Novel 'Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close'

Since the earliest literature, many of the world’s greatest stories have been built around a quest. According to Thomas Foster, “when a character hits the road, we should start to pay attention” (Foster 3). Throughout Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Foer, Oskar Schell, a young who boy who lost his father in the tragic events of September 11th, experiences a quest of his own. The journey he embarks on seemingly appears to follow the structure of the quest archetype set up by Foster in his novel, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, as it consist of the required elements of a quest being: a quester, a place to go and reason to go there, and challenges and trials along the way. These elements eventually culminate in the event

In the case of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, our said quester is Oskar, a nine year old living in New York City with his Mother and Grandmother after the death of his father, struggling to deal with his grief and turbulent emotions. While Oskar is certainly no knight in shining armor, he is the story’s main focus, beginning on an expedition to discover the story and purpose behind a key he believes his father to have left behind for him. Like a good deal of questers, he is young, somewhat naïve, and generally unfamiliar with much of the outside world. This can be seen specifically with Oscar claims that “public transportation makes me panicky, even though walking over bridges also makes me panicky” (Foer 87). By showing Oskar has been traumatized by the events of his past and that his “boots were the heaviest they’d ever been” (Citation 234), Jonathan Foer created a character that could not only progress through the completion of their quest, but also their underlying quest for

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