Oskar Symbolism

In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Oskar shows so much growth and character development throughout the entire book. It shows how he grows through the entire book piece by piece. There are a lot of nature and artifacts that entire twin with his growth as a character. These things show so much symbolism with the character and who he is and this provides him with depth. Nature and artifacts that are the cause of his growth from child to a mind of a young adult are the Empire state building, Yorick’s skull, and his father’s casket, and the key his father gave him. The Empire state building was the biggest building after the 9/11 happened. Ever since the incident Oskar was afraid of heights because he was scared due to the fact of what had

Locks and keys affect our lives in various ways. Sometimes a key means the difference between freedom and incarceration, or life and death (“Keys”). The key in this book is representing closure and what it actually was a hope of finding an answer for his father’s death. In a way the key was the final little mission for Oskar to do with his father. Finding the purpose of the key and how it made Oskar grow. The key was a sign of comfort and it showed what type of character Oskar’s dad was as if he knew that he was going to die. The key is closure for both Oskar and the book and shows that it is time to let go. Keys are important objects in our daily lives, though never give them a second thought. They open doors, and beyond those doors are things that provide us with comfort or happiness. Without our house keys, for instance, we wouldn’t be able to get into our homes and see our families. Without our car keys, we wouldn’t get anywhere. Without the keys to our safe, we wouldn’t be able to get the important things we’ve kept hidden (“Writing Nuts”). As said in the article “Keys are powerful symbols in any story. They symbolize opening and closing powers—for instance, when a character might use a key to lock someone in, depriving that person of his freedom. Or the character might use a key to unlock the door and free whoever is inside. The above example just shows the physical power of a key. But keys also have metaphysical powers and symbolisms. They represent knowledge, mystery, initiation and curiosity” (“Writing Nuts”).

The key is the most important thing is this book everything revolves around it and how it is able to get Oskar to do all these things to find out the solution. This item is the sole reason why Oskar is able to proceed as the young man he is at the end of the book. This was like a going away present from his father which provided him with the stepping stones to his