The Key to Unlocking Healing in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

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In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer explores trauma and its impact on people. When faced with a devastating situation, it is only human nature to search for answers in everything. For the characters of Oskar and his grandfather, it is clear that the guilt and sadness alters their everyday lives, which they spend searching for answers. On the other hand, even though she is mourning the loss of her husband, Oskar’s mother is able to show incredible outward stability as she heals by helping her son on his journey. Through these characters and more, all dealing with similar devastating situations, Foer argues that the only way to unlock true healing from grief is to accept that sometimes there is no answer. Oskar Schell is a very unique, quirky and conflicted 9 year old Manhattan boy, who loses his father in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Understandably, this changes his life and purpose forever. Is is struck with so many new questions, about his own life and his father’s death. He is forced to lose his innocence at such an early age, and becomes jaded, even stating that “Nothing is beautiful and true” (43). Oskar had a very special relationship with his father, who challenged him intellectually and often led him on extraordinary “Reconnaissance Expeditions.” A year following his father’s death, Oskar finds a key in a vase labelled “Black,” and treats it as one of these expeditions, becoming obsessed with searching for any information that can help him cling to the memory of his father. There are “472 people with the name Black in New York” (51), and Oskar spends every possible moment knocking on their doors to ask if they knew anything about the key, and what information about his father it could unlock. Thoug... ... middle of paper ... ...move on from the objective questions that are destroying him. Oskar’s mother copes by helping guide her son, the most important person in her life, in his journey. She is a complex character, and one that is only seen through Oskar’s eyes. Their relationship is rocky, but when Oskar realizes that she is truley grieving with him, and also there for him, he acknowledges that “it was incredibly simple. In [his] only life, she was [his] mom and [he] was her son’ (324). In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, all of the characters are dealing with grief, in some form or another. Looking at their reactions and how they move on with their lives proves that it is impossible to lead a fulfilling life while searching for answers about a lost loved one. Sometimes there is no answer, and it is far more important to find love and comfort in those around you and begin to heal.

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