EL&IC Post #1

I noticed that some of my posts didn't post, so I am re-posting them and posting some new ones that I had forgotten to post.

Post #1

Though I am enjoying the story itself, my favorite part of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is the use of photographs, pictures and imagery. Some imagery, such as birds and doorknobs, is repeated throughout the book. The author Jonathan Safran Foer uses it as a device not only to show us pictures, but to experience what the characters are experiencing the moment they experience it.

Oskar has a book called Things That Happened to Me. This book is a diary of sorts; it shows us his inner thoughts and explains visually the moments that are the most important to him. We may not remember the conversation about the world being flat, but Oskar does.

            “Then a woman in the back of the room raised her hand and said, ‘What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise.’ So the scientist asked her what the tortoise was standing on. And she say, ‘But it’s turtles all the way down!’ (Safran Foer, 11)”

            For some reason, this quote and story stands out to me more than the other sections of the book have. It was, somehow, important to Oskar, too, based upon the use of imagery in his “Things That Happened to Me” book. This seemed important to him because, to him it “shows how ignorant people can be” (Safran Foer 11).

Truth

The journey of finding the key is now over for Oskar. “I didn’t know what to say. I found it and now I can stop looking,” gives the reader a sense that Oskar doesn’t know what to do now that he has found the key. Now that he knows where the key goes, he has no reason to keep searching for it, nothing to look forward to or to hope and fanaticize over. (Foer 302 found it and it had nothing to do with Dad? I found it and now I’ll wear heavy boots for the rest of my life,” shows that Oskar is disappointed that the key did not have anything to do with his father other than the fact that he bought a vase which unknowingly held the key. (Foer 302) I believe that Oskar was looking for the key and had hopes to indeed find something that led to his dad. The readers also felt the same because Oskar takes us on this journey of discovery that the reader also comes along with as well. So when I found out that the key had no emotional connection to his father, I was a bit disappointed to because the readers, like Oskar were hoping for something personal. Both the reader and Oskar were let down. I believe that Oskar will “wear heavy boots” for the rest of his life because he now has to carry the burden of disappointment from now knowing where the key goes. Oskar got to meet new people and help them along the way. Perhaps he enjoyed this because he could think of his dad and hope that his dad had left something special for him after he passed on maybe like a secret message. He says,” I wish I hadn’t found it,” because now he cannot dream about what is in it because knowledge has taken all of his hope away. (Foer 302) If he hadn’t found it, he could still fanaticize about it. Everything is over so now there is nothing for him to do. It’s like reading a book with an impactful ending; you don’t know really what to do with yourself now that it is over so you have to contemplate the ending. In a conversation between Oskar and his grandfather Oskar says “I found it and now I can’t look for it.’ I could tell he didn’t understand me. ‘looking for it let me stay close to him for a little while longer,’” shows that by Oskar looking for the key, it was like his father was there watching over him and memories of his father were alive.  (Foer 304) His grandfather goes on to say “’But won’t you always be close to him?’ I knew the truth. ‘No,’” meaning that Oskar knows that as time goes on, as he gets older, he will drift away from his father becoming nonexistent in his life. (Foer 304) no doubt Oskar wants to still be connected with him. Anybody who has ever lost a loved one knows that over time, that person will become only a faded memory and so you have to keep strong and go on with your life because time does move on. 

     After finishing Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and reviewing it, it seems like the book largely works to illustrate the elaborate distractions made to avoid reflecting on the ways we fail to communicate internal human emotions, which, I think, kind of works as a trauma in itself. It made me think a lot about Heidegger's Being and Time, and how we are constantly dealing with idle chatter (things to distract/desensitize us from the idea that everyone will die one day), and living life inauthentically. Grandfather Thomas marries Oskar's grandmother to avoid dealing with the death of Anna and their unborn child, Oskar's grandmother spends a major portion of her life creating rules, and typing blank pages, and Oskar spends his time in his head, inventing and bruising himself. In the book, Oskar's grandmother says, "I regret that it takes a life to learn how to live, Oskar. Because if I were able to live my life again, I would do things differently. I would change my life." This is really a sad thought. If proper language existed to communicate our feelings, we wouldn't have to create so many harmful distractions.

Living Backwards

Wow.

What an amazing book. How captivating, sad, and unreal it all is. Many books, articles and stories about “the worst day” (Foer) are riddled with facts, figures, sadness and politics. This is one of those truly heartwrenching stories that gets to the truth of trauma; not just as experienced during 9/11, but as experienced in all the tragedies in all the world from many different perspectives.

The ending of the book is beautiful. I thought I would feel cheated when the book ended because I never found out what was in the box that the key opened. I felt cheated that it wasn’t Thomas Schell’s key at all; it was merely an accident the key ever ended up in Oskar’s hand.  The whole book was, on the surface, about a child searching for a lock that this key would open, but even though we never find out what is inside the box that the key opens, I still feel satisfied and I feel that the book resolved itself completely.

The last few paragraphs of the book, where Oskar was “inventing” that everything could go backwards, were the most heartbreaking of them all. Every one of us has wished that, just once, we could go back to before someone close to us has died. We could tell them we loved them. We could tell them they meant everything to us. We could live differently; even tell them not to do the thing that will kill them the next day. The man would fall back up into the towers. The planes would fly away as smoke gets sucked back in. Everyone would be safe. Everyone would be loved.

We all have felt this need. It is a trauma victim’s path to always re-live their encounter, and even live the days or moments just before the event began. Oskar is a deeply traumatized boy – and his grandmother is traumatized, his grandfather, his mother – and he is surrounded by much sadness and grief. How can a child even begin to understand those things around him?

The most poignant moment for me is, after reading the backwards passage, I saw those pictures. Almost like a flip-book, each picture had the man falling back up into the tower. Oskar hoping it was his father. Oskar is trying to reverse time; to bring his father home. “Where we would be safe” (Foer 326).

Annie Kominek

Artavius Veasey Post #13 EXTRA CREDIT: I don't believe in God...

I must say reading this book from Foer was one of my favorite this semester. I love the illustrations through the book and especially the flip book at the end with the man falling from the building in reverse, very touching on how Oskar wish he could turn back time and have his farther back home. But coming to he end of the book Oskar finally seems like he get closure from his fathers death;

“I don’t believe in God, but I believe that things are extremely complicated, and her looking over me was as complicated as anything ever could be. But it was also incredibly simple. In my only life, she was my mom, and I was her son.” (Foer, 324)

When Oskar expresses his appreciation for his mother here, the reader understands that his emotional journey has been successful. The quest was never about the key; it was about making peace with his father's memory, learning to accept that emotional intangibles have an influence on his life. In many ways, Oskar chooses to take this final Reconnaissance Expedition (for the lock) because it allows him to pursue a tangible goal rather than face the more "complicated" emotional reality represented by his Mom, who still lives and who reminds him of his grief. The contradiction he expresses in this quote show that he has realized what his father always wanted him to: life is made of both scientific fact and emotional reality. There are no easy answers to anything important. Ultimately, what matters is how we see the world, whether we allow ourselves to be optimistic, to believe in love and happiness, or pessimistic. Oskar finally chooses the former, feeling comfortable with the straight-forwardness of his love for his mother. That is more important than the lack of clarity to a "complicated" situation like the tragedy of 09/11 and his father's death.

corrections

Although we it was apart of last class’s reading, and we already discussed it some over class, I wanted to take this last blog to talk about the red, correctional markings in Thomas’s letter “WHY I’M NOT WHERE YOU ARE 4/12/78”.   Originally, I had no idea why these corrections were made, and dismissed it as just another layer of the story line that might reveal itself later on.  Then I wondered why only this later letter, and not the others? Considering the content of this letter, I realized it dealt mostly with Thomas’s relationship with Anna.  As the letter goes on, the corrections become more and more often and red ink begins to cover the pages.  The last few pages, marked in red the most, are of the story of Thomas leaving Anna for the last time.  I think that as Thomas retells this story, he see’s all of the mistakes that were made and wishes he could go back and correct them, so he does so in his writing.  The last line of this letter is of Thomas signing out, “I love you, Your father” and it is circled as if it is to be corrected, a mistake...  I feel as though Thomas see’s the life he lived without Anna as a mistake as a whole, including the false love towards his wife and unborn son.

when looking back

This book has not been a easy read for me, the way i wen t through 9/11 was not the same as someone from new york did. However reading this has made me go through the loss people felt through different traumas and through out reading this book I thought it was good just something i would never read again. I don't like to be sad and this book made me sad really all the books have done that however as I read the final chapter in the book I couldn't help but smile at the ending because oskar get the closer he needs because he is finally done searching and is now talking with his mother about the day his father died. He was finally able to cry and let it all out, that doesn't  mean the trauma of his fathers death will be gone it just means that it will be a little less hard. the line "I'll be happy and normal." means that he knows he is not like everyone else but he is willing to try hard to be happy and active in life. That is a amazing thing because "normal" people don't even make that effort sometimes they are not willing to accept anything different then from what they are. which i find very very sad.

What Constitutes Unspeakable?

     One of the themes that i've been noticing in ElIC is how language completely fails to describe the intensity of human emotion. At best it can imply what is meant, thought or said, allude to events, or give little introductions to broader concepts. But it can never do them justice. Things like Thomas Schell Sr. losing his words, the images in the books, how the story never quite deals with the event of 9/11, all denote how difficult it is to logic or articulate what's going on. But what makes this paradoxical is that we are receiving this information from a book. Words have to be used to describe that idea.
     To bring this to something that we've been discussing in class, is the nature of the unspeakable. What makes these truths so difficult to illustrate verbally? If I've been beat up, stabbed, tortured and electrocuted, you can absolutely relate what was happening in bloody, grim, caustic detail. But when someone important to us dies, even if it's peaceful, why is it so difficult to relate the emotion? Can you relate emotion with words? Is there a sequence of words, sounds and phrases that completely describe American Slavery, The Holocaust, the Vietnam War, or 9/11? Is William Black's 1 word description for movie personalities, events, etc. less detailed than a 30 volume book series? What's the point of communicating? If it can't accurately describe my ideas, experiences or emotions, then why bother?
    Because humans need to anyway.

chris blackall

In "Steven Hawking's" complete letter to Oskar he mentions one of his favorite quotes by Albert Einstein. It goes, "Our situation is the following, we are standing in front of a closed box which we cannot open."

This quote is of interest to me because it does not pose the question of, "how do you open the box which cannot be opened." It would seem likely that the first question one would ask of a closed box which we cannot open would be, "can it open, and if so how is it locked". But, this is not where the problem goes, as to how the box is locked. Rather, the quotation assumes that the royal we know how the box is locked but simply cannot open it. I like this assumption on his part. It's probably a problem which he had to deal with throughout his career.

In Oskar's case, this quote holds significance because it refers to "the journey". It is as though now that he has found the lock and has the key that he may feel all his problems are solved, but are they. I haven't finished yet so I can't say definitively, but I don't think they are. Oskar's problems will continue and his search will go on. He admitted earlier in the chapter that he was home when his dad was calling, but that he was too scared to answer the phone. Will finding the lock to the key change this? N-O. This kid has to deal with the fact that he could have done something different, but didn't. And it's funny, I think he knows that his search is futile too, but it gives him time to think, to consider and ponder. But, now the inventing and search have become problematic and are problems of their own. It was Frued who wrote, “Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways." This is the box Oskar is standing in front of, but cannot open. He cannot open the box of his father's death because first he must deal with the symptoms of his repressions (the visits to the 'Blacks', necessity to invent).

Extremely Loud 4

Anna Lacy

Trauma in Film and Literature

Yes and No

              In the chapter Alive and Alone Oskar meets the person renting from his grandmother, an elderly man with yes and no tattooed on his palms who only writes what he wants to say in a book. The man is his grandfather even though he does not introduce him as such. The grandfather attempts to come back into Oskar’s life when he needs an adult male figure in his life. His grandfather however does not introduce himself as such because he does not want Oskar to feel awkward around him and treat him as an elder but rather treat him as someone he can confide in and simply talk with. Even though Oskar’s grandfather is still unable to speak verbally he still tells Oskar that if he ever wants to talk he will be there for him and all he has to do is throw rocks at his window.

At the end of the chapter Oskar asks himself, “What about digging up Dad’s empty coffin” (259)? On the next page is a spread of his grandfather’s hands saying yes and no, as if answering Oskar’s questions. Yes you could but No it wouldn't solve any of your questions or the revers is also relevant No you could not but Yes your questions can be solved.

Extremely Loud 3

Anna Lacy

Trauma in Film and Literature

The Birds and The Bees

            In the same week that Oskar gave a presentation that involved him playing a recording of a person’s experience living through the Atomic Bomb, he was bullied a few days later for not knowing who Emma Watson is. From his extreme interest in learning to his lack of knowledge about popular culture, Oskar is labeled a weird kid. When asked a vulgar question by an older kid, he explains to the reader how he acquired his knowledge of sex, from the internet. His reasoning for consulting with the internet on what sex is, is because he has no one else to ask. He probably thinks that it would be too awkward or that he is too disconnected from his mother to ask her. The topic is something that he would never bring up with his grandmother and his father, who he would have probably consulted, is deceased. Due to Oskar feeling he is unable to consult anyone but the internet about this matter, he has the facts all confused.

Extremely Loud 2

Anna Lacy

Trauma in Film and Literature

A Grandmother’s Conscious

            In one of Oskar’s Grandmother’s letters, she tells a story about when Oskar was young and she was watching him. The two were playing and she was pretending to be a monster and chase him. Oskar ended up running into a table and injuring himself, even though the event was obviously an accident Oskar’s Grandmother blamed herself to the point that she even advised Oskar’s father to not allow her to be around Oskar for fear that she may hurt him again. The Grandmother’s loss of confidence in her ability to care for Oskar is her lack of self-confidence and coping skills. When her sister died, years later, she married her sisters old boyfriend in an attempt to keep her memories of her dead sister alive. The man she married ended up leaving her because she was not her sister which continued to drive her self confidence even further down. Even though Oskar was hurt in her care both Oskar and his father continued to want him to be around her. Oskar valued her company and his father obviously wanted his son and his mother to have a good relationship.

Extremely Loud 1

Anna Lacy

Trauma in Film and Literature

Colors

         When Oskar finds a card with the word Black written in red pen, in an attempt to find the person who wrote the word he heads to an art supply store to ask the manager if they know anything. The woman who talks with Oskar simply states that she finds it interesting that the word black is written in red ink because most people write either their name or the color of the pen they are using. She then shows Oskar the sample pads where customers test the pen before purchasing them. Oskar does state, after the woman in the store mentions that the color the word is written in is odd, that he thought black was written in red because his dad always uses red pens. The combination of what Oskar had originally assumed and what the lady in the store points out about the color adds to the suggestion that black is not simply referring to a color but instead to a persons last name. The fact that someone else besides him believes that the word is a name helps Oskar on his quest to find the lock that the key goes in. With out the help of the lady at the art store he probably would have continued to be confused on his quest to figure out where the key goes and its connection to his father.

Morrison Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

While reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, I felt what Oskar called having "heavy boots" throughout, making me feel like I was somehow connected to this character in an emotional way. The way Oskar started this journey, with only hopes of understanding his father's life more, ended with meeting countless people, learning their stories, and feeling sympathy for them in ways it felt like he denied giving himself. Though this journey seems to entrap him even more in the memory of that day, he hopes it could still somehow help him go on with his life. And though it was not exactly his father's intention, it seemed to break him out of his lingering "trauma" by allowing time to start moving for him again. Oskar was trapped in the past of his fathers death, possibly feeling as if it were his fault or wondering if anything could have made a difference. Towards the end of the book, he admits to inventing possible ways his father could have died and later says if he knew exactly how it happened, he wouldn't feel so heavy. Oskar seeks closure but he has no idea how to find it so he assures, and almost tricks himself to believe that the key must hold some deeper meaning. For time to begin moving again, he needs to force himself to move from it without losing the memory of his father in the process. While reminiscing about her life, Oskar's grandmother says, "you cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness." (Foer)  I feel like this quote alone describes Oskar's situation. In order to overcome your negative emotions, I feel is means you first have to accept it and deal with it instead of acting like something doesn't affect you. Once you reach this level, maybe you can start to experience happiness again and move on. While Oskar didn't want to forget his dad, he tried to alleviate the pain by seeking answers, failing to realize it was trapping him in a never ending cycle of feeling "heavy

In the chapter “Why im not where you are 5/21/63” Oskar’s grandfather is writing to his unborn sun, Oskar’s father about how he was unable to stay with the grandmother of Oskar why.  Oskar’s grandfather is a very interesting character in the book from many viewpoints, considering his absence in the books present tense, yet still having such impact on the reader’s emotions.  In this chapter, the grandfather wishes to explain himself to his unborn son, as to why he wasn’t able to stick around.  There are obviously many layers to this broad idea of abandonment, but he explains one of the main causes is from the distance between him and Oskar’s grandmother.  All of the rules and “nothing” places created to help control and organize the two’s relationships backfires and in turn creates conflicts and stress between them.   They begin to assume that one another know of  “nothing” and “something” places and begin arguing over the confusions.  This idea of creating "nothing" spaces can be respected and also denied as a successful means of controlling and aiding a relationship in my opinion.  Everyone needs time to themselves, and also time away from their other halves or loved ones, but this can be done in much more sensible manners.  Having a square space in the middle of a bedroom, living room and ect. is no means of actually separating yourself.  Even though they saw themselves as separated, they still knew when one was there, and was looking for escape, only drawing attention to the tensions between the couple. This only brought more tension to the relationship, and drew them further from one another as they began to loose control of what was "something" and what was "nothing".

Not only does Foer reveal the struggles Oskar experiences when coming to terms with the loss of his father, the readers also gains night into the entire Schell family's various trauma-related troubles. For the most part, Oskar's mother has come to terms with the death of her husband. While she is moving on with her life and beginning a new relationship, she must deal with a child who is emotionally unstable at the same time. She constantly has to worry about his well being, without suffocating Oskar and letting him grow through the traumatic event. Alongside this story, the reader gains insight into the past of Oskar's grandmother and grandfather. Both of them lost a loved one, the same loved one, during the bombing of Dresden in WWII. We see that Thomas chooses to remain in the past, living in silence, refusing to embrace the positivity of the future for fear of losing the happiness he once had. However, Oscar's grandmother chose to push through her loss and start a new family, with or without Thomas. Essentially, Oscar's grandparents represent the two paths in which one can take when dealing with traumatic events. 

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close 2

In the chapter Why I'm Not Where You Are 9/11/03 Oskar's grandfather, who we learn is the mysterious renter in his grandmother's apartment writes a letter to the deceased Thomas, explaining why and how he returned to New York and to his family. He was gone Thomas' entire life, and didn't feel the urge to return until after his death. When he tried calling her at the airport on his return, he couldn't speak words so he tried communicating by pressing numbers. She couldn't understand, of course, but he told her everything, "...why I'd left, where I'd gone, how I'd found out about your death, why I'd come back, and what I needed to do with the time I had left. I told her because I wanted her to believe me and understand, and because I thought I owed it to her, and to myself, and to you, or was it just more selfishness?" (Foer 269). I feel he is very selfish indeed. He left because he was too afraid of loving and losing people again and still wasn't able to escape that. He mourns his son that he never met and yearns to be close to his grandson, Oskar. As the chapter progresses, the words become closer together until they eventually overlap and layer until it is illegible. He mentioned that he was soon to run out of paper so he must have begun writing over his words. This expresses the amount that he wants to communicate, to explain, to get out of his mind. And the fact that it becomes illegible mimics his inability to physically speak.