Artavius Veasey Post #11: Something to hold on to

During this weeks read the book is really getting personal. The quote that stuck out to me was on page 221 from Thomas Jr. to Oskar;

“There’s nothing that could convince someone who doesn’t want to be convinced. But there is an abundance of clues that would give the wanting believer something to hold on to. ”
(Foer, 221)

Despite Oskar's penchant for imagining outrageous inventions, he has an extremely limited worldview, one that prizes only objective scientific observation. This limitation is exacerbated by his father's death. And yet what he does not quite recognize is the way his father tried to help him expand this worldview. In this quote, spoken about the Reconnaissance Expedition Thomas Jr. created in Central Park, the man suggests that optimism and hope are a matter of choice, that one can see the world how one wants to, rather than relying simply on scientific fact. The sentiment haunts Oskar throughout his quest, though it takes most of that experience to finally internalize the lesson, which is that intangible things (like memories and emotions) can be just as real and affecting as physical objects (like a corpse or a key). He is not able to maturely grapple with his father's death until he can "convince" himself that it is okay to feel sad without having objective answers as to why the tragedy happened.