McElhaney - Extremely Loud post 2

A part that raised some questions for me was at the very end of “Happiness, Happiness” where the image of the falling man is included during the mother’s session with the therapist. The image is an extremely powerful one, a controversial icon to the events of 911. So why does Foer choose to place it in the middle of this half heard area of dialogue? So far I think the placement is pretty open to interpretation, though it’s hard to tell what Foer intended. Maybe it’s a signifier to either Oskar or his mother’s whirlwind of emotions they experience while in the therapist’s chair. His mother is suffering from the loss of her husband as well as the struggle of living on with a traumatized boy who may be suffering from a mild disorder. A boy who has expressed to her that he wished that it were her who died on that day. Maybe the overwhelming emotions are making her feel like the jumper shown in the image. It is peculiar that the last words the doctor says prior to the image is “Have you ever considered”. Or maybe struggling with Oskar’s comment on her death has her unwillingly picturing herself as the jumper. I could be wrong, but to me the placement of arguably the most powerful image included in the book has to have some intent behind it.