Hi everyone and welcome back to ASTU! In the same vein as our class discussions, which continue to explore the broad theme of memory and trauma that we studied last term, many of the blogs I read from this week focused on Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

I decided to focus on the blogs that gave emphasis to Foer’s use of a child narrator, which, as many of you expanded upon, is the case in two of the other novels we read, Persepolis and Obasan. Specifically, these blogs analyze the impact of child narrators on how trauma is portrayed and remembered in Foer’s novel, which is developed by the bloggers’ focuses on the themes of fear, chaos, and 9/11 exceptionalism.

Both Raphael and Peija focus on the impact of Oskar’s narration on the development of a fear culture that surrounds 9/11, specifically racial fear and discrimination. Raphael develops the idea that “[i]n the use of children as the primary narrative source, the ways in which the traumatic issues are explored may be seen as different”, which helps to describe Peija’s interest in Oskar’s expression of the “blunt and weird thoughts that…[Foer] wouldn’t otherwise to able to in an adult character.” Fear is one topic that is described so bluntly. Peija gives the example of the racial fear and discrimination towards Arabs after 9/11: she noes that “[t]he things Oskar said about Arabs were probably some of the thoughts thousands of Americans were thinking after the attack – but they couldn’t directly say it”, and “in that sense, Oskar could have been an outlet to express the thoughts and opinions  Americans might have had at that time”. This helps to clarify and develop Raphael’s personal thoughts on the effect and progress of this fear and discrimination: the “saddening” fact that fear and discrimination have created the “radically fearful state” that we now live in.

Raphael also develops upon on the use of a child narrator in its ability to explain the incomprehensibility of trauma. He writes that reading from Oskar’s point of view is effective because we “get a sense of how large of a challenge coping can be…and how the scale of it is something that Oskar can’t quite get around or fully understand”. This unpredictability and chaos that Raphael describes is analyzed by Taylor’s post on the details of the novel’s structure. In her post, she analyzes Foer’s strategies in emphasizing the chaotic affects of trauma, explaining that he creates a confusing, pieced-together structure in order to provide an indirect, yet continual emphasis on the theme of chaos. In this way, chaos defines the foundation of the book—its structure—rendering Foer’s tactic very effective.

Developing on the larger significance of these themes, Mariana and Jacqueline examine the novel’s commentary on the “9/11 exceptionalism” that grew out of the fear and chaos that characterizes the aftermath of 9/11. Jacqueline’s post is focused around her argument that Foer’s novel “humanizes a tragic event that has since been sensationalized” in the media. Going broader in the discussion of Foer’s use of a child narrator, Jacqueline contemplates the individuality that personal narrative in general embodies, which contributes to the exceptionalism argument. However, she stresses the ambiguity of this scenario, for personal narrative has conflicting effects: in Foer’s novel, the use of a personal narrative supports 9/11 exceptionalism, but also has humanizing effects. As Jacqueline argues, “[i]f the humanization of an event allows the reader to gain insight to the humanity in other equally horrific events then theres nothing exceptionalist about it.” Mariana develops this side of the argument, taking it in the direction of unity. She argues that “[p]eople can feel unspeakable trauma and it connects them with others…[e]vents like these are not supposed to set borders between people…by making connections with other people’s stories…[Oskar] was able to understand himself and the world around him better.”

This week’s blogs went into detail on the prevalence of the themes of fear and chaos in Foer’s novel, while also expanding upon their larger implications in the creation of the concept of 9/11 exceptionalism, a topic that is now widely debated. As Jacqueline discusses, Foer may present both sides of the argument: that 9/11 and those affected by it (arguably, a majority of the citizens of the world) is part of a larger community, but is also unique in itself. What is your opinion?

Until next time!

Kristen Lew