Hey Readers,

This past week in class we have just finished discussing Foer’s novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, in an assignment due in early February we have been asked to do a close reading of Foer’s novel.  That is to say that we must pick a small moment in the book and relate it to a larger theme or bigger picture that the Foer is potentially trying to convey throughout the novel. In preparation for the upcoming assignment I am going to be discussing something that I read in the novel that I feel is potentially part of a larger theme.

I thought that the specific moment in the novel that contributed to the bigger picture was Oskar’s journey to find the lock to fit the mysterious key that he found.  After losing his father Oskar finds a key in an old vase in his fathers closet Oskar is convinced that his father has left it for him and sets out on an epic quest.  Ultimately the key did not belong to his father at all, it was a forgotten key left by the man (Mr.Black) who he had bought the vase from. Some may have viewed this as a disappointing ending, but I believe that it the novel actually ended in a perfect way.  The larger theme that I want to relate Oskar’s journey to is the theme of grief.  Grief plays a big role in the novel in terms of Oskar trying to mourn the loss of his father, but the key theme of grief also prevails when studying Grandpa and Grandma and how they both suffered the loss of Anna and are now grieving the loss of their son, Thomas.

A moment in the book where I felt that Oskar’s experience related to the theme of grief was at the end of the novel when Oskar meets Mr. Black only to find out that the key never actually belonged to his father, that it was left behind in the vase unknowingly when Mr. Black sold Thomas the vase.  By finding out that the key was never meant for him Oskar seems to find some peace for the first time since his father had died, for once he seemed not to question everyone and everything.  “Why don’t you come with me to the bank?” “You’re nice but no thank you,” Oskar states (Foer: 300) .  Oskar is finally coming to terms with his grief and by doing this Oskar is able to finally re-connect with his mother and begin to understand the grief that she has suffered.  Oskar begins to welcome Ron into their lives, after being unfair to his mother for feeling happiness.

Throughout Foer’s novel it is clear to see the stages of grief throughout most of the characters, predominantly Oskar, and how certain textual examples demonstrate grief as a large theme of the book.  When the mystery of the key is revealed the reader can see Oskar finally getting rid of his “heavy boots” and accepting and trying to move on through his grief.  It is clear to see grief as a key theme in this novel and is interesting to see the different levels of grief progress, and eventually the process of moving on among the characters.  This is just one example in the text that relates to the potential bigger picture of the novel, but there of course are many more key themes Foer is conveying in his work.

Thanks for reading!

Until next time,

Magda Adkins

Hello fellow bloggers,

one term has just ended and the new term begins,and so I am ready to get stared again with my blog!  It has been one restful winter break full of family and of course lots of food! As I begin back in my ASTU class, we begin to read and analyze a new text, our new novel is entitled Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close written by Jonathan Safran Foer.  This novel follows the aftermath of 9/11 and one young Oskar Schell’s journey to find some kind on closure after losing his father on that tragic day.  As I am reading this book I was able to quite clearly make some connections between this novel and the other novels and graphic narratives that I read in the previous term.  I was able to see some similarities and differences between the novel Obasan, the graphic memoir Persepolis and the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, keep reading to find out what those similarities and differences are!

Most specifically what tied the strongest connection between novels Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Obasan, and graphic narrative Persepolis was the child narrator present in all three.  Oskar Schell is able to narrate Foer’s novel as he embarks on an epic journey through the boroughs of New York in search of a lock that fits a mysterious key that is left behind by his recently deceased father.  Marji, is the voice behind Satrapi’s graphic memoir Persepolis that portrays a young girls experience living in Iran during the Islamic Revolution and the Iran Iraq war.  Lastly Obasan written by Joy Kagowa is told through the eyes of Naomi as her family is torn apart during the time of Japanese Internment in Vancouver, Canada.  All three pieces of literature are similar in the sense that they all posses a child but are very different in that only one of them is non-fiction.  Persepolis is the only one of the three novels that is a real autobiography, although with that being said I would argue that Obasan and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close are in fact very accurate representations of the events that they portray.  In many ways they are not considered non-fiction because they represent a collective of people that have endured similar or the same experience.  After the world trade centre fell on September 11th 2001, many lives were lost and many lives were changed, I think that Foer’s novel represents many people that lost a loved one and also a part of themselves, the book very much highlights the grieving process and that it is unimaginably hard to say goodbye to someone that you love.  Similar with Kogawa’s Obasan, I believe that this novel gives a voice to all of the Japanese Canadians who were silenced during the terrible time, and represents a very true narrative of the many families that were torn apart.

In summary my blog has covered some of the connections that I was able to draw between the novel that I have read thus far this term(Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) and others that were read in the previous term(Obasan, Persepolis).  The main connection that I drew was that all three pieces of literature have a child narrator, and that not all of them were non-fiction stories all though all those two covered very real and important ground.  All though there were fictional they all represented very real events and told the stories of very real people, so I’m my books I would very much consider them to be non-fiction!  These were just two of the connections that I made, but there are definitely many many more connections that can be drawn between the three novels. So my question to myself is are there any more major connections between these three narratives?

Until next time,

Magda