I recently reread the book, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer. This is a fictional book about 11 year old Oskar Schell who lost his father on 9/11. Soon after his father's death, Oskar finds a key in his father's office and immediately decides to look for the lock. But there are thousands and thousands of locks in NYC, and his chances of finding the right lock is extremely low. Something I was thinking about throughout was why Oskar was so set on finding the lock.
The most obvious reason that he would do this would be curiosity, because a key is a key, and it opens something. How could you not wonder what that something is? But I don't think simple curiosity would drive Oskar to spend months walking around the city and talking to strangers (he isn't even very comfortable with that at all). Oskar is a really, really smart kid--he's not the kind of person who'd do something this big just to satisfy his curiosity.
Then, I came up with a different idea. Oskar was very close to his dad, and I think he was going on this "journey" because he had to do something to remember his dad. He felt closer to his dad when on the journey. I think he didn't really, really cared about what he found at the end. Maybe after he got an answer he could tuck his dad away. He might have just needed closure about his dad's death. During his walks through the city he could feel like his dad was still here and that he was doing it all for his dad. Or, maybe he wanted his dad to be proud that he was doing this.
At the end, the discovery wasn't as "big" as you'd think, but it was still the end of the path. Oskar got his answers and completed what he'd sought out to do. In a way, all his devotion had payed off. But even though Oskar found a lock, I don't think it wasn't the lock he wished for. In a way, even though he himself wouldn't really believe it, I think Oskar just wanted his dad. Like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, he wanted his father to be there after all his hard work. But what Oskar learned was that he had to accept that his dad was really gone. Not forget him, of course, but put him in the past. The author gave the reader a sort of harsh reality, that the answers you find might not be the ones you wanted.
The most obvious reason that he would do this would be curiosity, because a key is a key, and it opens something. How could you not wonder what that something is? But I don't think simple curiosity would drive Oskar to spend months walking around the city and talking to strangers (he isn't even very comfortable with that at all). Oskar is a really, really smart kid--he's not the kind of person who'd do something this big just to satisfy his curiosity.
Then, I came up with a different idea. Oskar was very close to his dad, and I think he was going on this "journey" because he had to do something to remember his dad. He felt closer to his dad when on the journey. I think he didn't really, really cared about what he found at the end. Maybe after he got an answer he could tuck his dad away. He might have just needed closure about his dad's death. During his walks through the city he could feel like his dad was still here and that he was doing it all for his dad. Or, maybe he wanted his dad to be proud that he was doing this.
At the end, the discovery wasn't as "big" as you'd think, but it was still the end of the path. Oskar got his answers and completed what he'd sought out to do. In a way, all his devotion had payed off. But even though Oskar found a lock, I don't think it wasn't the lock he wished for. In a way, even though he himself wouldn't really believe it, I think Oskar just wanted his dad. Like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, he wanted his father to be there after all his hard work. But what Oskar learned was that he had to accept that his dad was really gone. Not forget him, of course, but put him in the past. The author gave the reader a sort of harsh reality, that the answers you find might not be the ones you wanted.
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