Oskar's Complex Relationships (p.75-107)

As we move further into the novel, many concepts and characters begin to get more and more complex. In our literary circles, we attempted to analyze certain aspects of the character's and their experiences to get a better understanding of who they are and what is actually going on. I was very confused on who the speaker was in the beginning of our assigned reading and my group helped me figure it out and then the rest quickly made sense. We were able to productively discuss many topics but our main one was Oskar's relationship with others. We all agreed to Kiki's suggestion that Oskar has certain socially awkward aspects that resemble autism. I found a perfect example to represent this resembles on page 88 when Oskar arrives at Aaron Black's apartment and rudely holds down the buzzer so he can be let in. When Aaron scorns Oskar through the speaker, Oskar becomes very frusturated and states that he believes he had not done anything wrong. We can also see an awkwardness within his relationship with his grandmother whom he is claimed to be best friends with yet he states continuously that he doesn't know much about her. We also see awkwardness in communication with his mother who he seems to show much animosity towards due to her mixed signals.
At this point in the novel their are many unanswered questions so it is difficult to find a complete analytical meaning of certain symbols but the ones that our group found most important and repetitive is Oskar's decision to wear only white clothing, heavy boots and animals. Birds seem to be a very significant detail in the novel considering that it implies a path for escape or release as he also uses as one of his inventions of the 'birdseed shirt' to help people get down from tall buildings when then are stuck.
We have also come to conclusion that his relationship with his mother is very odd. She talks to him like a child yet leaves him with much responsibility and independence. We concluded that Oskar tries to challenge himself since his father is gone and can no longer challenge him to questions about existence.
Another important idea that our group discussed was Oskar's capability of counting everything. For example, he counted the many lies he told and the disappointments that came about in his experience through Queens.
We continue to realize Oskar's rare intelligence of knowing certain things such as epidemiology and his way through Queens though he has never been there.
Our group was unable to figure out exactly why Abby Black seemed to be so emotional and inviting towards Oskar. We are hoping that the novel will soon begin to complete our fragmented thoughts and give us some sort of clue to the significance of certain symbols. Overall our discussion was extremely beneficial and productive and helped me gain more confidence on my understanding of the novel.