Last But Not Least

In our literary circles on Tuesday, January 12, we finally were able to discuss the book as a whole. We finished the novel and had so much to talk about. First off, we all loved the book. We were a little disappointed in the ending because we believed that Oskar deserved to learn more about his father's death than he did. The key ended up belonging to Peter Black who sold his dead father's blue vase at a garage sale to Oskar's father and the key happened to be stored inside. The only thing he was able to learn about his father was how nice and friendly he was to Peter Black at the garage sale.
The end of the novel allowed us to further connect certain concepts to Kurt Vonnegut's, Slaughter-House Five. We all recognized that the style Vonnegut uses, reversing past destructive events to end peacefully, was presented numerous times in Foer's, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. The book ended with Oskar's father coming home from work, brushing his teeth, going to bed and waking up at night to be reading Oskar a book to help him fall asleep. This also correlates with the concept of 'just war' in that it may be necessary to have war in order to obtain peace. The reversal of actions shows that even though we all want peace and not war, we must go through war- forwards or backwards- to create peace.
We were all frusturated that Oskar never truly found out that 'the renter' was his grandfather, even though Foer makes it clear that they had a special bond and Oskar instantly trust him. We felt that Foer left a lot up to the reader to decide what happened and what certain symbols mean, which is what makes this novel so interesting.
Another key point that was brought up in this discussion was our feelings towards Oskar's mother. Throughout the entire novel, Foer makes you feel as if his mother is ignoring his bruises, allowing him to travel around New York by himself and leaving the house at late hours. We finally see that she had planned his journey out to make him safe. She ended up calling all the 'Blacks' Oskar was planning on visiting that day, which explains why they were all so friendly and welcoming.
Although the ending of this novel stirred up some disappointment as we didn't expect certain events to happen, the novel was exceptionally well written, illustrated and in portraying the events of families after the attack of 9/11.

The Renter and The Child- Scribe

This meeting, I was appointed the scribe, and I recorded the progress and effectiveness of our discussion. We had ample amounts to talk about since this time our reading assignment was extra long due to the extensive winter break we had. We all were able to answer many of the questions that we had from the beginning of the novel in this discussion. We began by allowing each of us to express our opinions on the assigned reading and the interesting elements we found within it. Tara started with discussing Oskar's personality. She brought up many good points about how he may have a possible disability as he states that he is in a class with other students who are mostly ADD. Tara also recognized the "dark" aspects of Oskar's mind as he scorns at his mother and talks about the gruesome events of Hiroshima to the rest of his classmates. Tara is also very interested in finding out more about the waitress in the Windows of the World and why Oskar doesn't seem to be intrigued by her even when she is one of the closest "Blacks" that has somewhat of a connection to his father.
After Tara discussed her topics of interest, Kiki shared her ideas and thoughts on the reading assignment. Kiki took the initiative to figure out the deeper meanings of many of the symbols. For example, she brought to our attention that birds, which was repeated numerously in previous chapters, came up again when Abe Black took off his hearing aid and he could finally hear the world. During this significant moment, Foer includes that as he takes his hearing aids off birds fly by the window. Kiki also came to conclusion that animals, both in Foer's and Vonnegut's novels, have a greater significance to the novel as a whole. Kiki also wants to know what will happen next as Oskar stirs up the question, "what about digging up dad's empty coffin?" Kiki also brought to the groups attention that the French Astronaut illustrated in the begininng of the novel was explained in this reading assignment. She also found significance out of the date (9-11-03) that Oskar and his grandfather finally met.
Allison also shared many important ideas. She further expands on Tara's discussion on Oskar's strange personality and horrific attitude towards both his peers and his mother. She also raised the question as to, after Oskar and her get into a fight and she tucks him into bed, why she doesn't say anything about Oskar's bruises. She also recognized the symbolism of key holes as the grandfather looks through a key hole when Oskar comes into his grandmother's apartment so he can see him. This corresponds with the many pictures that Foer includes of key holes in the novel.
I contributed to the discussion by sharing my opinions on the reading assignment. I think the most important symbol we must analyze at the end of the novel is the bird seed shirt and his usage of white clothing only. I also discussed Oskar's harmful behavior towards others and his unusual personality. I further expanded on Tara's ideas on the event of Oskar's sharing the interview of Hiroshima with the rest of his classmates. I also recognized the very first time Foer truly gets into Oskar's twisted mind as he imagines smashing Jimmy Snyder's head. I also thought this reading assignment gave us a better outlook on Oskar's grandfather's perspective on the story of his marriage and of Anna because throughout the whole novel we have only seen Oskar's and the grandmother's perspective.
We had so much to talk about in this very short class period and it was hard to fit every topic in. As we finish the novel, all of our unanswered questions should be fully answered and we can get a clearer and better understanding of the novel and then finally relate it to Vonnegut's, Slaughter House Five. We are all extremely intrigued with this book and incredibly excited to learn what will happen in the end.