Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close Analysis

The Impact of Losing a Loved One
College Prep Lit

The loss of a loved one always leaves a lasting impression on everyone who was connected to them. People react and handle things in different ways, but there is always an effect on the people close to them. In Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close a boy from New York named Oskar Schell takes the reader through his journey of losing his dad in the 9/11 attacks. He has to try to find ways to cope with losing his dad through solving what he believed was one last puzzle that his dad left for him. A year after the attack and Oskar’s dad has been gone, Oskar was going through his dad’s bedroom and found a blue vase with an envelope in it. The word “Black” was written on the envelope and inside of it there was a key. Oskar hoped that this was a clue to the

Oskar seems to be somewhat socially awkward due to his intelligence. He is extremely smart, but he struggles with interacting with other people because he never puts a filter on how he talks to people, he will say whatever comes to his mind. That is part of the reason why he and his dad were so close, his dad was always there for him and helped him with the things that he struggles with. After his dad passed away, Oskar tried to cut off the entire world. Oskar’s mom set him up with a therapist, but that did not help him. Although he did talk about his feelings sometimes, like when he had “heavy boots” which was his way of saying that he was feeling sad inside. Oskar thought that being happy without his dad there was wrong, and he got angry with his own mom if she was happy. After his dad was gone, the only person who really helped him to feel better was his grandma. They had a very good relationship together and always tried to help him. She told him, “You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness.” (page 180) after he had gotten angry with his mom for being