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Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close By Jonathan Foer

Decent Essays

“I don’t speak. I’m sorry,” (Foer 30) is a phrase frequently written by Thomas Schell Sr., a character in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, after he survives the traumatic Dresden bombing. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Foer explores a different traumatic experience, the effect of Thomas Jr.’s death in 9/11 on his son Oskar. After his father’s death, Oskar seeks understanding and comfort in his search for the lock to fit the key left to him by his father. Similarly, Bruce Springsteen’s album The Rising examined the many ways people find comfort after a disaster, particularly after the 9/11 attacks. The common theme of seeking comfort after a loss is demonstrated in both Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and The Rising as a literal journey and as a search for physical and emotional human connection, although The Rising emphasizes finding comfort in religion.
Oskar Schell and the narrators of “Further On (Up the Road)” and “Lonesome Day” take a literal journey to find comfort. Oskar’s journey starts after finding an envelope containing a key with Black written on the outside in his father’s closet a year after his death. Because of the reconnaissance missions the two frequently took together, Oskar believes it is a message to him and tries to stay connected with his father by finding the lock. Indeed, he says, “Every time I left our apartment to go searching for the lock, I became a little lighter, because I was getting closer to Dad” (Foer 52). As Oskar

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