Doorknobs

“as if the world and its future depended on doorknobs” pg 175.

When the statement is made it was Oskar’s Grandmother talking about his grandfather in a letter she was writing for him. When she said this it was simply as a joke and sarcasm, describing how his Grandfather was taking pictures of door knobs in case something happened to the place they were living. Even though the statement was made as a joke it still hit me like it wasn’t just a joke. It had meaning just like the rest of the book. Nothing is said for the sake of being said. When I read it I thought of the saying “when one door closes another one opens” and just like that it made me think that the world and its future really are dependent on doorknobs. It might not be exactly the doorknob itself that the world is dependent on but more what the doorknob is connected to and what is behind that door. We depend on what is behind that door that opens when the first one is closed.

I found this photo taken by Steve Cicero a while back and it kind of struck me deep. I have always had a fascination with the symbols of doors and locks and how something behind that door could be bad or good and how it always holds a secret. When you connect that the keyhole of the doorknob has light shining through it, and that we are dependent on what lies beyond the door it shows that whatever is behind this door is bright and inviting and that the future is going to be a good one. There will always be that door that opens when another shuts and how we live our lives depends on what’s behind it. Though it may have been said as a joke, the world and its future depend on doorknobs.

Lucas Wheeler