Something You Do Not Understand

“I do not know why I am writing this letter, or what this letter is supposed to be about, but I am writing it nonetheless, because I love you very much and trust that you have some good purpose for having me write this letter. I hope that one day you will have the experience of doing something you do not understand for someone you love.” (76)

When I was thinking about Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, that was the passage that I remembered the most. That one like – “I hope that one day you will have the experience of doing something you do not understand for someone you love” – stuck out to me and stayed with me. To me, so much of this story is about doing something you do not understand. I feel that Oskar does not entirely understand why he needs to find what the key unlocks, but that he needs to do this for his father. I don’t think that Oskar’s grandfather understands why Oskar needs to do this, or why he needs to dig up the grave. I don’t think that Oskar’s mother fully understands either, or that Oskar’s grandmother understands why her husband left or came back. These are just a few things that I remember, and although I can understand arguments against this, I feel that so much of this book consists of actions that are not entirely understood by the doer, but they know that they need to do them for someone they love, and that is enough reason.

I choose a picture of writing, what seems to me like a letter. Letters and writing played such an important role in this book – the daybooks of Thomas Schell, the letters Oskar’s grandmother wrote him – and the quote I choose is from the letter that Oskar’s grandmother asked her father to write. I loved the use of writing and letters because it allowed us to view events through different perspectives, and there is something that I think is special about a letter. Letters allow the writer to pour out their thoughts and feelings without having to see the reaction of the person reading their letter, and in this novel especially, we get a sense of the letter writer truly is. I felt that the letters in this book made for a unique, interesting story, as well as drawing an emotion response out of the reader.