Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 left America and the rest of the Western World in a state of deep shock. Not only did the attacks lead to many human losses, they also had an immense impact on the minds of people all over the world – especially in the US, of course. An incident that has affected so many people will inevitably find its way into literature, but how exactly can we treat such a tragic event in fictional writing? In the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, author Jonathan Safran Froer tells the story about the consequences of 9/11 from the perspective of a boy named Oskar, who has lost his father in the attack on the Twin Towers.
Oskar is a 9 year old child who struggles to get back on track after the death of his father. His sense of humour plays an important part in the forming of a picture of his personality, more precisely that of an exceptionally bright and knowledgeable child. Oskar makes several witty puns such as “Succotash my Balzac, dipshiitake” and “Do you want to hear another, or have you already had un oeuf?”. Not many 9-year olds are able to exploit the fact that some French and English words sound alike and that it is possible to substitute English curses with French words, and probably even fewer of his age know who Balzac is.
Oskar is deeply affected by the loss of his father, which has left him in great distress and deprived him of his old dreams and childish curiosity: ““I want to know everything,” I told him, but that isn’t true anymore either.” In the first part of the sentence, Oskar expresses a wish for universal knowledge, whereas he in the second part demonstrates resignation.
As seen in the following quote, Oskar distracts himself from his sorrows by coming up with (rather unrealistic) ideas for inventions: “Sometimes I think it could be weird if there were a skyscraper that moved up and down while its elevator stayed in place […] because if you’re on the ninety-fifth floor, and a plane hits below you, the building could take you to the ground[…]”. Oskar doesn’t mention his father’s death directly, but considering the many references to 9/11 in his “inventions”, it is safe to say that this traumatic experience heavily occupies his mind.
We are not told much about the physical settings, but by observing the uneasy behaviour of the characters, we learn about the sorrowful emotional setting. Especially the events in the limousine on the way to the funeral display the atmosphere of grief: “”What are you squeezing in your purse?” She pulled out her hand, and it was empty. “Just squeezing,” she said.” Oskar’s mother doesn’t show many obvious signs of grief: She doesn’t cry and when she finally speaks, it is about Oskar giving the mailman a key to their apartment, not about her deceased husband – probably because it simply hurts too much. Nevertheless, her anxious squeezing shows that she is indeed incredibly mournful. Oskar senses this: “[…] it was so weird that she would mention that then, […] but I think she was looking for something that wasn’t the obvious thing.” Oskar, his mother and grandmother are all depressed by the death of Oskar’s father, but the grief itself has become a taboo. This could also explain Oskar’s joking behaviour in the limousine: “[…] I wanted to make him crack up, because if I could make him crack up, my boots could be a little lighter.” Instead of confronting the taboo, he tries to relieve and distance himself from his pain by making the driver of the limousine laugh.
Even though the setting creates a very serious atmosphere, the text seems rather comical at times. Oskar’s jokes are only part of the reason for this; often, he ends up being funny unintentionally as well. The jujitsu class-scene is a prime example of this: First of all, when his jujitsu master asks him to “Destroy his privates”, Oskar refuses to do so because he’s “a pacifist”. Who would expect a 9-year old boy who has been signed up for a jujitsu class – of which the main purpose is to learn how to fight – to be a pacifist? It’s rather ironic, really, and it certainly doesn’t match our expectations. Instead, we are left surprised and most definitely amused. Another example of this is when the teacher says, “Can I ask you a question?” and Oskar answers him with the words “’Can I ask you something?’ is asking me something”. We all know that Oskar is right, but it’s not the norm to behave the way he does, and thus Oskar ends up being not just a distressing character, but also a slightly comical one. Hence, one could say that Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close applies both to the Incongruity Theory and the Relief Theory. We laugh at Oskar’s behaviour, and the comical elements of the book make it bearable to read even though the topic is so depressing. In many ways Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a story about coping with the loss of a dear one and a changed reality after 9/11 all at once. We follow Oskar, who – even though he is just a child – has to deal with these things, sad and dispirited as the death of his father has left him. It is a heart-breaking story, but because of the frequent use of humorous devices in the text we are able to confront the trauma caused by the 9/11-attacks.