Wednesday, April 15, 2009
"The Only Animal" (Christina Koenig)
In the chapter titled “The Only Animal,” Oskar discusses some minute details about elephants with Abby Black in order to endear himself to her. Most of the information he relates focuses on elephants’ survival and communication techniques – their ESP-like ability to sense friends and danger from far away and their incredible memory of the voices of dead family members. Unknowingly, Oskar was reaching out to this woman, not just by impressing her with his seemingly limitless knowledge of elephant behavior, but by subconsciously sharing part of his own story, his own personal tragedy, with her. Until Oskar starts explaining about the elephants’ memory of other elephant voices, Abby had not really seemed genuinely interested in his lecture, making only courteous remarks (like “I don’t know” and “sure”) in order to keep the conversation going. But as soon as he mentions how fascinated he is by their ability to recall the voice of a lost loved one, she begins to sense that this ability is somehow very important to this precocious, odd little boy. So she begins to prompt him for more information with more relevant questions: “I wonder what they were feeling…was it with love that they approached the jeep? Or fear? Or anger?...Did they charge?...Did they cry?” Interestingly, Oskar claims not to remember what the article stated about her questions (interesting that such a brilliant mind should forget something that would be so important in such a study…I think Oskar feigned ignorance because he wasn’t ready to discuss something so emotionally wounding with a stranger – just like he avoided talking to Aaron Black earlier). Instead, he latches on to her last query and explains that “only humans can cry tears,” only to be surprised by the photo of the “crying” elephant (which I found quite disturbing, to tell the truth). This revelation that perhaps humans are not the only animals capable of shedding tears parallels his realization that this woman is also in some sort of emotional pain, just like he is. This revelation about what unites people and his later statement about what separates humans from other animals – blushing, laughing, religion, war, and kissing – forces him to rethink his relative significance (the theme introduced some fourteen pages earlier). Although we have seen already that Oskar is very sensitive to the needs and sorrows of others (as exhibited in many of his life-saving inventions and his list of sadness which gets him out of school), it is in this chapter that he begins to understand and be so absorbed in the details of others’ lives that he, for a few moments, “[forgets] the whole reason [he] was there,” and so begins to heal his wounds by realizing and interesting himself in the shared experiences of humanity.
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I agree with Christiana and I think the key to Oskar’s recovery from both his father’s death and the tragedy of 9/11 is for him to find himself a part of the human species once again. The terrible event that occurred on September 11, 2001 was a truly divisive event for everyone, and within the context of this novel, Oskar becomes cut off from everyone else. He has lost his father, the person that he loves most and he feels that he does not really “know” his grandmother (105). Oskar feels that he cannot connect with his mother either, because she is so busy “laughing” and moving on with her life (with Ron), while he, Oskar, cannot get over his father’s death. So, this nine-year old boy (who sounds much older) is lonely and has a hard time connecting with other people. The rest of the world to him is strange and alien, particularly so in a post-9/11 New York.
ReplyDeleteSo, Oskar sets out on a journey to find the answers. Perhaps he thinks he will find his father at the end, the final clue to a Reconnaissance Expedition, or maybe, Oskar will find a reason to existing. Regardless, on his quest for a raison d’être, he slowly becomes once again incorporated into the fabric of humanity.
His visit to Abby Black is the start of Oskar Schell’s return (and ultimately Oskar, as a representative for New York and the United States as a whole comes out from beneath the wreckage to rebuild and start anew). Despite the awkward exchange between Abby Black and Oskar after he asks her to kiss him (as more of an attempt to feel human than anything untoward), Oskar gives her his business card. Now, a business card is not something particularly personal and is rather formal. However, the purpose of a business card is to essentially extend a proverbial hand and to form a “bridge” between people, to create connections. Although business cards are rather mundane, Oskar’s business card is unique.
First, next to his name like little asterisks are the universal hand signs for peace. Not only does the pictures completely diverge from the traditional idea of a business card, but also shows Oskar’s personality as a “pacifist” and additionally expresses his (and perhaps the American people’s) desired for peace. Second, his business card lists several professions and hobbies that literally take up the whole card space ranging from inventor to origamist to vegan to Francophile; things that are not really jobs but serve more accurately as adjectives of Oskar the person. He even emphasizes his desire for peace and perhaps his veganism by italicizing “butterflies that died natural deaths” which he collects (99). This one little card is full of information about Oskar, even though it seems he has run out of room (but then again can any one person be fit on a small card?).
What is remarkable about his business card, even more so than its uniqueness, is that he hands these out to complete and total strangers. While Oskar refuses to accept car rides from people he does not know and does not list his phone numbers, handing out his business card is a physical manifestation of Oskar trying to extend himself to others; he is trying to make a connection with other people, with other human beings. Oskar is trying to recover and to heal. He is making the first steps, and with such a precocious narrator to lead the reader through the story, how can anyone not want him to progress further and succeed? I really hope Oskar finds the answers he is looking for.
I, too, agree with Christina's post. I think that Oskar can use his intelligence to find a way to connect to others. To add a different facet to the argument, I would also say that his inability to initially connect to others actually stems from his intelligence as well. While he is only nine years old and not entirely knowledgeable of the world, he can still understand what happened in 9/11 and that people don't always share the emotions accompanied with such tragedies (hence his "feigned" poor memory of the facts' details, avoiding emotional topics). His intelligence could very well detach him from others, but in this situation it actually manages to bring him closer to the woman.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to elaborate on Christina's idea that Oskar must consider his "relative significance." I agree whole-heartedly, and I believe that this encounter, while a somewhat reckless decision on Oskar's part, will have a strong affect on him. He has no doubt found a way to "change the Sahara." The Sahara, being a vast desert, is a rather telling metaphor for the way life can sometimes feel, and honestly, I LOVE this metaphor. It starts out hopeless: everyone is a tiny grain of sand in a seemingly desolate, unchanging, and overwhelmingly large world. How does a tiny grain of sand like Oskar make any kind of difference in the world?
The best place to start is always on the grain-of-sand level, or the individual level. If you can touch other grains of sand, or move an individual's perspective in some way, you have made a difference in the desert, or the world. Oskar is certainly on his way to discovering this with his visit to Abby Black. Even though he asks her to stop, he sees Abby cry, which is intimate enough for Oskar to feel a connection he cannot reverse. He doesn't expect it to happen, but he shares an intimacy with this woman when their faces are "incredibly close." This physical closeness and intimacy does not go unnoticed by Oskar, because he actually suggests that they kiss, generally considered an act of lovers who share a considerable amount of intimacy. While he may not understand yet why it seemed natural to him to kiss at that point, I have no doubt that he eventually will. Furthermore, the title of the chapter, "The Only Animal," in reference to humans, emphasizes the point that Oskar is coming to some sort of realization about the human condition. From the content of the chapter, the aspect of the human condition he is becoming aware of is rather prevalent: we need each other.
About halfway down Christina wrote that she thought, “Oskar feigned ignorance because he wasn’t ready to discuss something so emotionally wounding with a stranger – just like he avoided talking to Aaron Black earlier.” I don’t think Oskar was feigning ignorance when he avoided talking to Aaron Black. I think the author was trying to show how the circumstances of Oskar’s father’s death have affected him. He’s afraid to go upstairs because “It’s not safe,” (90). I think Oskar’s afraid to go up too high in buildings because he believes his father was up too high when the plane hit and couldn’t get down. I also think it’s interesting how the old guy he meets in his own building helps him get over his fear and go in tunnels and tall buildings, like the top of the Empire State building.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I read this part I was creeped out by Aaron Black. He tells Oskar he can’t come down because he’s, “very sick,” (90). Then he said he’s, “hooked up to all sorts of machines,” (90). When I read this I saw a man trying to lure a nine-year old boy up to his apartment. I don’t think this is what the author was going for, but these are the kinds of ideas my mom put into my head when I was a young kid so I wouldn’t do things like Oskar does in this story.
Christina also mentioned that she thought the picture of the crying elephant was disturbing. No matter what the picture of the crying elephant made you feel, it got you to look at it. I saw it before I read this section so I didn’t know what it was. I stared at it wondering. I thought it was Godzilla. Anyway, my point is, I think pictures that are either really close up or from really far out, such as the aerial view of the city that spans from page 60 to 61, are really cool. They allow us to see things from a perspective we don’t normally get to see. The May 2009 covers (yes, there are three different covers) of Esquire are three extreme close ups on the faces of George Clooney, President Barack Obama, and Justin Timberlake. I think this is an effective cover because it really catches your eye when you can see the hairs by George Clooney’s nose that he missed when he was shaving or a teardrop from the eye of an elephant.
In regards to Christina’s post, I think it’s also relevant to look at the title itself as a parallel to Oskar’s character. Oskar describes that his mother does not seem to care as much that his father had died or that he himself was particularly sad. Oskar does not seem to have many friends at school, only bullies to make fun of his intelligence. It is interesting to me then, that the title of this chapter is “The Only Animal” because I believe it is showing Oskar as he feels; that he is the only one like him now that his dad has passed. This also relates to how alone his grandmother feels, as they constantly go back to the imaginary friend she has since Oskar’s grandfather left. Also in the letter she wrote to Oskar, his grandmother talks of how she begged and cried his grandfather to marry her as if she were so alone she needed somebody there to comfort her. This idea of “The Only Animal” begins to play into each of the Black’s that Oskar meets. Aaron Black would not let Oskar into the apartment even after Oskar told him that his father had died, as if he wanted to be alone. Abby Black, although was very closed off toward Oskar at first, opened up when Oskar talked about the recall that elephants had of their lost loved ones. It was here that you could tell Abby felt alone also, even though she had a husband. She cried after not being able to know how the elephants reacted, and it seemed as though she was the only person in her apartment, even with a husband.
ReplyDeleteLike Christina, I was very interested in the chapter entitled “The Only Animal.” Specifically, the conversation between Oskar and Abby Black caught my attention. It seems that there is much more to everything he says to her. When he mentions the elephants, each thing that fascinates him about their behavior relates to his life in some way. He mentions that “elephants can set up meetings,” and this is something Oskar and his grandmother do to stay in touch (94). When he and his grandmother use the walkie-talkies to communicate across the street, Oskar explains that his grandmother is always waiting for him on the other end, and that he doesn’t know how she always knows when he will be there (102). This form of communication reminds me of the elephants with E.S.P. that Oskar is so fascinated with.
ReplyDeleteOskar also corrects Abby Black when she tries to tell him that ‘elephants are the only other animals that bury their dead’ (96). He strictly believes that the action of burying the dead is a human action. He also refuses to believe that elephants can cry. He claims that the picture of the elephant with a tear in its eye ‘was probably manipulated in Photoshop’ (96). It seems that Oskar is comforted to believe that ‘humans are the only animal that blushes, laughs, has religion, wages war, and kisses with lips’ (99). The fact that Oskar tries so hard to draw dividing lines between humans and all other animals seems to echo the idea that he is looking for his significance in the world.
After reading this chapter and seeing the connection Oskar has made with a stranger, Abby Black, I am beginning to feel that this journey he has embarked on will lead him to “heal his wounds” as Christina said in her post. Perhaps he will never find the lock that matches the key he has found (even though I am really hoping he finds that lock) but he will be comforted by making special connections with people along the way.