The most interesting part of Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close so far, and specifically this most recently assigned passage, are the parallels between precocious little Oskar and post-9/11 America:
The fictional nine year old Oskar Schell lost his father in the largest attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, leaving him feeling lost and alone. After finding a key his father had left hidden, and with the word “Black” written on the envelope the key was found in as his only clue, he begins on an investigation throughout the five boroughs of New York City for the mysterious “Black”. Oskar’s task seems overwhelmingly daunting: to knock on the door of everyone with the name “Black” in New York City. And, seeing as how is unsure as to whether the “Black” written on the envelope is even a name, he realizes that I may all lead to nothing. But “even if it was relatively insignificant… [he] needed to do something.” Similarly to Oskar, in the days and months following September 11, 2001, Americans were left frightened, some may even say paranoid. And so there was little questioning done in 2003 when President Bush announced that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was also possibly harboring terrorists, making him a threat to the United States. The planners of 9/11 were yet to be found and the threat of another terrorist attack on American soil was still fresh in their minds. Despite the fact that many were not sure if Iraq had anything to do with 9/11 (weren’t we already in Afghanistan?), many Americans at the time did not ask questions. Because standing by and hoping that the terrorists were found before they found their next target was not an option. Appearing weak and vulnerable was not an option. American foreign policy has been all over the board in the last century, leaving modern Americans unsure of their countries role in the world. As supposedly the world’s only superpower, is it not America’s duty to aid others? And if so, how far does it go? Should the U.S. put its own troops, its own people at risk? But suddenly the United States was attacked and suddenly Americans no longer felt invincible. The days months and years after September 11 have and will continue to be a journey of self-exploration for the United States of America. Much like Oskar’s.
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I agree entirely with Sydney's comparison between Oskar and Post 9/11 America. I didn't really notice this while I was reading this, but now it seems so obvious. The way Oskar acts is exactly how America has been acting over the past decade, going from a feeling of invincibility to the vulnerable, confused nation that is still trying to rebuilt itself. Oskar, like America, didn't have a care in the world; he feared nothing and really had no reason to. Yet then after 9/11 and the death of his father, he had to grow up quick after being subjected to the harsh realities of the real world that we live in. His happy, trusting and almost ignorant world view was shattered and replaced with confusion and uncertainty, just like America. It is really interesting to look and see how Oskar and America parallel each other in their attitudes pre- and post-9/11. Sydney has brought a very interesting idea to the table here which adds even more depth to this amazing story.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the majority of the points Sydney makes in her comparison of Oskar and post 9/11 America. Like Sean says, the connection between the two is hardly glaring upon reading the passages yet, after being brought up by someone else, I immediately recognize its existence. Like Oskar and his seemingly futile search for all those name Black in New York City after finding the clue, the U.S. searched through the Middle East for similarly ambiguous reasons. Whether the search was for Al-Qaeda members, WMD's or Bin Laden himself, the recent U.S. involvement in the Middle East has been largely controversial and debatably successful. Yet, while support for the continued U.S. involvement is decreasing, perhaps the search was for more cathartic reasons than tangible. After losing his father on 9/11, Oskars only remaining connection to his favorite person, who was now deceased, was this aimless search for clues pertaining to the mysterious key left for him. For Oskar, this search is part of a healing process, therapeutic if you will, help him get over the traumatic incident of his father's death. The search could also simply be Oskar trying to find someone he can blame or acknowledge as the person or entity which caused his father's death. Either interpretation, the search can only be ended once Oskar has come to terms with his father's death. This can be compared to the U.S. involvement in the Middle East, we're simply looking for someone to blame or attain closure for the attacks. Yet, like Oskar has found so far, the task in the Middle East is far more daunting than initially imagined. With the war in Iraq passing it's sixth year of continued conflict and with no end in near sight, the search is looking more fruitless each passing day, just as Oskar's search looks to me right now. When reading the passages and Oskar's setbacks, despite recently finding someone who knows what the key is for, the real meaning of the key coming from his father is yet to be seen and I feel as if Oskar may never reach a conclusion. Yet, the novel would not exist without a proper ending so a conclusion to the story is soon approaching yet its exact meaning is still lost on me. Therefore, the events of 9/11 prompting Oskar's search for the meaning of the mysterious key and the U.S. involvement in the Middle East is a valid comparison yet, while both have not yet been solved, at least I know that I will have finished the novel and will know the answer in a definite amount of time.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Oskar is looking for answers to what happened to his father, however, it differs slightly with how I conceived America’s post 9/11 reaction.
ReplyDeleteThe events of September 11 created one important thing: a new enemy. Throughout the history of time, every civilization needed an enemy and a scapegoat to blame for all of their problems: Athens and Sparta, Rome and the barbarians, Christian Crusaders and Muslims, Britain and Colonial America, Allies and Axis, and so on. It is human nature, I feel, to blame others -- perhaps something stemming out of man’s search for answers to every problem. And September 11th solidified in American minds a new enemy: the Middle-Easterners. What a wave of patriotism that was to witness! I truly felt like an American when citizens of this great nation freely gave out vengeful death threats, ransacked establishments run by “towel heads,” and marginalized a sector of its own society, all while waving the ol’ Stars and Stripes in their front lawns. America needed answers, just like Oskar needs answers, except with a vengeance.
It is interesting to look back on the previous enemy. It was believed that communists would be the ultimate enemy of Western society for at least another 100 years (they “knew” it would fail, just not when), and when that proved to be untrue with the soft, but not silent, collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, America was left without such an enemy. (It seems money overcomes even ideology with China nowadays) There was no outbreak of war; there was no nuclear holocaust to the surprise of every expectation and analysis. The scope had to point to a new enemy, and so 9/11 gave the perfect opportunity to line up the Middle-east.
The main difference between America and this book is that with Oskar’s search for truth and answers, he comes to know his world through the exchange of ideas and differences. He learns about himself by interacting and interaction, not just revenge.