Hyperbole:
1. "It's weird," I said. "We were incredibly close" (295). Oskar states this when he goes to William Black's office, implying that him and Mr. Black are incredibly familiar with each other even though the only time they saw each other before was when they were in the same apartment briefly a few months before. 2. "It's that I believe things are extremely complicated" (4). Oskar is explaining to the audience that even though he is an atheist, it does not mean he does not believe in God, it just means he no longer has faith in God. 3. “I was incredibly nervous, but I maintained my confidence, and I was extremely subtle” (143). The use of words such as “incredibly” and “extremely” indicate the use of hyperbole. The word “incredibly” reflects a young mind viewing the world as a huge place, and ironically, the phrase "extremely subtle" is Oskar's belief that he is being subtle, but in reality, is not. |
Foreshadowing:
1. "I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was him" (15). Readers do not find out until later that Oskar was present when Thomas Schnell made his final call, a call that Oskar fails to pick up. 2. "...and it made my boots lighter to be around his things, and to touch stuff that he had touched, and to make the hangers hang a little straighter, even though I knew it didn't matter" (36). Although Oskar is depressed (because of his father's death), he will be getting better later on after he receives closure about the key, and object that his father unknowingly possessed. 3. "And then I wondered, Did I tell her my name was Oskar?" (150). In the beginning, when Oskar visited the first Black family, he was left confused as to how the woman knew about the key and Oskar's name. It is not until the end, however, that Oskar and the readers discover that Oskar's mother had been calling all of the Black families beforehand, informing them that Oskar was going to visit so that the families could prepare for the child's arrival. |
Allusions:
1. "The next time I heard his voice was when I came home from school the next day. We were let out early, because of what happened" (14). "His voice" refers to Thomas Schell, Oskar's father. The last time Oskar heard his father's voice was in a voicemail that Thomas left for Oskar before Thomas' death from the 9/11 attacks. The second sentence in the quote is an allusion to the attacks, an event that caused the students in the city to go back home early. Throughout the story, Oskar never directly states that the attacks he keeps referring to were from 9/11, but it can be inferred due to the setting and the time period that the novel takes place in. 2. "Twelve weekends later was the first performance of Hamlet, although it was actually an abbreviated modern version, because the real Hamlet is too long and confusing..." (142). This is a direct allusion to Shakespeare's Hamlet, the play that Oskar has to perform at school. There are many parallels drawn between Oskar and Hamlet: they both lost their father and go to extreme lengths in order to discover the truth about their father's death. |
Dialogue:
1. "Dad?" "Yeah Buddy?" "Nothing." (14)(223) The repetition of this dialogue shows how Oskar is haunted by his inability to express his feelings during one of his last conversation that he has with his father. Oskar is constantly replaying this scene in his mind because he regrets not speaking whatever was on his mind. He wishes that he could go back to that moment to have more time with his dad. 2. He said, "Well, what would happen if a plane dropped you in the middle of the Sahara Desert and you picked up a single grain of sand with tweezers and moved it one millimeter?" I said,"I'd probably die of dehydration." He said, "I just mean right then, when you moved the single grain of sand. What would that mean?" .... I thought about it. "I guess I would have moved a grain of sand?" "Which would mean you changed the Sahara!" (86). This dialogue is between Oskar and his father. The Sahara Desert is so vast and many would assume that moving a grain of sand would not affect the desert. However, Oskar's dad explains to him that every action, no matter how big, will change the course of history. |
Metaphor/Simile:
1. “Then, out of nowhere, a flock of birds flew by the window, extremely fast and incredibly close. Maybe twenty of them. Maybe more. But they also seemed like just one bird, because somehow they all knew exactly what to do” (168). Oskar envies the birds because they all have an aim as to where they are going. Oskar wants to be able to have that same aim in his life, including the quest to find the lock to the key. 2. "The bridges between Manhattan and the sixth borough strained and finally crumbled, one at a time, into the water" (219). The sixth borough is a metaphor for the life that Oskar's father built, one full of imagination. After his father died, the bridge to the imaginary world, the sixth borough, also broke down. |
Irony:
1. The title is "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" and the event that led to Oskar's journey was a tragedy which was extremely loud. However, the one thing that did lead to the end of the journey was Oskar meeting his grandfather who is mute. 2. When Oskar's dad (Thomas Schell Jr.) was born, the whole family was torn apart and Oskar's grandfather moved away. When Oskar's dad died the family was brought back together and Oskar's grandfather returned. |
Motif:
1. Heavy Boots - The boots symbolize Oskar's emotions after he lost his dad; the sadness, anger, and the burden he carries. 2. Letters - The letters are used to communicate Grandmother and Thomas Schell Sr.'s story and they signify the emotions and connections Oskar and the rest of the family feels. It shows the inability for people to confront their problems, instead trying to hide behind a piece of paper and pen. 3. Key - The key connects Oskar to his dad. The journey that the key brings Oskar on represents the trials and tribulations that life has to offer. When people go on a quest to find an answer to an important question, they often find an answer that is not satisfactory. This is analogous to Oskar's situation. The key, which signifies hope, brings Oskar on a journey that he thinks will reconnect him with his father. After months of failure, however, the answer ultimately leads him nowhere closer to his father. 4. Bruises -The bruises are a physical indication of self- punishment that Oskar gives himself for not executing his tasks perfectly. 5. "Extremely" and "Incredibly" - These two adjectives are part of the title. They symbolize the extremes of his journey and the incredible events and self-realization that he came across. |
Sources:
Foer, Jonathan Safran. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Boston, MA: Mariner, 2005. Print.
Foer, Jonathan Safran. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Boston, MA: Mariner, 2005. Print.