In Jonathan Safran Foer's novel "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" photographs help the main character, Oskar Schell, to document his thoughts and feelings. Oskar is an intelligent and curious boy, so the photographs he collects in a scrapbook named "Stuff That Happened to Me" are rich in diversity.
First there are many pictures which refer directly or indirectly to family members, like his father and his grandfather. Moreover, Oskar collects pictures of people he is not related to but admires a lot, like Stephen Hawking or his cat. The third group of his photographs includes strangers whom the boy briefly or never met at all. Although not every photograph in the novel can be divided into these three groups, I will only focus on selected photographs according to the three groups.
This report will argue that every single group has its own function and reveals different things about Oskar. While photographs connected to his father or grandfather give away something about Oskar’s past and his way he of dealing with his loss, the second group, pictures about admired ones helps to become a better image of Oskar’s personality and his emotions. The third group that contains photographs of strangers represents his social interaction with foreigners and his interests.
Through analyzing some particular photographs in their contexts, I will achieve a deeper look into Oskar’s inside, so that I will gain more information about this character than the written pages in Foer’s novel offers. Moreover, I want to prove that most of the chosen photographs which appear in the protagonist’s scrapbook, whether they are taken by himself or by others, are connected to Thomas Schell Jr. and underline Oskar's emotional instability after his father’s death.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Topic Description
3. Photographs of Characters Oskar Misses
3.1 Oskar’s Father
3.2 Oskar’s Grandfather
4. Photographs of Characters Oskar Admires
4.1 Stephen Hawking
4.2 Oskar’s Cat
5. Photographs of Characters Oskar Superficially Knows
5.1 Abby Black
5.2 Two Cavemen and an Astronaut
6. Conclusion
7. Critical Appraisal
Research Objectives and Core Themes
The primary aim of this report is to analyze the function and meaning of the photographs found in the protagonist's scrapbook, "Stuff That Happened to Me," within the novel "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" to gain a deeper understanding of Oskar Schell’s character and emotional state.
- The psychological impact of the 9/11 tragedy on the protagonist.
- The role of photography as a means of processing loss and grief.
- Categorization of photographs: family members, admired figures, and strangers.
- The relationship between the protagonist's interest in science/history and his photography.
- Oskar's development of maturity through his interactions with his photographic models.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1 Oskar’s Father
Oskar’s interest in photography can be traced back to his intense relationship to his father, Thomas Schell Jr. who died in the attack of 9/11. Father and son had a special bond together, for they did numerous activities together which only included the two of them, like their frequent search for mistakes in the newspaper or special riddles the father asked the child. When Oskar finds a key in an envelope with the name “Black” on it after his father’s death, he believes that he found clues for another riddle and wants to find out what the key is for, so he goes on a search. His camera accompanies him throughout the whole quest, in order to document his results. The hunt after the lock becomes very important to Oskar because he now feels connected to his father whom he misses a lot, “Every time I left our apartment to go searching for the lock, I became a little lighter, because I was getting closer to Dad” (Foer 2012: 52).
The photographs show that he is trying hard to find the answer and fulfill his father’s expectations. In the past when the father riddled his son, Oskar had always shown his progress in detail to his parent and was excited about his reaction, “’Here’s what I’ve found,’ I said, pushing my pussy off the table with the tray of evidence. […] ‘Can’t you even tell me if I’m on the right track?’” (Foer 2012: 9).
After the father’s death, the child wants to hold on to this tradition, thus he keeps collecting evidences of his search. However; he does not want to show his efforts of the current investigation to anyone else, not even his mother because solving riddles had always been a father-son action. The boy replaces the real evidences with pictures of them, for he wants to hold his father up to date and aims to make him proud, because according to Susan Sontag (1977: 3) “Photographs furnish evidence “.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter outlines the protagonist's use of photography to document his feelings and introduces the division of photographs into three distinct thematic groups.
2. Topic Description: This section explains the author's motivation for analyzing the novel and establishes the research focus on the scrapbook "Stuff That Happened to Me".
3. Photographs of Characters Oskar Misses: This chapter analyzes how Oskar uses photographs of his father and grandfather to process his loss and maintain a connection to his past.
4. Photographs of Characters Oskar Admires: This chapter examines how photographs of figures like Stephen Hawking and his cat reflect Oskar's personality, his passion for science, and his need for protection.
5. Photographs of Characters Oskar Superficially Knows: This chapter discusses how pictures of strangers, such as Abby Black or historical figures, demonstrate Oskar's social sensitivity and deep curiosity about the world.
6. Conclusion: This chapter synthesizes the analysis, confirming that the photographs serve as a crucial tool for understanding Oskar's grief, empathy, and maturing character.
7. Critical Appraisal: This final chapter provides a self-reflective critique regarding the limitations of this report as a first academic writing attempt.
Keywords
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer, Oskar Schell, Photography, Scrapbook, Grief, 9/11, Loss, Emotional Instability, Susan Sontag, Stephen Hawking, Doorknobs, Representation, Childhood, Trauma.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this report?
The report focuses on the analytical interpretation of photographs used in the novel "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer, specifically those found in the protagonist's personal scrapbook.
What are the primary thematic areas explored?
The main themes include the psychological processing of trauma, the construction of identity through photography, the father-son relationship, and the impact of the 9/11 attacks on a child.
What is the main research objective of the work?
The objective is to gain a deeper understanding of Oskar Schell’s character, feelings, and internal struggles by examining the function and meaning of the pictures he collects and takes.
Which scientific method is utilized for this analysis?
The author employs a qualitative literary analysis combined with theoretical concepts from Susan Sontag’s "On Photography" and photojournalism insights to decode the context of the chosen images.
What does the main body of the paper cover?
The main body is structured into three categories: family members the protagonist misses, people he admires, and individuals he knows only superficially, analyzing specific photographic examples within these groups.
Which keywords best characterize this research?
Key terms include 9/11, grief, Oskar Schell, photography, trauma, identity, and narrative analysis.
How does the author interpret the photographs of doorknobs?
The author relates the doorknob photographs to Oskar's grandfather, suggesting they represent a repressed desire to leave everything behind or an inability to deal with change and loss.
Why does Oskar photograph people like Abby Black from behind?
Oskar chooses this perspective to capture what he perceives as a more "truthful" image, reflecting his emotional maturity and his intuitive understanding of his models' hidden feelings.
What is the significance of the astronaut picture?
The picture of the astronaut in a weak, non-heroic moment is interpreted as Oskar’s way of acknowledging human vulnerability and his own feelings of being unprotected after his father's death.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Anonym (Autor:in), 2018, The Meaning of the Photographs in the Novel "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close", München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/465689
