What caused his grandfather to lose his words? How do you
think this affects him and those around him?
"She was the tree and also the river flowing away from
the tree." What do you make of this quote? What does this tell you?
Near the end of the chapter, the last half paragraph, his
grandfather's thoughts become jumbled, almost manic in nature. These thoughts
are followed by him pointing to the word HELP. What does this tell us about the
relationship between the grandfather and grandmother?
What is the significance of the picture in this chapter? How
do you think it fits in?
34 comments:
I believe that Oskar's grandfather lost his words because of all of the previous trauma he has been through in his past life. Also, I think that by him not being able to talk affects people greatly around him. People viewed him differently and could tell that he had gone through something tragic. Anyone in my opinion would have been able to tell something was wrong with his grandfather, and would want to know what he was feeling. His grandfather desperately needed help and Oskar's grandmother could see that even before he showed her the word HELP. This shows that their relationship was on a whole different spiritual level than most, they understood each other and tried to understand how each other felt.
I think what caused his Grandfather to lose his words is simply too much emotional baggage and things that have happened in his life and affected him in a negative way. It mostly affects him and while it affect the others around him, it seems like more on an internal issue with himself and that is what almost drives him into insanity. Later in the chapter when he meets the "grandmother," he doesn't want anything to do with her at first. However, her persistence and how she kept trying to talk him, caused him to give in. Although he couldn't see it at that moment, she was hiding just about as many internal issues as he was. That leads me to believe that when he pointed to the word HELP, it meant something slightly different for the both of them and they would be able to help each other together more than they could help themselves separately.
I think Oskar's grandfather lost his words as a form of PTSD from someone's death. A theme of the novel is how different personalities deal with death and Oskar's grandfather's chose of mourning is definitely unique. This chapter was incredibly sad to read. As the thoughts became more scattered it was obvious of the friction in Oskar's grand parents' marriage as well as the haunting of death. While the meeting between the grandmother and grandfather seems random and as though the two are opposites, they find common ground in grief. Oskar's grandmother is frantic while his grandfather is reserved, however, they have both run out of options. Additionally, Oskar's grandfather's loss of words seems to make him respect the power of them more. During the meeting with Oskar's grandmother, his grandfather repeats that certain phrases she probably wishes she would have saved. Could living with someone so quick to use words that you've lost be possible or overwhelmingly frustrating?
When someone goes through all of the horrible things and trauma that oskar's grandfather went through it is not surprising that he is unable to speak. Oskars grandfather obviously needed some help but was almost to stubborn or nervous to ask for it. Finally the grandmother was able to dig in and persist eventually leading to him pointing to help. When she saw the word help it was like a moment of relief for both of them how they were able to find someone who could help both of them, because she was going through and had some of the same issues he did. When two people are going through rough times the best thing to do, is just talk about it, and find common ground to assist each other in getting through some hard times.
Having gone through so much in his life, it's not shocking or weird for Oskar's grandpa to not be able to talk. Like most men, Grandpa was too stubborn to ask for help and for the people around him that was probably frustrating, especially for Oskar's grandma. With persistence she was able to convince him to ask for help and it was a moment of relief. It's very important to be able to talk to your significant other and to trust one another enough to ask for help. Although they weren't in love, they were married and being able to trust is important regardless. For Oskar's grandpa to finally be able to ask for help, I think it brought Grandma and Grandpa closer. They both have been through a lot and through almost similar situations so to be able to recognize that and lean on each other for a moment was probably relieving.
I agree with Morgan and Makenzie, my uncle has a little PTSD from being stationed in Iraq, and his is just that he can loose his temper easily and goes off. Everybody can react to their PTSD differently. I think maybe that someone died, and his last words to them had something to do with it. Maybe he said something he wishes he could take back. I liked how the grandma and him finally opened up a little to each other. He finally was able to ask for help and when she saw that she asked him to marry her. The realized that they weren't the only ones in pain, and that they can help each other together. They may not marry for love, but more for support and to not go through whatever they are going through by themselves. They won't feel alone in the world if they at least have each other.
Oskar’s grandfather lost his words because of something that happened to another individual. This is apparent as he keeps mentioning the name “Anna.” It is not revealed what had happened to her. She may have simply broken up with him. Maybe she fell in love with someone else, or Anna could’ve possibly died. Any of these could have broken Oskar’s grandfather to the point that he loses his words. Losing his words makes communication very difficult, and it also has an impact on any relationship he forms. The loss of his words could be a constant reminder to himself, as well as anyone he becomes romantically involved with, that he still loves Anna. I wonder if this will play into the relationship he and Oskar’s grandmother have. It is a heartbreaking thought, but it is an interesting dynamic.
I also agree with Sophie! I think the reason he lost his words was due to all of the horrific things he went trough in his lifetime. It is so hard to imagine losing someone who literally means everything to you. It is heartbreaking thinking about finding the one your heart loves, but not being able to speak to or see them again. Losing his words was, I'm sure, only one of the outcomes of Oskar's grandfather's world falling apart. Also, during this chapter, I was reminded how much we really need our ability to talk! It doesn't only affect our close friends and family, but every single person we encounter throughout our day. Without speaking, small things are made more difficult. When he pointed to the world "help" it was showing the hurt they both had on a deeper level they couldn't quite explain, but they had a relationship so close they didn't have to.
There is a picture of a door knob in this chapter. At first its location in this chapter confused me. Once I read more about Oskar's grandfather and began to understand him more the picture made sense. To me, the door knob represents the door to Oskar's grandfather. It is shut much like how he has shut himself in. The lock on the door appears to be in between the stages of being locked and unlocked. In someways he is locked inside of himself when he loses his words. He is also unlocked in some ways because he still communicates and allows people to see what's on the surface. He seems to be in between a transformation in himself much like how the lock is between two phases.
What caused his grandfather to lose his words? How do you think this affects him and those around him?
Oskar’s grandfather probably lost his words due to unconscious removal of Anna and past trauma. It hurt to think of Anna and so his mind erased her from him. Continuing on, any words that sounded familiar to “Anna” or relating to her slowly started to drift after. Eventually, Thomas lost his ability to produce any words and communicated solely on short written sentences and his tattooed hands. I think that this caused him to further isolate himself from others and it made it extremely difficult for people to interact with him.
What is the significance of the picture in this chapter? How do you think it fits in?
In my opinion, I think that the door knob in this chapter represents Oskar’s grandfather’s feelings to the grandmother. The lock on the knob is between lock and unlock and I think that Oskar’s grandfather is hesitant towards Oskar’s grandmother but still willing to work with her and marry her.
It is evident that something happened with someone named Anna in Oskar's grandfather's life. We aren't told what it is but we can assume it is something very serious and life-altering, since it caused him to lose his ability to speak. I think he most likely lost his speech because he kept everything bottled in because he didn't want to talk about it. This speech impediment isn't only an inconvenience to Oskar's grandfather, but also to everyone he interacts with. He loses some of his independence, as he now depends on having a notebook to be able to interact with people.
When his thoughts become jumbled towards the end of the chapter, it is clear that his mind is speeding down a path that he doesn't want to travel down again. He points to "help" which, to me, suggests that he trusts her very much. Although they just met, something about her came across as trustworthy and dependable to him, and he felt she could relate and possibly help him. This reinforces their powerful connection.
I think that Oskar’s grandfather lost his words due to a tragic loss in his life. Seeing as the first word he loses is “Anna”, we can assume that whoever she is started this loss of words. I can’t imagine the effect this had on Oskar’s grandfather. We use language to communicate our thoughts and ideas to others every single day. I don’t think we realize how lucky we are to be able to communicate with others so easily. It becomes obvious how important words are when we see Oskar’s grandfather lose more and more words, making his life increasingly more difficult with every new word he loses. Because of his inability to easily communicate with others, he doesn’t have anyone to open up to, or even relationships with others. That is why the picture of the doorknob is significant to this chapter. It is between being locked and unlocked, symbolising him beginning to open himself up to Oskar’s grandmother.
Sometimes when people have experienced extremely traumatic events in their life, they convert their emotional troubles into physical problems so they don't have to confront the emotional aspect. This is what I believe has happened to Oskar's grandfather. Also, his first word that he lost was Anna, so we have a clue as to what might have caused this loss of words. I think the fact that the last word pointed to was help signifies not a want for love, but rather a need for it. Both of them have clearly experienced very painful events in their lives and now they both need someone to live for.
I believe that his grandfather lost his words as a result of the trauma that was brought unto him throughout his life. It was made outstandingly clear that Anna had some part in this, but it is unclear what exactly happened. Perhaps losing her was too much, and that was his body's way of coping with how broken he felt and all the baggage he carried. In addition to the pain that was brought about him in situations that he couldn't control, I also think that he thought himself into silence. One of the quotes that I highlighted without hesitation was, "I never thought about things at all, everything changed, the distance that wedged itself between me and my happiness wasn't the world, it wasn't the bombs and burning buildings, it was me, my thinking, the cancer of never letting go, is ignorance bliss, I don't know, but it's so painful to think, and tell me, what did thinking ever do for me, to what great place did thinking ever bring me? I think and think and think, I've thought myself out of happiness one million times, but never once into it" (17). So, despite the fact that he clearly has had a lot of baggage forced upon him, I also believe that he further brought the silence to himself when he couldn't stop thinking about everything that had ever happened to him.
I think that his silence may make people around him sympathize with him, but I also have to wonder whether or not he really wants their sympathy. It is undoubtedly sad, and I found it very difficult to make it through this chapter (and the first couple of chapters, honestly) without tearing up. I also think that his silence, and maybe the aura about him entirely, attracts the attention of other people who have been broken inside- for instance, the grandmother. The first thing she said to him when she approached him in the bakery was "You've lost everything" (30). It's a pretty well-known idea that people who are hurting can see the hurt in other's lives, and I think that the relationship formed between the grandfather and grandmother is a perfect example of that.
When Oskar’s grandfather begins to lose his speech, the loss starts with the name Anna. Her name gets caught in his throat when he wants to reference the way a knife was put on a table. Even though he cannot say her name, he continues to write “Anna” everywhere. This shows that whoever Anna is, or was, she must have been of great importance. Later, Oskar’s grandfather mentions he’s losing other words as well. “I lost ‘carry’, I lost the things I carried” (17). As Oskar’s grandfather loses physical things, he loses the words for them as well. When he loses “want”, he is unable to convey wanting without replacing it with another word. I think to be able to lose the name “Anna” first, he had to have lost her physically, emotionally, or both.
I believe that trauma and PTSD combined were what led to Oskar's grandfather's eventual decline. A person could only take so much, his grandfather's pain took a psychologically-damaging toll on him. It caused him to lose his words, and forced him to become mute. It goes along with the idea that the mind makes the body sick in some ways. There was obviously a connection with a woman named Anna and this man's loss of words, and because she was so significant, everyone else seems to focus around that in their comments.
When Oskar's grandfather wrote, "She was the tree and also the river flowing away from the tree," I think he was saying that this was a woman that tried everything she could in order to stay grounded and sane, but really couldn't sound any crazier in the moment. She wasn't really the person that she wanted Oskar's grandfather to see, and he knew that. At some point, she knew that he was completely aware of her "insanity." I think that's why they worked well together-- they understood each other.
Oskar's grandfather lost his words after the loss of his one true love, Anna. Anna, to Oskar's grandfather, was everything, as Oskar's grandfather said, she could see that he didn't know who he was. Oskar felt that with Anna, he was complete, his missing half. The fact Oskar's grandfather refused to speak created a burden on himself and the people around him. Because he couldn't talk and used mainly words he wrote earlier, people had to guess what he was saying. This could often cause misinterpretations of what he was requesting and potentially cause him to get the wrong food, service etc. This is where the pain is brought upon Oskar's grandfather. Oskar's grandfather I feel is often limited by his own sickness. He can't communicate how he actually feels, he can only answer with simplistic responses. He also can't say what he wants from someone, which might cause him to get the wrong product he ordered. It might also be an economic burden, as he has to buy ink, and books for his words, and he also dumped money on tattoos.
I agree that Oskar's grandfather's loss of words is due to scarring experiences. His loss of Anna clearly had a huge impact on his life, and it may have been the central cause for his muteness. When Oskar's grandmother sits down at the grandfather's table, it is immediately shown that she has gone through rough times as well. Their relationship is unique because they both are together to help each other cope with their struggles. I agree with Mackenzie that when Oskar's grandfather wrote "help" in his notebook, he meant it in a way to say that they could help each other by being together.
I think the picture at the end of this chapter signifies the grandfathers inability to speak. The key is half turned, not fully unlocking the door. This represents how not being able to speak can hold back opening doors and opportunities. The grandfather said that having yes and no tattooed on each hand did not make life wonderful, it only made it possible. Life was possible through the books he would write to communicate with others, and to answer simple questions that involved only yes or no answers. He could never fully open the door to all the wonderful things life had to offer because of his speech issues. The door to the beautiful life he once lived in with expression was not closed and locked. The key to unlock it all only unlocked half of lives pleasures again, but never all of it.
In a way I was confused on why his grandfather lost his words. Was it from trauma? Was it a disease that just slowly formed due to past experiences? Did it all have to do with only experiences or was it a little bit of psychology mixed in with it? I think that losing "Anna" as his first word was a sign that she had a very huge impact on him. Losing her may have been the worst thing to happen to him. Or was it losing his words? If I was around him and he wasn't able to communicate with me through words I might be taken aback a little. I'm sure the people around him would as well. There may be a lack of understanding and compassion from others due to his condition. Others may become frustrated because they cannot relate to him and his pain. I can't imagine what it would be like to be unable to talk and communicate through words. The effect this would have on others around might not be very positive. Then again, I could be wrong. There may be some with empathy for him. I'd say he would beyond deserve that.
I think that maybe for Oskar's grandfather, by not speaking he could forget some of the pain from his past. Maybe it started off by him not saying Anna and receiving at least a little bit of comfort from it, and then it just spread as he tried to block out all of his pain completely. I think this is what happens when two people grow together and become a part of each other, kind of like how a tree grows around fences and whatever else it touches for too long. Then when the thing that it grew around is torn away, it is forever left with a hole that it can't quite fill. If it ever does fill it, there is always something there that just isn't quite right, something that is too deep to ever be fixed. I think that when this happens to a person like Oskar's grandfather, it just makes sense for him to lose a part of himself such as his voice. Especially since he and Anna used to talk so much, speaking became something that he associated closely with her.
I think that the grandfather's panic at the end of the chapter signifies the fact that he's very much being sort of pressured into the marriage. It's clear in the way that when she does ask him about marriage he keeps trying to find an escape, flipping to different places in his book to find different easy rejections, but she continued pushing him into it until he finally agreed, but with the rule that they couldn't have children. I think that even then he knew that they were both trying to create something that just couldn't last because of their history together and the way they both latch onto the past. He knows that he's still too caught up in his own world and in Anna too ever fully give her what she might want from him. I think the true problem at the foundation of their relationship can be seen pretty well when he's sculpting using the grandmother but he's making it into Anna.
I agree with Sarah and Cathryn. I think Grandpa was to stubborn to ask for help with his memories that involved "Anna". For us to understand better, I think we need to hear about Anna and what the deal is between her and Grandpa. Whatever it is, it has left Grandpa devastated. Grandpa needs help to deal with this problem, but he just won't. I think this is where Oskar will fit in in the future. I think they could mutually help each other.
I agree with Hannah. I think that Oskar's grandfather has some kind of post trauma from life altering situations he was involved in through his lifetime. His grandfather I feel like he has shut himself in, due to his past life situations he encountered. In this chapter one of the pictures is a door knob, and I think this represents his grandfather's life toward everyone else. He had lost everything including his loss for words, hard enough he just closed out the world and didn't share his past or feelings with anyone. If you put yourself in his shoes, you could imagine how hard it would be to go through what he had to do just to communicate one single thought. I believe something happened involving a girl named Anna because he always talked about her including when he was sculpting his wife making her look like Anna.
Admittedly, the narrator transition originally threw me off a bit, but I'll yield I like the idea of an intersecting story line that runs not parallel but in conjunction to Oskar's. The Grandpa's degeneration of speech sparked some interesting thoughts for me. For example, his whole stack-up-your-notebook-and-fill-your-apartment shebang made me think of how I keep all of math notes preserved from previous years. It's similar, but with a lot less emotional trauma and dead trees. It kind of reminds me of how Stephen hawking speaks- it'll take him minutes to say a sentence that's not prerecorded on his computer, which admittedly makes it about ten times more epic when he roasts somebody. Also, would you eventually forget your own voice, as a shape-shifter might forget his original form if he didn't study it enough? Thanks Flash for that thought bubble.
The relationship between the Grandmother and the Grandfather is kind of strange. It is pretty much a loveless relationship full of secrets and lies. Their relationship is very strange. They were never really meant to end up together, and when they did, it didn't work out for very long. They both also have different points of view, so the lies seem to continue. The grandfather was originally in love with Anna, so it was kind of like he came to the last resort of the grandmother, and it wasn't even like he chose her. She chose him, so that was a large aspect of their strange relationship. They just need to be able to openly communicate and talk about their problems. They can never more forward if they don't fix the broken parts of their relationship.
I find this chapter infinitely fascinating. Oskar’s grandpa’s sentence structure is reminiscent of free verse poetry. It has that solid punch kind of arrangement that seems messy and strung out and disconnected, but keeps you going nonetheless. Well, keeps me going, anyways. His grandpa could have “lost his words” multiple ways; dementia, PTSD, trauma, any kind of brain affectation that deteriorates one’s mental state over time. I like that he was a sculptor. He says: “I could have released sculptures, I could have released myself from the marble of myself.” This struck me, because Michelangelo said something about sculptures like that once, about how inside every block of marble, there’s already a sculpture, you just have to free it, or something like that. The picture of the doorknob, wow, that could go in any direction. Maybe it’s just his front door? Maybe it’s the wall of his mental block? Maybe it’s the help he wants, like he needs the “door of his mind” opened so he can speak again, I don’t know. About his erratic sentence structure again though, his juxtaposition of seemingly manic and random sentences is something to relish in. It literally reads like poetry, for me at least. Like when he goes on his rant: “The end of suffering does not justify the suffering, and so there is no end to suffering, what a mess I am, I thought, what a fool, how foolish and narrow, how worthless, how pinched and pathetic, how helpless. None of my pets know their own names, what kind of person am I?” There is something deeply effective about his scattered franticness. I don’t know. Also, I noticed that the picture of the doorknob id also the first page of the book, except there its focused on the keyhole. Hm.
I agree with Olivia that his Grandfather had some post trauma in his life. He kind of blocks everyone out doesn't let anyone in. His relationship with the Grandma is something that was built on lies and he was in love with Anna. Which means he chose the second person he didn't really love as much as her. The Grandmother and Grandfather have problems they need to fix in there lives to move forward. Like the Grandfather tried to make her into Anna and you can't really make someone into something there not.
I think Oskar's grandfather's inability to speak is caused not entirely by a trauma he experienced, but in its aftermath. Sure, one can pull through disaster, but the larger question is always "what now?". Upon seeing the woman he would marry, they relate in having lost everything they cared about. But I think the largest loss he suffered was the loss of Anna, his true love. He couldn't bear to say her name, and eventually lost all his words. They all brought him pain. It's a double-edged sword, though. Saying words brought him pain and rememberance of things he will never regain, but not speaking haunts him because he still thinks about what he cannot bear to say often.
Something I found interesting was that, despite it all, he could manage to still think about Anna and not have to use another name to call her so he could avoid the pain. Yet, we never know the name of the woman he married. He always addresses her as "your mother". Maybe he can't say her name because it hurts him to know the pain he caused her in the end? Or he doesn't want to accept that the woman he married was never Anna, but someone he settled for.
I think all the stress and trauma that Oskar's grandfather went through caused him to lose his words. This would affect grandfather emotionally and mentally. If I think about not being able to talk, it would be like being tapped in a bubble and not being able to cry for help. It would also affect the people around him as well as himself. The people he meets must have to be patient while he writes down what he wants to say in his notebook.
Honestly, this is the most confusing chapter in the book thus far. First, I thought the author was being metaphoric when talking about the man losing his words and getting tattoos. Then, I thought it was real. Then back and forth. Also, the switch from Oskar's story to his grandfather's didn't help my thinking. Oskar's grandfather "lost his words" because he didn't want to say them anymore. He was afraid of words. Something or someone caused him to stop saying words. Not speaking affected himself by probably making him feel sadder. For other people, they most likely felt sympathetic for him and wanted to help him.
The picture in this chapter shows the door knob and lock in a door. There is a key in the lock, but it is not locked or unlocked, kind of in the middle. I think this is a visual on how Oskar's grandfather. In the sentence before the picture, he states, "it was one of the best days of my life, a day during which I lived my life and didn't think about my life at all." This description tells me that his grandmother is "opening the door" into the grandfather's life. it was his best day of his life and he never thought about living, he just lived.
I believe that previous stress in his life caused Oskar's grandfather to lose his words. I believe that as he started to lose his words, he just continued to worry and stress about it more and more, leading to him losing all of his ability to speak. Stress has many strange affects on the body physically, and on the mind emotionally and it affects people very very differently. I believe losing his words was just how Oskar's grandfather was affected by stress. His condition would also affect those around him, especially those who did not know him and understand his condition. It would take time for those who were around him regularly to get used to reading conversations on note pads and then communicating through the yes and no questions, however, family and friends learn to adapt around someone who has a disability or other condition. It would be most difficult for strangers to interact and it would lead to a lot of uncomfortable and confusing situations.
I think Oskar's grandfather lost his words as a result of the depression he experience after something terrible happened to him earlier in his life. As if to represent how a depressed person slowly looses more and more the will to live Oskar's grandfather looses more and more words. In meeting Oskar's grandmother it shows how even if it seems we have lost everything in our lives life has a way of giving us more to live for. Oskar's grandfather doesn't say a word with her yet she feels this deep psychological love for him. It's to show that no matter who you are or what you've become their's someone out there who will love you for who you are. This chapter is meant to show that a bond between two people can still exists even without words.
What caused his grandfather to lose his words? How did it affect him and those around him?
I believe that his grandfather went through something traumatic that involved Anna that scarred him so much that he couldn't talk. I’m not sure what happened that involved Anna but it definitely broke him. I think the loss of his words affected him more than the others around him because he was stuck with only his mind.
What is the significance of the picture? How does it fit in?
I think the door symbolizes that his grandfather is locked in his mind and that the door is close to opening, giving him a new beginning with Oskar’s grandmother. The photo is on the pages before Oskar’s grandfather accepts Oskar’s grandmother's help, starting a new chapter of his life.
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