What is so important about the letters that Oskar's
grandmother is collecting? What is important about letters in general? As
opposed to, say, emails or texts?
How could her grandmother love rivers and lakes if she had
never learned to swim? Most non-swimmers would at least harbor fear -- if not
hate -- of bodies of water...
What message was her grandmother trying to convey with the
story of the ruby bracelet?
I found the sculpting story through the proposal to be very
beautiful but tragic...I couldn't help but think of Jack and Rose in
Titanic...What are your thoughts on this section? Why do you view this scene in
this way?
30 comments:
The letters are so important to her because they are from everyone she has known in her life. I personally would keep these letters my whole life as well because they would hold a special place in my heart. It would be a memory of each and every person I knew. These letters were important because they helped her write the letter/story of her life. It was basically her whole life in order, laid out for her to read. She didn't really want everyone knowing every detail of her life and kept it pretty secretive. Oskar didn't really know much about his grandma and neither did a lot of other people. His grandma wasn't extremely loud about her life. She also really didn't get to know a lot of people either throughout her life, even her own husband.
The sculpting story in this chapter is definitely an homage to the scene in James Cameron’s classic. However, there is a huge difference between the sculpting scene and the drawing scene, and the main difference is saddening. In the scene from Titanic, it is obvious Jack and Rose are falling for one another as Jack draws a picture that is meant to be Rose. But, in the sculpting story, Oskar’s grandfather is not making a sculpture of Oskar’s grandmother; instead, it’s a sculpture of her sister Anna. It is upsetting because the reader believes he may be falling for her, just like it happened in Titanic, only for it to be revealed that Oskar’s grandfather was sculpting a woman who he loved years ago. It is evident Oskar’s grandfather does not love her; he still loves Anna after all of these years. He never saw Oskar’s grandmother as her own person and was not falling for her. He only saw Anna through all of it. The proposal is upsetting as well because when Oskar’s grandfather writes that they will not have children, it is clear he does not want children with her since she is not Anna.
Oskar's grandma is a secretive person, her defense is to push herself away from people and to reveal as little as possible. She asks everyone to write her letters and eventually ends up with hundreds of them. Letters are much more touching and more cherished. Having something, such as a letter that she can physically hold and touch, something that no matter what will not change because ink on paper is permanent unlike the opinions of others. People change and in turn, texts and emails can change but letters are forever.
The sculpting scene was very saddening. Even though Grandma realized the sculptor was her sister, she chose to sleep with Grandpa anyway. It's also sad from Grandpa's point of view because he lost the woman he loved and hopelessly trie to find their love in Grandma. Unlike Jack and Rose, the sculpting was done void of love and connection between the two.
The letters that Oskar's grandmother collects are memories of everyone she has ever met in her lifetime. Instead of having to dig deep in her memories to remember the person she can simply open and read a letter they wrote themselves. Letters are important because they are more personal. Just by a persons handwriting you can tell the amount of effort they put into the letter. If their handwriting is sloppy they were either rushed or just simply did not care about what they were writing. On the other hand if their handwriting is in neat and clean lines you can tell they they actually thought about what they wanted to say before they wrote it down. Letters are also important because they can never be deleted like an email or a text message. A letter will always show who that person was and how they acted during the time that the letter was wrote.
What is so important about the letters that Oskar's grandmother is collecting? What is important about letters in general? As opposed to, say, emails or texts?
The letters that Oskar’s grandmother is collecting is important because they are all from the people she holds dearly. The letters are infused with the emotions and struggles of the writer and by reading the letters, Oskar’s grandmother is able to understand the writer. For example, when she reads the letter from her own grandmother, a person she has never bothered to talk to and learn about, Oskar’s grandmother learns so much that she never knew. Her grandmother spilled her life story to Oskar’s grandma. Letters, in general, are important opposed to emails or texts because the recipient can physically hold the letter. Writing a letter means that the sender took time and care to craft a response.
How could her grandmother love rivers and lakes if she had never learned to swim? Most non-swimmers would at least harbor fear -- if not hate -- of bodies of water…
I think that her grandmother loves rivers and lakes even though she cannot swim because of the beauty and elegance of things that are unknown and cannot be touched. In a way, this is like the glamour of celebrities and great beings. Even though people are pretty much never going to personally interact with them, the common people still pretty much worship them because there is some kind of beauty in the unknown.
I agree with Cathryn. In the Titanic, its out of true love. They are falling for each other. Jack is drawing every precise curve, falling in love with each one, while Rose is exposed but feels safe ad secure. In the part in the book, yes he is drawing he and she is exposed, but he is truly drawing his true love, Anna. Yes, e is painting from the his heart, which sadly doesn't have that much to do with his wife. It is a sad love story, one where the love isn't mutual. At first I thought he was falling for her, seeing her as the women that she is, only to find out that he still loves Anna. I wonder what the grandma thought when she found out that he wasn't painting her. All of the toughing and reposing, and it wasn't even of her.
Comparing that scene to Jack and Rose is very sad because the difference seems so bold. Everything is very raw and exposed, but we know as readers that he is doing this out of the love in his heart for Anna. It was a very vulnerable scene, and I agree with Courtney- I can't imagine how she must of felt after knowing he wasn't in love with her, but someone close to her.
I loved the letter idea. As she read through all of them, she was able to learn more about herself, and those who were close to her. Her grandmother in particular went so in depth telling the story of her life, something that didn't happen before. She will be able to keep those letters forever, which is so much better than a text message. I personally still love to send and receive cards in the mail, they hold a special place in my heart. All of this was because she received that letter in the mail!
Oskar's grandmother takes her letter collecting very seriously. She asks everyone she can to write her a letter. The interesting part is she tells them to write about anything they want to. Every letter she receives is about something different because people write whatever is on their mind at the moment. Some letters are long and some are short. One letter she received was from Thomas and it was just a very short description of himself. One letter she received was from her grandmother and it was sixty-seven pages long. A letter leaves you with that persons handwriting to forever hold onto. It takes much longer to write a letter than type it and share through email or text. A letter is very personal. I believe that these letters left her with a piece of everyone she cares about.
I think the sculpting is a beautiful but vain attempt to show Oskar's grandmother that she is loved. She keeps saying that it was a sculpture of her sister but I am skeptical of this because she has "crummy eyes." I think that she was being sculpted but because she can't see well, she only sees her sister in the sculpture. My initial thoughts about the letters lead me to believe she was collecting everyone's handwriting to compare it to the letter she received that claimed to be from a work camp. I thought that because then she could know if it was actually a letter from a there or just from a relative or friend but we never really learn if it's genuine or fake so I don't actually know why she started collecting these letters.
I have always found that letters are almost a form of art. The way they play out and depending on who they are written to can make them so incredibly meaningful. I do also find that they are much more meaningful because we live in a generation where a lot of emotions have been pretty much desensitized with social media and other means of communication. As much as social media and new things are good editions to the ever improving world, letters are something that should never die out. Usually, letters are handwritten and sure, not everyone has the best handwriting and there is some grammar mistakes, but it shows that whoever wrote it was thinking about you and so much more emotion can be put into something handwritten than something texted or tweeted. I have a habit of writing things down and even writing letters to my friends so with experience from that, I know they always appreciate them and that it is something they will keep for many years to come. Letters are a one of a kind thing and are always just something so incredibly special even if its about something dumb.
Oskar's grandmother received a letter in the mail from a man in a Turkish labor camp. She couldn't help but wonder who this person was, what happened to him, and where he ended up. She tried to analyze the letter but couldn't find any meaning in the words, so she looked into the handwriting. That began her interest in other people's writing. She began requesting letters from everyone she could ask, comparing them with the first letter, and learning many things along the way. These letters hold more importance than other types of communication because the people took their time writing it. There is something about an actual handwritten letter that is so much more meaningful than emails or text messages.
It seemed odd at first that she loved lakes and river but hadn't learned to swim. But when you think about it, I think there is something calming and relaxing about water. She may even fear rivers and lakes, but also find them beautiful. I think this is true in life as well, because many people admire things they are afraid of.
Letters are important because they reveal part of a person's personality. When you type something up you can cover all of your rushing, your sloppiness, and your spirits. A person's handwriting can tell a lot about them, and letters are beautiful in the sense that they reveal a bit of vulnerability. It's much more personal to have a handwritten letter, as opposed to a typed letter, whether it's from a typewriter or a text message.
I have to agree with Sydni. Letters hold a sentiment that can’t be found in other forms of text. Not only is there a literal message from the words written, but often you can tell what someone was feeling when they wrote it. Sloppy, slanted handwriting could mean they were in a rush to respond. Neatly lined letters and wrinkled paper show a tenderness not conveyed by words. Coffee stains leak through the words, “I’m fine” to show the truly sleep deprived state someone is in. There are few things more personal than a letter besides actual conversation. A text or an email only contains the literal meaning of something. They are fine to use when you need to get to a point. However, letters contain feelings. Sometimes, a physical piece of paper is needed to show how someone really feels.
Letters are so much more personal than messages sent through technology. The sentimental value of a letter is much more than that of an email. The fact that you took time to sit down to write a letter in the age of technology means a lot more to people. We live in such a fast paced society, where texts and emails are much more convenient, that letters are appreciated because of the time it takes to simply compose one. Despite never learning to swim, her grandmother had a love for water. I think people are able to find beauty and fascination within the unknown, hence why her grandmother had such a love for rivers and lakes. I really like the connection Kim made to how we are so fascinated with celebrities, despite never having a personal interaction with them.
The letters that his grandmother kept are something tangible from the important people in her life. They're something that she can read over again and remember how they spoke, what their thoughts were, or that specific moment when they gave her the note. They hold a lot of memories that were shared between just her and the person that wrote the letter.
The letters that Oskar's grandmother kept are so important to her because she is a terribly lonely person, it seems. I think those letters provide her with a sense of connection to other people, because handwriting often reveals a lot about a person, and she is well aware of that. Perhaps she keeps them because she's pretty much void of real connection and relationships with people outside of her immediate family and is reaching for those relationships to help fill the hole that grandfather (and most likely others) have left wide open. She once received a letter from a man in a Turkish labor camp, and this sparked the idea of finding and collecting letters- she wanted to analyze this man through his handwriting, almost like she was forming a relationship with him without really knowing him. Had she done it successfully, maybe she would have liked what she discovered about him- maybe she would have fallen in love with bits and pieces of a man she never knew. It is very interesting how much handwriting can reveal about a person- whether they're introverted or extroverted, confident or insecure, and so on and so forth, and I firmly believe grandmother kept all those letters so she could learn about the people writing them.
I think that letters carry more emotional weight that an email or a text. It is easy to just type up a text message and not really mean what you are saying, but to write it down on paper you have to think about it as you write every letter. This brings out honesty and actually leaves a trace of the person in their writing. It appears as though Oskar's grandmother is fascinated by this aspect of looking into other peoples lives and having a piece of so many different people, as well as the infinitely complex stories that could be hiding behind each letter. I think this was especially clear after her grandmother wrote basically a book for her. It is easy to see how someone could be drawn in by the thoughts and stories o another human being. I find it interesting when I see other people to think about how the things that seem monumental in my life carry no weight at all in theirs, and the opposite as well.
I agree with what Sydni said, in how a letter can reveal much more about a person than a text or email. When you email something, the typed letters fade out the circumstance they were in, and make it just a typed letter, where a written letter can show a little more about how said person was feeling at that instance. Also, a handwritten letter is more tangible and you feel more connected to them because they are the only person who can write a handwritten letter like that. This makes Oskar's grandmother feel like she is holding an actual piece of them, and that their memory is not that far away.
I also agree with Courtney, I found the sculpting story to be romantic but tragic at the same time. The scene in the Titanic shows true love, how Jack was drawing Rose's beauty from each curve. In this chapter, Oskar's Grandma is just a substitute body for him to look at while he is sculpting. It is tragic because she truly finds out that she is not the love of his life, but Anna is. He sculpts Anna's beauty through her while she is just meaning less to him. This is a bold difference between the Titanic scene and the sculpting scene in this chapter. What this comparison comes down to is true love vs. symbolism of love.
For Oskar's grandmother, the letters are her connection to life. The lives of the people she knows, and her own life. She writes Oskar a letter detailing her life, which includes the memories of the people who had written to her.
In their most basic form, letters are just messages taken from one point to another. But they're special in that they are proof of caring, proof of life lived. To a lot of people, they're considered more significant than emails and texts because they take more time and care to write, in addition to being more permanent. In Oskar's grandmother's case, they're something that can be kept for a lifetime.
Her grandmother's bracelet was a symbol for her grandfather's love for her and love in general: love can be given, but if it doesn't fit the receiver, it's useless, just like the bracelet ("I could not wear it comfortably").
The sculpting scene is tragic because Thomas is trying to shape Oskar's grandmother into something she cannot be, her sister, Anna. Thomas was in love with her, but she isn't something he can reclaim through someone else. Oskar's grandmother understands what he is trying to do, but loves him anyway.
Oskar's Grandmother keeps things to herself she tries to show as little as possible to people. The letter's she keeps are of everyone she has ever met in her life which is why they are so important. I agree with Lauren on that letter's are so much more personal than a text or email. When you read them you can hear it coming from them. I would like to add I have never seen Titanic so can't really compare it. But with the lakes and rivers many people love the beauty of them or the peace they bring. Oskar's Grandmother cannot swim so the bodies of water are unknown to her.
I also believe that writing a letter is a much more sentimental way of expressing your thoughts towards someone. Sending someone a text or email is one thing, but taking the time to handwrite your message lets someone know how you truly feel about them. By writing a letter, it makes it clear that the writer cares about you and is willing to take time out of their day to show it.
I agree with Cathryn about the sculpting scene. I believed that Oskar's grandfather may have been falling for Oskar's grandmother, but it apparently he was thinking of Anna the whole time. The scenes in both the book and the movie Titanic are similar, but they also differ in an important way. In the drawing scene of Titanic, Jack sketches Rose in a way that captures their love for each other. In the sculpting scene in the book, Oskar's grandfather is not even thinking about the subject of his work, but rather the subject's sister.
While teading the novel I noticed that the phrases “Heavy boots” and “Give myself bruises” are prominent in the story. If you think about it, how often do we use those phrases in our every day diction? We don’t. So how do we interpret something like that? I have found that the phrase “It gave me heavy boots” is used in situations of high emotion, usually in moments of sadness or frustration. Due to the context of the phrase I believe that it means that something hurts his feelings or that Oskar is upset. To follow, Oskar talks about wanting to give himslef brusies. The reasoning behind this is not clear, I only have ideas. It is possible that due to Oskar’s handicap that he does not know how to express his feelings. I’ve heard stories of kids like Oskar, punch things, scream, hide, become aggressive, or even run around naked when they become emotionally unstable. This is just their mind trying to express how they feel because it doesn’t know how to otherwise. The neurons in their brains don’t fire or interpret emotion correctly and sometimes people don’t know to cry when they’re upset. Can you imagine living every day not knowing how to show people how you feel? Oskar may injure himself to show the pain he is experiencing to the people around him. After hsis father’s death, it is likely that he may also be experiencing depression and suicidal thoughts. When he talks about hurting himself, it scares me. I wonder if it is foreshadowing to a possible ending to the book and a possible ending to Oskar.
We find out that Anna was Grandma's sister whom Grandpa actually loved. Grandpa sculpted Anna which upsets the readers because he never really "loved" Grandma. It is also quite upsetting because Grandpa didn't want children because he couldn't have them with Anna. I can't really compare this section to "Titanic" because I've never seen it. However, the letters are far more important than an email or a text because the writer took the time to sit down and carefully write it, where texts and emails can be done with little to no effort.
I can't help but connect the search Oskar's grandmother went on to learn more about someone she knew nothing about to Oskar's search for something he has no idea how to pursue. Despite the impossible task of learning more about a stranger, especially someone who is likely dead at the time she received the letter, she takes it on. At least, I think she makes that her reason to learn more about herself and people in general. Identity is something that's often out of grasp, or something difficult to label, purely because people are always changing. What's more is the question of whether to live by your own idea of yourself, or let the way others perceive you shape you. Getting short letters by friends carried little meaning to her other than knowing the people she asked cared enough to send one. When her grandmother gave her her life story, it turned the tables and made her understand more about her grandmother than she ever had previously. Looking to her grandmother's past, she was able to reflect on the mistakes and events made and grow from them in the future as she grew into a young woman.
On another note, I think this ties into a theme I picked up on. In the second page of this chapter (page 76 in my copy), a letter Oskar's grandmother received from her father, he said, "I hope that one day you have the experience of doing something you do not understand for someone you love". I believe a large portion of this book is about people doing things they don't understand for the people they love. Think about Thomas leaving Oskar's grandmother, or Oskar's search for what his father let him. It's just a thought, but I was wondering if anyone had and opinions on that too?
In the letter, Oskar’s grandma says the phrase: “What I saw would no longer be mine if I talked about it.” I think that must be the reason for Oskar’s secrecy surrounding the voicemails, because he loves and misses him so much that he’s afraid that if he gives this one thing that he has left of him, he won’t have him or his memory anymore. I think that letters are more important than emails in general because you have someone’s handwriting, which is an important part of everyone. Handwriting is an interesting thing to mention, as I have previously noted the handwriting on the notepads in the art store. Seems to be a bit of a motif there; juxtaposing remembrance with handwriting. Anyways, I think the story of the sculptor and the sister is sad. He was only looking for Anna, not her sister (Oskar’s grandma). He’d look at her for the model and imagine Anna. There is something so depressing and unrequited in a situation where one is only with someone because of the thought of another, on both ends, both grandpa’s and grandma’s.
The letters that Oskar's grandmother have been collecting are very important. The letters are from everyone that she has ever known and they also held some of her secrets in them. Sense no one knew much about her life the letters were the only thing that told the story about her life. If the letters were lost, it would be hard to know about grandmother’s life because she didn’t talk about it much. In comparison to the letters being in email or text, they would be just as important because it would be the same message just in a different form.
Letters are the most thoughtful way of communication besides face-to-face. It takes a lot of effort to write a letter, saving them shows that you are as thoughtful in return. Oskar's grandma can enjoy bodies of water even though she can't swim. It's no crime. They are beautiful to look at. You can like a specific sports team when you've never played for them, for example. The proposal seemed odd to me. I felt like both of them wanted to marry the other and probably loved each other, but the proposal appeared not to be about love. Just my opinion, maybe it was because it was over writing. Although, I can say the proposal was very unique. The scene just looked bland and boring to me.
I believe the most important thing about the letters that Oskar's grandmother kept is that they are important to her. The letters mean so much to her that she has kept them all these years. They are important because they are thought out and express feelings and emotions. Even today, letters in the mail seem to have a different emotion carried with them than texts, emails, or online messages. Although newer forms of messaging can carry feelings and emotions, there is a different more genuine and sincere emotion that often comes from a handwritten letter. It shows that a person cares to take the time to write out a letter.
I believe that she loved rivers and lakes even though she couldn't swim because she was able to see their natural beauty. I believe that not knowing how to swim made it seem even greater and much more of a natural wonder, to have so much water and all nature could do with it.
What is so important about the letters that Oskar’s grandmother is collecting? What is important about letters in general? As opposed to, say, emails or texts?
The letters are important because she asked people that were important to her to write them for her, about anything they wanted. I feel that letters are more personal than emails or texts because they are a physical object that’s proof that a person took time out of their day to devote time writing something for you.
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