There's a shift in the conversation...she starts off the story by referring to Oskar as "you"...then she shifts and says "I wanted to turn to face him, but I couldn't. I moved my hand to touch his hand." Assuming that this is not an oversight, why would she switch how she's telling the story (from telling him the story to telling us the story)?
Why is the sound that Oskar makes at the cemetery so important to his grandmother?
Why is Oskar's grandfather apologizing...or what is he apologizing for?
13 comments:
It's evident that after her husband left her, Oskar's grandmother's focus in life was her son. after losing him, Oskar becomes her focus. She played a major role in raising him and caring for him in the years following his father's death, and he gives her a purpose she wouldn't otherwise have. In receiving the letter from Thomas Sr., it's a very simple message, but it carries multple meanings. Some of which I most likely think include "I'm sorry for your loss", "I'm sorry I wasn't a father to him", and "I'm sorry I hurt you". Thomas Sr. has a laundry list of regrets in his life, but he believes the things he missed out on are justified because his wife was able to be her own person and pave her own way without him holding her back.
I agree with Emily on what the letter from Oskar’s grandfather means. We know from throughout the story that Oskar’s grandfather regretted not being there for his son. He constantly writes letters that explain why he is not where his son is. The audience can tell he cares about his son by explaining why he can’t be with him. But, once he finds out his son has passed away, Oskar’s grandfather realizes he is never going to fix his mistakes. He sends a letter to apologize to his wife for not being a good husband or father. Oskar’s grandfather knows he will no longer have the chance to be a better father. He knows there is not a good chance he can be a better husband. However, he does know that he has the chance to be a better person and send his regrets for his past.
The father and the missing girl were pretty much instantly forgotten as soon as the planes struck the Twin Towers. Only Grandma remembered as 9/11 occurred. Grandma probably would have never thought that she would also face the same situation that that father was facing. Only later did she realize that Thomas Jr. was at the building during the attack and that there was no contact from him yet.
At the cemetery, Oskar makes the sound of a wounded animal when his father’s casket was lowered into the ground. This was meaningful to his grandmother because her own son was dead and she wasn't even able to make a sound. She was silent and “all of my sounds were locked inside me”.
The father of the missing girl says in the interview that he won’t stop looking for her until he finds a body. This ties in with the quote, “thousands of people left to suffer hope,” in chapter 10. He still has hope that his daughter is still out there, waiting to be found. Later in the chapter, everyone in Oskar’s family is hopeful that Thomas is still alive. They know it was improbable, but like the Sixth Borough, it wasn’t entirely impossible if you believed hard enough. Oskar and his grandmother’s hopes are more explicitly stated. However, through conversation with her mother-in-law, Oskar’s mom wants her husband to be alive just as much as everyone else. They are scared to find out what could be the truth.
I was shocked for a second when I read that Oskar's grandfather had written to her. I immediately thought, is he apologizing for not being there for the funeral? Or is he apologizing for just not being there at all? Maybe for leaving them altogether? Maybe he's sorry for Thomas's death. Just saying something as simple as "I'm sorry" and nothing else is vaque but in this case it is full of meaning. Maybe the letter was left empty to cover how vast of an apology that was necessary. There was just too many things to apologize for at that moment, so not describing himself may have just been his way of saying it all at once. Although it wasnt very sincere. Sending only two words in a letter to make up for years of abandonment is more of an insult than an apology even for the type of man that he was. It is possible that this is his way of being sincere since most every way he communicated was through a short message on a paper. This chapter left me really conflicted.
At the cemetery, Oskar makes the sound of a wounded animal. This sound is so important to his grandmother because she is not able to make any noice. She is in shock and her body will not let out sound, so when Oskar makes the sound of a wounded animal it sticks in her mind. At the end of the chapter when Oskar's grandmother had gotten mail when they walked in the door of their building, the last person I would expect it to be from is his grandfather. When she opened the letter and all it said was "I'm sorry" all I could think about is what it meant, because he had a lot of things to be sorry for.
Oskar's grandfather is apologizing for acting the way he did after Oskar's father was born. He gave up on everyone he ever cared about, and everyone that ever loved him. He lost hope and a reason for living. He is apologizing for losing his way, for abandoning Oskar's grandmother. He left her to take care of their son alone. And he never got the real chance to apologize to his son, so he is also apologizing for not apologizing. He has years of lost memories to apologize for. Years that he missed while his son grew up. And after his son died.
Oskar's grandfather is apologizing for leaving Oskar's grandmother alone while she was pregnant. That he was sorry that he couldn't be there for his son, and that there was many memories that he missed out on. He also apologizes for not being there when his son died and not being there for his funeral.I couldn't help but be surprised that it was his grandfather that left a letter for his grandmother. Before she got the letter, at the funeral she was quiet, unable to speak a single word. While Oskar whimpered like a wounded animal, due to his heartbreak of his father being dead.
I feel as if Oskar’s grandmother was writing this letter to give to Oskar to help him understand the death of his father and to help him see and experience what she also had to go through. I think she might have changed the way she told the story because she was in the moment as she was writing the story. She simply forgot that she was writing a story to Oskar because she she was was just so caught up in telling the story the way she remembered it. I think Oskar’s grandfather is apologizing for the death of his son and much more. Oskar’s grandfather was never there for his son , before he was even born he left him all alone with his mother. He is apologizing for not being there to help raise him and for not being there to help with whatever they needed whether it's finances, emotional support, or for just not being a father.
The interview with the father of the missing girl is so important to this story because as the grandma is watching the news, she hopes that just like the father to the missing girl, Thomas is still alive and that they both need hope. The wild animal sound that Oskar makes at the cemetery is so important to his grandmother because she wished she could just scream out her feelings too. His grandmother suffers silently and grieves in a different way. But some reason when Oskar let out the noise it made her feel better. Oskar's grandma knew that Oskar was suffering but was always afriad to show his emotions, and now that he did she is glad because she can help comfort him. This chapter is very emotional, and powerful because it shows the relationship between the grandma and Oskar how much she loves him and does not want Oskar to suffer by himself with the loss of his father.
The letter Oskar's grandfather left could mean many things. She had waited 40 years to hear from him and finally she receives two words that could forever change the way she feels about him. The letter says "I'm sorry." She mentioned earlier in the chapter that she did not know if she wanted him to be suffering. She held onto this feeling of anger and sadness after he left. Now she knows he is sorry. Even though we might never know what he is truly sorry for, at least she knows he wishes things were different. Hopefully this letter can bring peace to Oskar's grandmother. Maybe knowing that he was sorry for his actions could help her let go of some of the possible anger she holds inside.
The pain of the father of the missing girl parallels the pain that Thomas's disappearance brings onto Oskar's grandmother, in addition to foreshadowing her missing child. Despite the fact that Thomas was grown when he died, that does not make her pain any different.
In his first message to her since he left, Oskar's grandfather is relaying all of his regret for not being there for his son's life. He is apologizing to both Oskar's grandmother and Thomas, who he never met. He is apologizing for her loss and his absence, and apologizing to his son for having never known him.
I don't know which is more dramatic; the father missing the child, or the Grandmother missing Oskar's father. Traditionally, most cinematic things would, in a cold equation, choose the Father-missing-his-daughter as more dramatic, but a broken-hearted-super-in-pain Grandmother is arguably more heart wrenching. I liked what S. Johnson had to say in the comment conveniently located above mine, in the sense of the Father missing the daughter was paralleling Oskar's grandmothers pain. I was admittedly surprised when the Grandfather showed up, but it shouldn't have been surprising. In an atmosphere just following this one, it's completely understandable how the patriot act, despite it's underlying unconstitutional programs slid through congress with such ease.
Also, off topic, but these "I'm Not a Robot" puzzles are really hard on a laptop's touchpad.
Post a Comment