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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?
28 comments:
The sound that Oskar makes at the cemetery was so important to his grandmother because it was what she was searching for her entire life. It was what she had wanted her life and life story to be. She said it had sounded like a wounded animal, a sound she had never heard. I believe that the grandma had felt a lot of pain in her life, and just bundled it up. She never let it go. I think she regrets never talking about her feelings as much as she should have and being able to just let things go like he did. He didn't care who had heard him or his pain. She never let all the things her husband did go. She just held onto all of it. She wanted to be able to just scream and let it all out like Oskar had done. She just wished that throughout her pain and suffering, that she had said something. That maybe her communication between her husband and herself would have been better.
The interview with the girl's father was interesting to me because it kind of reminded me of Oskar and his father. It was in reverse, but seemed to symbolize how Oskar feels about his dad. How he doesn't have closure, because his exact death isn't known, is similar to the dad. The dad doesn't have closure because they don't know what happened to her.
The father in the interview had the same feelings that many people in the novel had including the grandfather after the Dresden bombing, the guy in the nuclear bombing description, and Oskar after 9/11. The grandmother always kept her feeling inside so she was surprised by Oskar's sound. She said that she has been looking for the sound for forty years. She also says that she locked all of her sounds inside during the funeral. The grandfather is probably apologizing for leaving the grandmother, for not coming to the funeral, and also for coming back.
The interview with the father of the missing girl is so important because it shows that this day was a normal news day until the newscaster got word about planes hitting the buildings. I think she shifts the story from telling Oskar to telling us because there are some parts she doesn’t want him to know still, even though it all involves him. The sound Oskar makes at the cemetery is so important to his grandmother because it shows that he was releasing his feelings like she wanted to do. Oskar’s grandfather is apologizing for the passing of his father and also not being there for the family, just leaving them and not being with the Thomas when he was a kid.
I believe that Oskar's grandmother switched from talking directly to Oskar because once she started talking about his Grandfather because she just needed to let out those thoughts and feelings. She started talking to let her feelings go. She was telling anyone who would listen, even if only Oskar would ever read the letter.
The interview with the father is important because it symbolizes Oskar's feelings toward his father, as well as his father's feelings for him. In retrospect it gives a new light to how easily Oskar and his father could have been in reversed roles. The interview also allows Oskar to finally accept his father's death and keep growing as a person and being the person his father raised him to be.
The sound that Oskar made at the funeral is so important to his grandmother because she is a strong women that never really let her feelings out. So when Oskar let out that sound, it was like he was doing it for himself and also for his grandmother who couldn't show her feelings like she wanted to.
I think Oskars grandfather is apologizing for leaving, apologizing for the death of their son, apologizing for not being at the funeral, and even apologizing for coming back and in no doubt bringing more grief for grandmother.
That sound, that animal sound, Oskar makes is what Grandma has been looking for her whole life. That's why it's so important to her. It is emotion all in one being put out there. Love. Things Grandma has always been afraid of.
What isn't Oskar's grandfather apologizing for? He's sorry for not being strong enough to have stayed, for leaving, for not being there. I think he's apologizing for not being strong enough for grandma, not being able to love her like he loved Anna. He's apologizing to his son for not being able to be there for him. Maybe he's even apologizing to Oskar, his grandson, for him not even knowing he is his grandfather. He left to try to find a life to live, but that's exactly what he left behind. He was scared but left a family he could have had and he's apologizing for it.
The interview with the father of the missing girl relates to Oskar and his father. The father of the missing girl and Oskar both want closure, which they are more than likely not going to receive. The sound Oskar makes at the cemetery is what grandma has been searching for her entire life. It is the sound of an injured animal, which represents all of the hurt and pain he is feeling, that she has felt throughout her whole life.
Oskar's grandfather is repeating apologies for everything, not being there, for his son or Oskar; for not being able to tell him who he is (officially), for leaving his grandma when she needed her, and for walking away from the family, and not returning until it started to fall apart.
I think that the interview is important because during the interview the twin towers were attacked. Also the father and Oskar both have lost someone and are trying to find closure. The sound Oskar made that resembled an animal was all of his pain and sadness coming out. I think that the letter Oskar's grandfather sent saying he is sorry was because he wasn't there to see his son grow up, and he wasn't there for Oskar's grandmother when Thomas died.
I think the grandmother starts off by saying "you" to emphasize that she is speaking directly to Oskar. She says "you" in the parts where she talks about something he did or something he already knew. She shifts then to "him" because she's speaking of her thoughts. What he didn't know she knew or thought or felt. It shows that he was not connected to her during that time. It separates him, as a reader of the letter, from the story she's telling.
I think that she shifts from "you" to "him" because at first she is talking directly to Oskar, but as she continues she switches from talking to someone to her own thoughts. Oskar's grandfather is apologizing for everything that he did to them. He is apologizing for how he wasn't there to raise Oskar's father, he is apologizing for running out when Oskar's grandmother needed him the most.
The story of the missing girl is important because the reporter makes a swift transition from one the horrible story of this poor man’s lost daughter to the deafening news of the twin towers being destroyed, displaying the magnitude of the situation. She might have forgotten who she was writing for or she was just putting her thoughts down on paper, not specifically writing for anyone. The sound is significant because it displays all of Oskar’s raw feelings in one giant burst; she says that “she was looking for this her entire life”, by that she means that she wishes she could relieve herself of all her pain like Oskar but never had the strength to do so. Oskar’s grandfather is apologizing for many things: for not being there to raise Thomas to give her support, for the pain she has to endure from Thomas’ untimely death, and lastly for all the pain he himself has caused Thomas from not having a father.
The interview with the father of the missing girl is important to the story line because it symbolizes the relationship between Oskar and his own father. It brings out how close Oskar is to his father and how much he loves him, but also how the father and Oskar seek closure of their pain. They want to know the truth if their situation.
The sound that Oskar makes at the funeral is important to his grandmother because it's exactly what she's needed to hear all her life. She has held her true emotions and feelings to herself for so long, that hearing that sound come from Oskar brought her a sort of closure to her. It was the sound of love and that's something she might have forgotten.
The interview is important because the father explained that he wasn't giving up until he had seen a body and Oskar's family hasn't found a body of his father. The sound Oskar makes at the funeral is important because he is hurt and needs someone to be there for him. This is the only time we hear of Oskar mourning physically for his dad. I think grandfather is apologizing for many things: leaving his wife, not being there for her, never sending any money to help with her child, and for the loss of their son.
I had accidentally posted this in the wrong section. The interview with the father of the missing girl is important to this story because both the father and Oskar want some sort of closure with what is happening to them. The only way the father would give up hope is if he saw the body of his daughter. The only way Oskar will give up on finding what the key goes to is to find what it opens.
The interview with the father is important because the father and Oskar don't have a body to recover. It seems that they just want to know where their loved one's body is or where it was so they can have closure and go on with their lives knowing. The sound that Oskar makes at the cemetery is so important to the grandmother because now she knows that he is truly sad. In the limo, Oskar was making jokes to the driver. He could've been trying to pass the time, but the grandmother thought it was his way of heeling. I think Oskar's grandfather is apologizing for leaving. However, I think he is also apologizing for never getting to meet his son and now it's too late.
The interview with the father is important because the father and Oskar have something in common, this might cause a certain sympathy on Oskar’s end to listen to it. Neither of these people have found their love one’s body. I know if I was one of them I would need to put together the missing pieces of the puzzle and that includes tracing where or what happened to their bodies. That way they know for sure, there is no more hope that they could be alive. Maybe that’s what is driving them both insane, with no recovery of the body there is technically still hope that they could still be alive. I believe that each of these people and families need closure of what really happened. They want to face reality head on so that they can press on with the rest of their lives. Oskar make a sound at the cemetery, why is this so important? To the grandmother this could make her feel better knowing Oskar is finally opening up and going throw the grieving process.
Why is the interview with the father of the missing girl so important to this story? It is important because they are both very relatable. The father and Oskar lost some one very close to them and they want to feel that their thoughts are at rest and relieved in a way. A state of peace.
The interview with the father symbolizes feelings that Oskar might have toward his father, which is very important because on the flip side, it also has to deal with how his father feels about him in return. They are really one in the same; they are thinking the same way and have the same feelings about one another. This finally allows Oskar to break through the barrier of accepting that his father did die, and that he can continue to grow and mature on the right path that his father wanted for him all along.
Oskar and the interview with the father of the missing girl both convey a desire to be reunited even if it is to say goodbye. They are seeking closure. Both must accept the fact that some things are beyond our control, and even though they occurred in such tragic circumstances, we must be prepared to continue on. In my opinion, this is the moral of the story of the Sixth Borough. Oskar's grandfather reappears in a letter to his wife, simply stating he is sorry. Whether he is sorry he left or sorry he never met their son and now will not have that chance is unclear.
The interview with the father of the missing girl is important because he and Oskar have something in common. Neither of them has found their love one’s body, if I went through the same experiences they are I know that I would be crushed but I would want to put the pieces back together and figure out what really happened. That way they know for sure that the loved one died and they won’t be coming home. That’s what is driving them both insane, with no body there is still hope that they could still be alive they need to face reality head on so that they can continue with the rest of their lives.
The interview with the father is important because it is very similar to the situation Oskar is going through. Both have a loved one that they have had taken from them and are feeling similar feelings. At the cemetery the noise Oskar makes is him letting out all of the confusion, sadness and hate of his father's death. It shows how much he truly misses his father. Oskar's grandfather is apologizing for all the things he has done that has let his family down.
Both Oskar and the father of the missing girl have lost someone they dearly love. Both have not seen any physical evidence that their loved one is dead and both are still searching for something. The father of the missing girl states that he will not give up searching for his daughter until he sees a body and Oskar is searching for a way to cling onto his father's memory. At the cemetery, Oskar makes a sound that his grandmother describes as sounding like a wounded animal. It is a physical release of all the pain and suffering Oskar has endure, in combination with the new sadness of his father's sudden death. It is a sound that his grandmother wishes that she could make to relieve her of her struggles.
I think the interview of the father and the missing girl and Oskar and his lost father are very similar. Oskar and the father are both searching for their lost ones and they both don't want to give up hope that they are really gone. I know if I was in any situation like that I would never give up until I found the truth if they were really dead or alive.
I feel like the noise was so important to Oskar's grandmother because she wanted to have a relationship like that. She wanted the love between Oskar and his father within her own relationship between her and her husband.
I think Oskar's grandfather apologized for a lot of things. I think it was a "I'm sorry for leaving you alone with a child." and "I'm sorry for not being there for our child." and "I'm sorry for the loss of our son." I'm not exactly sure how he felt but I believe he did feel bad for all of those things.
Both the father of the missing girl, Oskar's grandfather, and Oskar himself will forever have to live with never knowing exactly what happened to the very person they cared the most about. Oskar will forever be "inventing" causes of his father's death because he needs closure; just like all the others. This book screams how important closure is to people and how we all MUST have answers to our impossible questions, and the interview is just another heartbreaking way to put this.
The story of the father of the missing girl reflects on how everyone is feeling when they are waiting for more news on Oskar’s father. They are holding onto a slim thread of hope for good news even when the situation seems hopeless. The uncertainty is unbearable for everyone, especially Oskar’s grandmother. Oskar’s grandmother cannot forget the sound that Oskar makes at the funeral because, though he tries to hold everything in, that single sound reveals the feelings that he is trying to hide.
In the letter from Oskar’s grandfather, he is apologizing for leaving and not coming back. He is also sorry that her son (their son) died so early and so suddenly.
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