So Oskar's grandfather had gotten Anna pregnant before the bombing of Dresden. How does this change your view of him and his behavior when he gets the news that Oskar's grandmother was going to have his baby?
While he's in the hospital after the bombing of Dresden, Oskar's grandfather says he was operated on, but it was the nurse's touch that saved his life. Why do you think he says this?
He says that "thousands of people were left to suffer hope." What does he mean by this?
How does this letter to Oskar's father change your view of his grandfather, if at all?
Simon Goldberg writes his grandfather a brief letter. Goldberg is an actual figure in history...you may want to find out a little about him...and think about how this letter may have affected Oskar's penchant for writing letters to famous people.
75 comments:
Oskar's dad probably saw the letter and he marked the mistakes with red just like how he does with the NY times articles. I think the grandfather's reaction to the grandmother's pregnancy was still exaggerated, even after reading this chapter. Suffering hope is to have good expectations but be let down by the results. The bombing of Dresden left thousands of bodies and many other bodies were destroyed. Therefore, there was never a list of the dead. Many people had good expectations but were devastated to find their relatives and friends dead.
Since the letter has been marked up in red, at some point Oskar's dad must have seen it. I thought maybe the red words were supposed to create a letter of their own, but that didn't make sense. It seems that some of the circled phrases had meaning to Oskar's dad, but a lot of the little circles are just random corrections. I think Oskar's dad is trying to send him a message with these correction because at the end there is a big circle around "I love you, Your father." Maybe Thomas thought that if something ever happened to him, Oskar could get a hold of the letter and realize his father would never stop caring about him, even in death.
By saying 'thousands of people were left to suffer hope', Oskar's father means that people never let their expectations down since their was no official list of who died. The families would never know if their hope was in vain or if maybe their loved one was still out there. This left people to search and dwell on the bombing instead of knowing someone was dead and learning to cope.
Oskar’s father had marked the letter with red just like he does when he read the New York Times. When he does so, he wants everything perfect and fit for his standards; I think that he is suffering from a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
When Oskar’s grandfather hears the news that Oskar’s grandmother is pregnant, he does not want to deal with it; he is still pained by the flashbacks of when Anna was pregnant with his baby. He knows that he is not cut out to be a father, so he leaves to make sure that he does not screw-up his son’s life. He cannot face his son because all he would be able to see in him is the life that he could have had with Anna and all of his selfishness that caused Oskar’s grandmother so much pain.
I believe that when he said that thousands were left to suffer hope, that is it worse having to hope for something than never knowing the truth. You would never know if your loved one is still alive. You would just have to sit there and hope with all of your heart that they made it out okay and that nothing happened to them. It's almost like false hope. I believe that the victims wanted to hope that their family was still alive but they knew deep down in their hearts that they probably weren't. That's why I feel like he used the word suffer and hope together. Even if there is hope, there is suffering with never knowing the truth or not.
Also, because the chapter was marked in red, it makes it seem like that is the only letter that his father had actually seen because he used to do that with the newspaper. Whenever there is a mark of red, it's because there's a mistake. I believe that Oskar's father either really hated grammar mistakes or had a disorder of some sort.
When Oskar's grandfather finds out that Oskar's grandmother is pregnant he seems not upset, but not excited. He is totally caught off guard by the pregnancy. The flashbacks from Anna's pregnancy overwhelm his mind I'm sure, and he thinks himself unworthy to be a father. This makes me dislike the man even more, but he starts to redeam himself at the end when he seems to become friends with Oskar. It was brave of him to help dig up Thomas' grave. It must've been really hard having to see the grave of the son he never even met.
When Thomas talks about the bombing in his letters, he recalls when he was in the hospital. The nurse had to strap him to the bed so he would stop hurting himself and he wanted her to untie him. She couldn’t so she apologized and touched him. Even though he had surgery, the touch of the nurse saved him because it gave him hope to live. I bet she reminded him of Anna. This letter makes me realize how hard it must be for Thomas. I couldn’t imagine losing my family in a bombing or seeing people on fire and dead bodies everywhere. It still doesn’t make up for the fact that he left Oskar’s grandmother when she found out she was pregnant. I thought he would stay since he could have another chance of raising a child, but he ended up leaving which made me dislike him. It must have hurt her that he acted like he didn’t care one bit.
When I learned that Thomas had gotten Anna pregnant before the bombing of Dresden, it didn't change my opinion of him, but it did explain his behavior. After already losing one child, not to mention the love of his life, he is scared to love anything again. When another child with someone who he doesn't truly love comes along, he just doesn't want to risk getting hurt again. This fact also makes me wonder if his Letter to My Unborn Son are to both Thomas Junior and his son that died in Dresden.
When Thomas says that thousands were left to suffer hope, he means that nobody was allowed the closure they desperately needed. Most people knew their families were dead, but without an official death toll or a body, they can't help but hold onto the fact that perhaps their loved ones are still alive. They know on a realistic sense that their loved ones are dead, but their hearts cannot accept it if they don't know for sure. This leaves them to constantly dwell on the "what-if's" and "maybes" of the bombing for the rest of their lives, suffering for the rest of their lives on hope.
Because this chapter is marked in red, can’t help but think it is a way of telling us that Oskar’s father had read the letter and made the markings himself. In the beginning, Oskar’s father circles a word in the newspaper as a clue for Oskar’s search. During the novel, Oskar often mentions his father’s red pens, and how his father always carried one. The markings tell me that at a point in time, Oskar’s father read the letter… Maybe before he went to Dresden to find his father.
The fact that grandpa had gotten Anna pregnant before the bombing in Dresden doesn’t really change my opinion of him. Although, it does explain his actions when he finds out that grandma is pregnant. When I read that grandpa left grandma after he found out she was pregnant, I was both offended and hurt for grandma. When I found out that Anna had been pregnant before the bombing, I reasoned with grandpa’s actions and reached the conclusion that grandpa was afraid of loosing someone else. He had lost his family, Anna, and his unborn child in the bombing, and was afraid of loosing another child. He also probably had trouble with the fact that grandma broke her promise and that he had impregnated someone he didn’t truly love. I understand grandpa but at the same time I think it was a cowardly move.
When reading the chapter that was marked up in red ink, it made me remember how Oskar’s father used to edit the New York Times with a red pen. The red pen was used to circle misspelled words and corrections, but it was also used on random words/phrases that should not have been fixed. One of the phrases that had been circled was “I love you, your father.” I think that Oskar’s father read the letter and was using it as either a secret code, or some way to communicate with Oskar. I’m not quite sure on why Oskar’s father would circle random phrases, but I thought the whole chapter was kind of confusing in the aspect of the red ink markings.
After finding out that the grandmother was pregnant, I was both shocked and confused as to why Thomas left her. I understood that he didn’t want to lose another person in his life because he lost both Anna and their unborn child in the bombing, but I thought it was also kind of selfish that he wouldn’t want his new child. Thomas and the grandmother should have been more careful so she wouldn’t get pregnant.
The letter was marked in red ink, so I can only assume that Oskar's father read and corrected letter. Yet parts of sentences were circled, some in different ways, maybe this is some sort of message that he wants Oskar to see. After learning that Anna was pregnant I could understand why Thomas reacted the way he did when Oskar's grandmother told him she was pregnant. After losing Anna, and the future he wanted to share with her it left him emotionally scarred. I couldn't help but feel sympathetic, he has had so much happen to him. Sure it was wrong to leave, but after living through all of that pain, he was afraid of losing everything all over again. When he says "thousands of people were left to suffer hope" it made me think of the families of 9/11, they had no idea where their loved one was, they only had to hope that they were okay. So, I think he means that in unfortunate situations hope can be misleading.
When I found out that Oskar's grandfather had gotten Anna pregnant, it changed my view of him completely. At first, I was really bothered by him always comparing Oskar's grandmother to Anna. As a girl, being compared and thought of to/as another girl is very offensive, so I kind of understand how the grandmother felt. After finding out about Anna's pregnancy and the bombing, I felt very sympathetic and understanding of the grandfather. Now I understand why he cared so much for Anna and missed her so much. Also, I understand why he left when he found out that Oskar's grandmother was pregnant. I feel that he was afraid that he might lose this baby, too, and he couldn't handle going through that pain again. He wasn't willing to risk that. Also, it made him think of Anna and miss her even more, and it really hurt him. He was just very sad.
When he says that "thousands of people were left to suffer hope", he means that when they couldn't identify all the bodies after the bombing, thousands of people had all of their questions left unanswered, and they all hoped and prayed that their loved ones would come home. Everyone always hopes for the best when it comes to their family, so when they weren't given the answer to their questions, they are all left hoping that their family members would soon return. They would never give up hope.
I believe Oskars father probably did get the letter and he read it and marked it up in red ink like he did with the New York times. He probably planned on using it for a clue for Oskar.
When Oskars grandfather says "Thousands of people were left to suffer hope." I think he means that when the bodies that were uncovered and couldn't be identified, the families of the dead were left to wonder what had happened to their loved ones and left to hope that they were alive and well somewhere out there.
I can see where Oskar’s grandfather is coming from when he leaves his pregnant wife, but in no way was it the right thing to do. He was clearly traumatised from losing his unborn child and Anna in the bombing, and when he learns that Oscar’s grandmother is going to have his baby, he leaves. How could he raise a child with a woman he doesn’t love? I don’t think it was fair to his wife that he left, but also it wouldn’t have been fair to the child if he stayed. Spending his life and having a child with Anna is what he wanted and no one could replace her and their unborn child. When he says that “thousands of people were left to suffer hope.” I think it means that after the bombing, so many families were hopeful but in reality all families were torn apart and suffering.
This chapter was marked up in red to show either important parts in this chapter or things that were misspelled or misused, such as actresses being spelled wrong or too many commas in a sentence. He says that “thousands of people were left to suffer hope.” Because a lot of people weren’t sure if they were going to make it, many were praying for life and not to die but it was in the fate of God not the doctors because there was nothing else they could do.
The red markings mean that either Oskar or his father has corrected the letter’s mistakes; I just want to point out how there are more grammatical errors toward the ending of the letter possibly due to his emotional turmoil. I find it sad that his original child was killed along with Anna; I can’t hold it against him for feeling indifferent towards having a second baby (especially with Anna’s sister). When he says that the nurse saved his life, it was the understanding and remorse that came with her touch that willed him to survive, possibly, the will of hope.
Throughout the novel, most of the chapters that have been told from Oskar's grandfather's point of view start out with, "to my unborn child" or "to my son." After reading this chapter you realize that all the previous letters he's written were not sent but this one was because of the red markings. Like Oskar says before how his dad would edit the New York Times with red pen, he did the same thing to the one letter his father sent him.
Before reading this chapter, it's still unclear as to why Oskar's grandfather left his grandmother because of her pregnancy. It's mentioned before that the one condition made before they got married was no children, but why? In this chapter you learn that along with losing the love of his life, Anna, he lost a baby as well. This does make me think of him differently because it's understandable to not want to have children after losing one in such a tragic way; however, I also think that leaving him behind would be just as hard.
Right away when I saw the red marks I knew Oskar's dad had read this letter. He marked it up just like he marked up the New York Times. This was particularly interesting because he mentioned in his previous letters that he never got to send out the letters. I wondered why this letter has been sent while other others have not been sent.
Human interaction can be more effective than medicinal operations. Take shock from getting a very deep cut for example. Obviously you bandage it up and slow the blood flow by lifting the injury above the heart. But then it is vital that another person keeps you calm. even if the injured person is unconscious.
Oskars father used to mark up the New York Times newspapers in red pen and this letter is marked up in a similar way allowing the inference that Oskars father must have read this letter at some point. In this letter, Oskars grandfather talks about how he had impregnated Anna and how he had to leave. This struck me as horrible. If you're going to have sex, you should be prepared to accept the consequences. However, I see where he is coming from in how his true love and his first baby were killed. It has to be very traumatizing to lose two loved ones in such a short period of time. He may even feel like he is replacing them with new people which could cause huge emotional turmoil. I disagree with him leaving, but understand his justification.
This chapter is marked up in red because, like the New York Times, Oskar's father read through the letter and corrected it. It shows you that the one letter he received was this one. He also might have circled certain words that meant something to him. He circled phrases like "I'm pregnant" and "you can't love anything more than something you miss." These were phrases that he might have related to or found important. This news makes me feel more sympathetic for the grandfather. After his first loss, he was devastated and probably didn't want to live through another one. He also might not have been over the loss of his first child, therefore, not being ready for another child. I still believe he should've stayed, but I understand why he didn't.
I think this chapter is marked up in red because Oskar's father got a hold of it. Oskar's father would go through the New York Times and mark grammatical errors; so, I think this shows he received the letter. I also think that he not only circled things he saw a grammatical errors but also what he saw as false. For example the phrases "I love you, Your Father" and "my child" are circled in red. Perhaps this is because Oskar's father didn't think his biological father really loved him or maybe it shows that he is mad at his father for not being there for him as he was growing up. Also, these phrases (which are related to the letter) are circled: " I know I won't be able to send", "how hard I try", and "how much I want to". These could be lies because Oskar's father got the letter so the letter was probably sent unless it was sent after Oskar's grandfather's death or someone took it from him.
Earlier in the book, Oskar said that his father would go through papers and mark the mistakes. So, this implies that Oskar's father got the letter. I did notice that there were a lot more errors at the end of the chapter. When Oskar's grandfather finds out that Anna Anna was pregnant he was really happy. He seemed like he would make a great father.
I believe that Oskar's father had the letter because it's marked up all in red just like what he did with his newspapers. He always had a red pen and ready to mark what stood out to him. What he felt was important. This letter was important to him.
When he finds out grandma is pregnant he flees. I think its because he's afraid of losing the child like he did with Anna and their unborn child. Though later we learn that he can love and he does care for the child. He would have been a good dad but he didn't let himself be.
The chapter was marked in red because Oskar's dad marked each mistake. It tell us that he has thoroughly inspected the letter, and he read it so many times that he wanted to correct it to show the importance of it. It doesn't really change my view of him- it just shows me that he had a nice life before the bombing. The news was not really a surprise to him, and he was happy and in love even with Anna being pregnant. This letter changes my view because we didn't know much about him. He just was sort of there, and he left Oskar's grandmother. But now it is clear why. His life was a mess. He had to live with those tragic memories. I can understand why he left, and it doesn't make him a bad person. He had a lot on his plate, and his life was just one big mess.
Oskar's father must have found the letter because it was marked up in his red pen. He circles mistakes and important phrases or words. He catches a lot of punctuation issues.
When Thomas finds out that the grandma is pregnant, he isn't happy, but he isn't mad either. Before Anna died, she told him that she was pregnant. He was afraid of losing everything again, that's why he made the grandma promise that they wouldn't have a kid. When he found out that she was pregnant, he left, he couldn't take it, knowing it could all be ripped away from him again.
"Thousands of people are left to suffer hope." Since there was never an official death list made, so many people were given false hope that their loved ones could still be alive, and it slowly tears them apart as another day goes by with no return of their loved ones. They are suffering hope.
In the myth of "Pandora's Jar", hope is considered the greatest evil. It's an optimistic belief that things will get better, when it's just as likely things will get worse. From Thomas' view, an pessimistic view, hope is a false promise. It lifts your spirits so it can crush them harder.
This chapter is all marked up in red because this must have been one of the letters Oskar's father got. Oskar's father did that to things he would always mark the mistakes or important things, not only in this letter, but in newspapers or magazines too. When Oskar's grandfather leaves Oskar's grandmother when he finds out she's pregnant I did at first think he was a low life, but once I found out Anna was pregnant and then died I was more understanding about it. Oskar's grandfather was probably just afraid of losing another child or messing up and he didn't want to deal with that pain again.
The letter makes me understand the grandfather more. In the beginning I thought he was being dramatic because maybe some woman dumped him? I know understand how tragic his past was. He lost everything in such a short time span that the rest of his life he was in pain. Still in shock. He's a hurt man that's too afraid to try to live because he fears that if he does, and succeeds, then it could all explode like it had before. He tries to save himself from any further pain by becoming numb and hiding in himself. He's misunderstood because he can't talk to people about but pains him because he's afraid to get close to people. At the end of his letter I saw him as a man that was too scared of life to live it.
At some point, Oskar's father must have read the letter and made corrections just like with the newspaper. I think that it is his way of leaving a message for Oskar about how even though he left, he will always love him. The grandfather's letter doesn't change my opinion of him at all. No matter what, it is not right to get someone pregnant and then run off on them. He should have stayed and helped raise the child.
The chapter is marked in red because Oskar's dad was fixing the mistakes. It's become habitual for him so before the newspaper there were letters to edit. Oskar's grandfather now is just starting to sound like a scared man. He didn't want to face his child with Anna, he didn't even know how to really respond when she told him. And when Oskar's father was born he didn't ever meet him. Letters don't make up for lost time and I don't think he really understands that. He seems to be sincere and sad that he never met him, but in the end he probably thinks that it was better not to.
I think that the chapter was marked up in red because it must have been a letter that was found by Oskars father who found the mistakes that were made and marked them just like he did while he was reading the New York Times articles.
Finding out that Oscar's grandfather had gotten Anna pregnant didn't really change my view of him it just made me feel pity for him. Having lost someone he loved and cared for and then a child with that person really does affect a person in the worst way's. I think when he finds out that he gets Anna's sister pregnant that brings back a lot of those emotions and also makes him think about what it would feel like to lose both of them too. I think it was to much to deal with the past grief that he had never really had the chance to deal with and the memories coming back in a rush it scared him more then likely. Making him flea.
This chapter has been marked up in red because it circles all the mistakes in it. That tells us that Oskar's father could have found and read this letter and circled all the mistakes like he did in the New York Times.
When Oskar's grandfather says that "thousands of people were left to suffer hope," he means that people don't really know if a loved one they lost is dead or not, and can only hope, which causes them to suffer at the same time. Someone may try to be reasonable about not seeing them again, but there is a little amount hope they have inside, even if they don't realize it.
This chapter was marked in red because it was a letter. Oskar's father ised red to correct the wrong in newspapers, mayne his father read the letter.it doesnt change my view of Oskars grandfather but knowing that Anna was pregnant does help me understamd why he left when he found out his wife was pregnant. The last time this happened something horrific happened. The nurse gave him relief; her touch calmed him. He says thousands were left to suffer hope because hope can be dreadful to bear in a catastrophe like this one. If all the people who had potentially loat someone had been told their loved had died or was in a hospital somewhere, each of those people could move on with their life instead of hoping an nOt knowing.
The red markings in this chapter are from Oskar’s father’s red pen that he used to circle mistakes in different writings and literature. This tells us that Oskar’s father has read one of grandfather’s letters written to him.
I think that Oskar’s grandfather couldn’t stand the fact that he had gotten Grandmother pregnant because it brought him back bad memories of Anna and her telling him that she was pregnant years before. It put together the pieces for me that that was why when he found out that the grandmother was pregnant, he left her and headed back to Dresden. He couldn't see himself raising a child with her, when he lost the love of his life that he was supposed to have a child with.
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 letter has been marked with red because of all the mistakes. I think that Oskar's dad made the markings because he would correct the news papers with red ink. I think that the grandfathers reaction to the grandmother being pregnant isn't fair. I understand that he loved Anna first but, she isn't your wife. Maybe he thought the same thing would happen to the grandmother that happened to Anna if he stuck around.
Oskar's grandfather experienced so much pain in his life, but he also created it. Leaving his wife and unborn child was not the right thing to do. I understand he was scared of loving someone and then losing them, but life is about taking chances and he ran away like a coward. He spent so much time holding onto his past that he couldn't let it go to try and find happiness again. When he says, "thousands of people were left to suffer hope," he is saying that the people who survived the bombing were left to hope that their loved ones were still alive and will come home to them.
I think that this chapter was marked up in red to correct the mistakes that had been made. It shows us that Oskar's father could have corrected and read this letter, because he corrected the newspaper with red. I think the quote "thousands of people were left to suffer hope" is a very devastating thing to say, because it's stating that people still had hope that their loved ones were still alive when in actuality they probably were dead. Not only that but with the possibility that they were still alive it kept them from grieving properly with the hope that they could come back to them.
The fact that this chapter is marked up in red shows that this is either the only, or one of the few letters, that Oskar's father had seen and read. He circled all the mistakes he found just like he does with the New York Times. It seems like as the letter goes on and on, the writing becomes more frantic, and the circled mistakes more frequent. Oskar's grandfather's reaction to hearing his wife is pregnant is much more understandable when you find out Anna died when she was pregnant. He either thought that something bad would happen again, or hearing she was pregnant brought back painful memories and he ran away. When he says "thousands of people were left to suffer hope", he means that victims of the bombings could do nothing other than hope for the safety of their friends and family, and the reason he says "suffer" is because often they were false hopes.
The bombing in Dresden left survivors devastated after losing loved ones and seeing the destruction around them. The grandfather pessimistically states that they are left to suffer hope. The survivors prayed that their situation would improve, but the war plagued on causing more pain and loss of life.
My view of Oskar's grandfather was somewhat changed after finding out her had got Anna pregnant before the Dresden bombing. He lost both the love of his life and his child in that bombing so naturally when he found out Oskar's grandmother was now pregnant he got scared. He thought that he couldn't take losing yet another child while I'm sure was a very overwhelming feeling for him to deal with, so I think a little better of him now.
When Oskar's grandfather says "thousands of people were left to suffer hope" he means that though some survived they still went through pain. They continued to live their lives but desperately hoped their loved ones would show up even though deep down they knew they never would.
Oskar's grandfather must have been hurt when he found out the news of his wife being pregnant. He said himself he was scared to love again because he didn't want to lose again. He must have been terrified that he was going to lose another baby or another loved one. When he says thousands of people were left to suffer hope, he meant that everyone who searched for their loved ones to no avail will never truly know of their fate. There was no list of all the dead so there was no proof their loved ones were dead, and they would go on with some hope that maybe somehow they had survived the bombing.
The chapter has been marked in red because Oskar's father makes corrections to any errors he sees, like he does in The NY Times. This makes it obvious that Oskar's father had already read the letter.
The fact that Anna was pregnant before the bombing in Dresden made me change my view of Oksar's grandfather. It made me understand more of why he left Oskar's grandma when she was going to have a baby, although it by no means justifies it. I can tell that all the people that have left his life have made him the way he is now, but I do not understand how leaving someone when they are in need helps any problems.
When he says that "thousands of people were left to suffer hope" he means they were left to the unknown. Many people had no evidence that thier loved ones were dead or alive. So all they could do was hope.
Oskar's grandfather said that "thousands of people were left to suffer hope" by this I think that he means that all of these people were left to suffer the hope that they will be helped and things will get better. Many times hope is the only thing that people have left after a tragedy, and it can be both the best and worst thing to have. It may be the best because it can be the only thing that gets you through the day, but it can also be the worst because it may be the only thing that you have at the end of the day. I think that he means that these people are suffering from hope because things will take a long time to get better, and instead of being the thing that gets them through the day it will be the only thing they have left.
The letter was marked in red to show that Oskar's dad had already scanned it over. This was used as a visual to point out specific things that Oskar's father called out as peculiar and/or false in his eyes.
When saying "thousands of people were left to suffer hope", this reminds me of mythology. Hope was viewed as a very negative thing. It halted any progression in a situation, and left people drooling stupidly that one day, by the power of hope, some miracle will come and clear their problems from their lives. This relates to the story in that back then, counting casualties was much tougher. Nobody knew if their relatives were gone so they knew not whether to try and move on or not. The thin thread of hope was always there to them.
When I learned that Oskar's grandfather had gotten Anna pregnant it was a weird turn. He always compares anna and the grandmother. The grandmother probably hates it and i have no idea why she stays with him. After finding out about Anna's pregnancy and the bombing, I felt very sympathetic and understanding of the grandfather. Now I understand why he cared so much for Anna and missed her so much. Also, I understand why he left when he found out that Oskar's grandmother was pregnant. I feel that he was afraid that he might lose this baby, too, and he couldn't handle going through that pain. I feel very bad for the grand parents.
Oskar’s father would mark up the New York Times with his little red pen, and that’s what is starting to make me think of reasons why he would do that to Oskar’s letter. Maybe they were just random and meant nothing or maybe there was a meaning behind all the words that Oskar had to soon figure out. But the one phrase that stuck out was the “I love you, your father.” Maybe this was a sign that no matter what he would always be here for him, but as for the rest of the red ink marks, it was a little confusing for me.
I do not think that it was right for Oskar’s grandfather to leave his wife. She was pregnant for goodness sakes. He was obviously emotionally scarred from losing the unborn child and Anna in the bombing, but once he finds out that Oskar’s grandmother is pregnant he should not have left like he did. Although I don’t think he would have been the best father figure to the child, he at least owed it to her to stay. No one could replace Anna and the unborn child, but he definitely should have taken responsibility and stayed with Oskar’s grandmother to help support the baby.
When Oksar's grandfather said that "thousands of people were left to suffer hope." he was saying that people who did not know if their loved ones had died were left with only hope. Having the hope that someone was still alive could be as painful as if their loved one had died. People would wait all their lives for someone to come home, someone how could have been dead for years. Everyday that the missing family and friends did not come home the more it hurt to hope and have that hope not turn it to reality.
Oskar's dad had marked the letter like he used to mark the New York Times and by circling where he tells Oskar that he loves him it shows he always wanted to be there for Oskar. Oskar's grandfather left Anna because he was was not emotionally ready to love someone again after everything that he had lost in his past. Thousands of people were left to suffer hope because not all of the bodies could be identified in the 9/11 attacks. People that had family members working in the buildings were in shock or denial and if the name of their loved ones were not announced as someone who had died they would believe that maybe there was a way that their family or friends could still be alive.
I think that the reason that this chapter has been marked in red is because he made many mistakes writing about what happened because it was so emotional to him. The red pen that he used to correct his mistakes could also be because of the morbid things that happened in the chapter.
Oskar's grandfather getting Anna pregnant does change my view on his actions. I now see he was trying to prevent future loss and pain, and he figured that by leaving and pretending it was not there it would go away. He didn't want to lose his child like he lost his first. This also brought up the very unpleasant memories of Dresden again for him which made him want to run away and hide. When he says that "thousands of people were left to suffer hope." he means that these people had created false hope that they could soon find their loved ones and that the anxiety of not knowing would soon be over. The reality was that this would not soon be over and they where torturing themselves by thinking everything would be better. Sometimes viewing the world from a realistic/pessimistic view can be easier than viewing it from an optimistic view. My view on Oskar's grandfather has slightly shifted to more of a sympathetic view from my original indifferent view on him. I still thing that he has mental/emotional issues and that some of his actions where not the most sane thing to do for those situations.
The chapter is marked in red because Oskar's father would do the same thing in the New York Times when he sees mistakes. He was making changes to make it suitable for him to read and going through the letter to make sure he got every detail.
The first thing I thought of when i saw the first page of this chapter was that Oskar's father has been here. Oskar said in an earlier chapter that his father would circle newspaper articles in red to make corrections or sometimes give clues to their little games. I tried putting everything circled into a sentence, but it did not make any sense... In some circled areas, I think he was circling just to circle, but in other areas I think he was circling to show Oskar that his presence was still there. There is one line circled that says, "I love our baby." and another that says, "For reasons that need not to be explained, you made a strong impression on me." and the last one that really stood out to me, "I love you, Your father" I think all of these were circled to show Oskar that he is loved and to just keep the connection together between his father and him.
The quote "thousands of people were left to suffer hope" is extremely depressing. In the letter it said that a bunch of bodies were destroyed and people could not tell who was who. People didn't want to give up on searching for their lost loved ones until they found their body...dead or alive. A lot of the time people couldn't find their loved ones because their body was destroyed and they wouldn't give up on the idea that they were still out there somewhere. It touches my heart that people have to go through things like this. They don't know if the one they love is out there or not so they just keep searching. That is dedication.
This chapter has been marked up in red because this tells us that Oskar's father has read this. I'm not sure why Oskar's father marks up everything in red pen. It could be a cryptic message that Oskar could understand someday.It could also just be some kind of habit his father had and the words could have zero significance. The significance might only be that his father read this sometime, somewhere.
For some reason I feel like Oskar's grandfather is lying to Oskar's father in this letter. The way it was described by the grandmother was that she tried to stop him from leaving but he left her anyway because she broke the rule of getting pregnant. But the grandfather says he left because the bombing would not let him get back home. Wouldn't the grandmother know of a bombing? I am just confused.
By saying it was the nurse's touch that saved his life, I believe he means she gave him hope for life and not harming himself.
This chapter has been marked up in red because this tells us that Oskar's father has read this. I'm not sure why Oskar's father marks up everything in red pen. It could be a cryptic message that Oskar could understand someday.It could also just be some kind of habit his father had and the words could have zero significance. The significance might only be that his father read this sometime, somewhere.
For some reason I feel like Oskar's grandfather is lying to Oskar's father in this letter. The way it was described by the grandmother was that she tried to stop him from leaving but he left her anyway because she broke the rule of getting pregnant. But the grandfather says he left because the bombing would not let him get back home. Wouldn't the grandmother know of a bombing? I am just confused.
By saying it was the nurse's touch that saved his life, I believe he means she gave him hope for life and not harming himself.
the letter is marked in red by Oskar's father. Most of the markings are simple corrections, but at the end "I love you, your father" is circled. It could be a message for Oskar, or it could just have been significant to Oskar's father. Because of all of the unidentified bodies, people were searching and searching to find their loved ones.
This chapter is marked in red to show that Oskar's dad read it. He seemed to correct everything that he read. The quote "thousands of people were left to suffer hope" means that sometimes hope can make sadness worse. Having hope that someone you love is alive and having that hope destroyed is harder to deal with. It is similar to when Oskar's father died and he kept saying he was okay even though he knew he was in danger so Oskar and his mother wouldn't worry. When they finally realized he was dead, their hope was destroyed and it made it harder to deal with because they had the sadness of broken hope on top of the sadness of losing someone they loved.
My view of Oskar's grandfather was never bad. Yes, I believed he should have been there for his son, but I knew there was something or some reason as to why he wasn't. This chapter confirmed that. This letter he is writing changes my view only slightly. As I said well wrote before, I never thought he was that bad. i was more curious as to why. This letter clears that up for me. He is actually a really good man who has been through so much.He can't bare to go through any more losses since he can't even let go what has happened before. I don't blame him for that. After reading the gruesome events of the bombing and how Anna was pregnant and now she and the baby are gone,I doubt if I could have let it go if I was in his shoes.
In the letter Oskar's grandfather says "thousands of people left to suffer hope" This statement is very true. I think he meant exactly what he said. Since there was never a list of the dead no one knows if their loved ones are dead or alive. They are left to hope for the rest of their lives that they are alive and ok. This can become maddening. they are carrying this hope as a burden. You are always searching hoping one day you will find them alive. This hope makes you suffer by never giving you a peace of mind to move on until you find a dead body or a living one. This hope is pretty much as horrible, maybe even more horrible, as knowing they are dead. At least if you know you can try to move on.
This chapter has been marked in red because someone was correcting the mistakes. I believe it was Thomas Schell correcting the mistakes in this letter. This tells me he got the letter and corrected it like he did everything else. I feel like he didn't take this letter to be special to him. If it was special, wouldn't he had preserved it and kept it safe instead of writing all over it? I know if I got a letter from my father that I had never met, I would cherish that letter. This shows how Thomas actually felt about the letters his father wrote him and his father himself, filled with mistakes.
I think since the letter is marked up in red ink, then Oskar's father must have seen the letter at some point. I think most of the things he circled and marked up were corrections, like he used to do with the NY Times. On the other hand, I think some things he circled jumped out at him and held some sort of significance. Also, I think some things he circled he hoped Oskar would see and send him some sort of a message to him.
The fact that Oskar's grandfather got Anna pregnant makes me wonder if that's the reason for leaving his grandmother. After losing one child, and his love, Anna, I don't think his grandfather knew how to handle the situation. I think part of him was a little scared to be hurt again and the best way for him not to be, was to strain away from it.
This chapter has been marked up in red to show that Oskar's father had read it. I think it's a mixture of simple grammar corrections, meaning phrases, and a message at the end for Oskar when he cricled "I love you, Your Father". I think somehow, this letter is a clue for Oskar in finding a missing piece to the puzzle.
"Thousands of people were left to suffer hope." This statement pretty much explains itself. Nobody was given a sure list of those who have passed so families and loved ones went on with their lives wondering what had happened to the missing. Always wondering with no true explanation or closure could definetly be classified as suffering; having to always think about the event and wonder where a loved one had ended up could drive a person mad. It's the answers in life that lead us to closure, the families were left with nothing but questions.
The chapter is marked in red most probably by Oskar's father. Perhaps he tried to treat the letter like articles in the NY Times, which he also corrected. It also could be that Thomas Schell Sr. went back and reread what he wrote and fixed the mistakes because he couldn't fix his real mistakes, and circled the things he still felt so strongly about.
The description of the bomb was alarming and further explained why Oskar's grandpa was so sad that he went silent. I'm sure he thought straight back to Anna's pregnancy when Oskar's grandmother found out that she was also pregnant, and he probably decided that it would be too painful to see what his and Anna's child may have looked like.
The phrase about suffering hope was a great one to show a similarity between the bombing and 9/11. Until you see the dead body of a victim, it's impossible to not get your hopes up that they will have been a survivor.
The letter is marked up in read which points to OSkars father. He marked his New York Times newspaper the same way.
Regardless of how Oskars grandfather acted when he found out about the pregnancy he still walked out. He left his son and therefore would never have a relationship with him and after his death it was impossible to even make up for walking away. He may have tried to redeem himself in the end by helping Oskar but after so long, what's done is done and he can't turn back time and fix one of his greatest mistakes. I do however understand that he feels regret and tries to help Oskar as a way of honoring his son whom he never knew.
This chapter is marked up in red because Oskar's father most likely read it. He did this in the New York Times for grammar corrections, typos, etc. I thought it could be a clue for Oskar as well.
When Oskar's grandfather says "thousands of people were left to suffer hope" he is suggesting that hoping and thinking for loved ones is a worse pain than actually suffering physical harm. Oskar's grandfather says that so many of the bodies were destroyed that a list who had died was never compiled. This left families who had missing loved ones hoping that their loved ones were only missing and not dead. In a sense, Oskar's grandfather is right. Sometimes the hope and thinking about someone and whether they are okay can be even more frightening than knowing that someone is gone and you no longer have to worry about them.
The red markings indicate that Oskar's father had read the letter at some point and marked the grammatical errors.
By saying that the nurse's touch saved his life, I think he means that she reminded him of Anna which motivated him to survive in hopes of being reunited with her.
After learning about how Anna was pregnant when she died, I was better able to understand why Oskar's grandpa reacted the way he did the Oskar's grandma's pregnancy. I think he associated pregnancy with losing Anna and it brought back painful memories.
I think the chapter is marked up in red to indicate that Oskar's father read it. Oskar's father also marked up the New York Times with grammar corrections, and messages to Oskar to indicate clues. The line that was circled that really stuck out to me was "I love you, Your father", because I think it's a reminder to Oskar that he is loved and cared about.
When Oskar's grandfather says "thousands of people were left to suffer hope" I feel as if it's just an odd statement because usually hope is what keeps people going. I never thought of hope becoming something that causes suffering. But what I think Oskar's grandfather meant by it was that people were suffering the hope of finding their loved ones. No indication was ever given of who was dead and who was not, so people were left with the small hope that maybe they would find the ones they were looking for, even though it was more likely they were dead.
The whole chapter has been marked with red ink because Oskar's father had been circling all the errors in the letter. All of these marks tells you that it is the one letter Oskar's father had received from Thomas, his own father. It shows you that he had read it and learned the story of what had happened in Dresden. I feel as if this whole chapter somewhat foreshadows that Oskar will have closure on what happened with his father, just as Oskar's father had closure on what happened to Thomas in Dresden.
When Thomas says "thousands of people were left to suffer hope" he means that all people had left was the hope that their loved ones were alive and waiting for them somewhere. Thomas says they will "suffer hope" because he knows what they are going through. He had hoped for so long that Anna would come back that he had forced himself to suffer instead of trying to live. He knows that most of the people searching for their loved ones will never give up and will end up hurting themselves more by hoping than by just excepting the fact that their loved ones are dead.
After reading this chapter and finding out about his unborn child and Anna I think he was afraid to stay because it would remind him to much of Anna, but I still think he was wrong to just get up and leave his wife. The letters to Oskar's father shows that he cares about his son he just can't bare to be with him.
When Oskar's grandfather says that "thousands of people were left to suffer hope" he is saying that because so many people were killed there was never a list of the dead. So thousands of people who survived were constantly hoping that their loved ones were alive somewhere.
The letter to Oskar's father makes me think his grandfather is less of a coward than I thought before. He finally summoned some courage to reach out to Oskar's father.
The letter to Oskar's father doesn't in any way change my view of Oskar's grandfather; in fact, it forces me to consider him even more of a puny, spineless coward. Let me explain: what Oskar's grandfather did was incredibly wrong. There is simply no debate about that; leaving one's pregnant wife for forty years in order to do some "soul searching" is inexcusable. However, before writing this letter to Oskar's father, Oskar's grandfather didn't attempt to justify his acts. He appeared to take full responsibility for abandoning his fragile wife and her unborne son. However, with this letter, he changed all that; he attempted to justify his abandonment by claiming that he was just too "traumatized" by the death of pregnant Anna that he couldn't handle having another child. This is what makes Oskar's grandfather the vermin he is; a real man would no try to justify his evil actions against the most defenseless if society: a mother and her unborne child.
He wanted to have Anna's baby and he was scared to have a baby with someone else. He only truly loved Anna. The nurses touch saved his life because he needed someone to be there for him. The phrase about suffering hope was a great one to show a similarity between the bombing and 9/11. Until you get to see the dead body of victims, it's impossible to not get your hopes up that they will have been a survivors.
Post a Comment