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?
62 comments:
People can love things through curiosity, they don't necessarily have to have a fear for it. Why does man have a love for space, yet we barely know anything about it? Curiosity has always been synonymous with intelligence; curiosity can lead to discovery; a love can be found in discovery. Why should we fear something we don't understand when it's the only way to birth new ideas? Instead we should embrace the unknowing and out of reach. This would explain Oskar's grandmother's love for something she doesn't understand. The story Oskar's grandmother told definitely moved me, it caught the more somber end of the book. She seemed so desperate to go back to Thomas everyday, losing interest in everything else other than him. It gave a lot of backstory to Oskar's grandmother, she stopped being that sweet grandmother who was most worried about her grandson into a more sporadic character. She was a little on edge with her actions, going there and posing for hours for Thomas, allowing him to move her with micro-adjustments, but then again she only cared about him at the time and love can make people insane.
I find the scene where Thomas sculpts to be quite sad. Its kind of depressing to learn that he is not even sculpting her but he really is trying to recreate Anna. Its heartbreaking because Anna’s sister really does like him but he will never lover truly love her because he still so in love with Anna that he just goes to the next best thing which is her sister.
I feel like the letters are important because they are about her life and memories and maybe one day he might give them to Oscar so he can read them and learn about her life.
I think she collects letters, as opposed to texts or emails, because of the time frame of the book. The grandmother collected this letters in her youth, so of course they wouldn't have the technology to save screenshots of texts. Also, letters are more permanent and can passed down through each generation. I believe the sculpting proposal is one of the reasons that their relationship has problems. Everytime the grandfather looks at the grandmother, he will always see Anna. He can never get this image out of his head, and this causes him to have false expectations that lead him to get let down every time. The fact that he was sculpting her sister instead of the grandmother, probably leads to an insecurity that she will never be good enough for him.
Have you ever been filled with admiration for someone who could naturally do something better than you could, or for something too challenging for you to accomplish? Such is the case with Oskar's grandmother and water. Having never learned to conquer it, she sees better than most people its true, intense power. She possesses deep respect for this power, as she knows that it could defeat her in a second. It is very logical to wonder why she wouldn't fear something so powerful, but think about it. Many of us love animals that could tear us apart; most of us respect people who do certain things professionally, rather than feeling jealous of their superb abilities. Why? We recognize that we can still enjoy these things without trying to match their strength. Oskar's grandmother is the same way, and in my opinion, she has a more healthy attitude. Instead of allowing the power of water to fill her with fear, she appreciates and accepts its superiority over her. She lets herself enjoy it, despite the fact that she cannot swim in it.
I agree with Maddy when she said that the grandma collects letters instead of texts or emails, mainly because of the time frame the book was written in. There is also something different and great about a handwritten letter. I always prefer having hard copies of things in front of me instead of the fast written, less accurate and personal texts or emails people send nowadays. Letters are permanent and can be kept forever, unlike little texts or emails. I also think that the relationship has many problems because the grandfather looks at the grandmother as if she is Ana, her sister. This leads to him getting disappointed every time he realizes that she isn't and never will be, and also to the grandmother always feeling like she is letting him down or not good enough.
Oskar's grandmother starts collecting letters when she receives a random letter from a man that is imprisoned. She starts to see the resemblance between different examples from people she knows to be a certain way in order to attempt to understand what kind of man the man who sent the original letter is. She collects the letter rather than texts or e-mails because of the time frame the book is written in, however, I believe that even if the technology was around for her to use a computer or phone, she still would have chosen hand-written letters because of the sentiment that is put into writing a letter. With a letter a person is better able to see their way of writing (reduction of spell check) and it shows the way a person actually writes instead of a typed message on a screen.
At first I wasn't quite sure how I felt about the sculpting scene. It was sort of an awkward read at first, but the more she described it, the more it symbolized. It really symbolizes how much Oskar's grandfather loved Anna and the fact that he can't let her go, even when Oskar's grandmother clearly loves him. It's sort of selfish on the grandfather's part, but I understand how he feels, sometimes it's extremely hard to let someone you loved go, even when there's new people who love you right in front of you.
Reading the sculpting scene did remind me very much of the Titanic scene with Jack and Rose. At first I thought it was really beautiful that he was sculpting her. But then as the chapter goes on the reader finds out that he was really sculpting Anna. He only sees Anna, he does not see her sister. Her sister has become Anna in his mind. I believe that Oskar's grandmother collects the letters because they serve more of a purpose than an email or a text. They are more personal and more thought out that just a simple text.
The story behind Oskar's grandmother and grandfather's marriage is very sad, all he can say at the end is HELP. At first the sculpting was interesting, but took a turn for tragedy as soon as it's realized that he was trying to sculpt Anna. He was trying to recreate a girl he knew long ago and is who long gone through another person. I agree with what has been stated before about the letters. It was just in her current time period that was the most methodical way of doing so, not to mention email and texts did not exist in her time yet.
At first she wanted to compare the labor camps letter to her fathers’ letter and the inmates’ letter. I got the sense that she was comparing the good and the bad, to see if her fathers’ letter was similar to the inmates’ letter or the inmate to the labor camp. In the end she collected a hundred letters over her bedroom floor. They were different in handwriting but They were written to the same person. Her. She loved lakes and rivers because they are beautiful and peaceful places. If she were to try to swim in one(it’s common sense not to) then it would turn into one of her worst fears. Her grandmother had so much love for her that it was twice as big as anything in the world. So twice the amount of rubies equals twice the amount of love. The way he wrote the question in German, even though they had been speaking and writing in English all day, made me think of the connection they have. They both thought they lost everything, but they managed to find each other again. She wanted to fulfill his dream of being a sculptor too. The scene is so similar to the titanic that is keeps you on the edge of your seat and just like a Taylor Swift song, it ends in heartbreak. It makes you wonder if he was imagining her to be Anna the whole time they were talking in the cafe and even after they got married. He wanted some part of Anna back in his life that he settled for her little sister. It seemed like she didn't have a problem with it but whats said and thought are two didn't things. The chapter just makes you wonder.
The scene that Thomas sculpts Oskar's grandmother really allows the reader to step inside Thomas's feelings for his lost love Anna and Anna's sister, who is actually Oskar's grandmother. Oskar's grandmother was merely a replacement for Anna. Oskar's grandmother was a model and Thomas recreated Anna. He didn't sculpt or marry Anna's sister because he loved her, he did it because she was similar to Anna. He had lost everything and by being close to Anna's sister, he felt close to Anna.
For Thomas, the sculpting scene is bittersweet. For Oskar's Grandmother, the scene is curious and, in my opinion, a little misconstrued at first. IN the beginning, she thinks Thomas is sculpting her for who she is, only to find out after a few more sessions of posing that he isn't thinking of her at all; he's thinking of Anna. I liked the fact that Anna's sister didn't mind that he was sculpting Anna instead of her. Above all, I think the two just enjoyed each other's company. Both of them were lonely. Even though Thomas had his animals to keep him company, and said he can talk to animals easier than he can talk to people, he was still missing a human component in his life, as was Anna's sister. In my point of view, this brought them together. I was glad to read that the two decided to get married, but disappointed to learn that Thomas thought of the years he spent with her as a lie. I do think it would have been better for him to stay with her in the end, but sometimes people spend too much time living in pain to take into consideration the pain their actions will bestow upon others.
The sculpting scene was sort of a love tragedy. The grandfather obviously cannot get over his love for Anna. He is basically using Oskar's grandmother as a physical replacement of Anna, and he sees Anna when he looks at her. That's why she realizes that he is sculpting Anna and not her. She realizes this and she ignores it and lets herself be used to replace Anna because she is obsessed with the feeling of being loved. Even if the love isn't directly for her, just the physical part of herself. It turns into a sad marriage and they struggle to connect.
Oskar's grandmother collected the letters to pass down to later generations. Like Maddy said, since she received and wrote these letters in the earlier years, they didn't have the technology we have today. I would also say that letters are something you can keep forever and they can be more personal. The author wanted to symbolize the grandmother as caring and very personal. She seems like the closest thing to Oskar besides Thomas.
The importance of Oskar's grandmother collecting the letters is to keep the memories of that person alive. She will be able to go through the letters later and remember the times of her life where they were sad and happy. Letters are important because you can have a sense of connection because of how their handwriting looks on the paper. The person writing the letters care more about what is going on since they sat down and wrote a letter. A text or email can be sent anywhere at anytime. A person doesn't have to sit down and think about what to write as they are usually in a rush. Letters today seem more special because it is rare for a person to get a letter than a text. Due to this, the person receiving the letter will most likely get the letter than a text message or email, since everybody is contacting them through texting and emailing.
The important thing about letters in general is that they're a physical thing to hold onto. With texts and emails there is nothing to physically hold, which in my opinion decreases the value they hold. With letters you can get a grasp on who the writer is by their word choice, their story, and their handwriting. That is why I believe the grandmother was collecting all the letters. The letters gave her something to hold onto and to remember the writers.
I agree with both Dylan and Susan about Oskar's grandmother's love of water. I believe that it is a combined feeling of respect and wonder that leads to her admiration. As Susan said, she respects the water for the immense forces that it possess, and, as Dylan said, she is full of wonder at how tasks that would normally take incredible strength could be accomplished by a simple river. Because of this, I believe that she thinks of it to be a noble force of nature - one that is not tainted by the hands of man. In fact, this leads me to believe that this is part of her personality - looking for the nobility and virtue in everything around her, such as in Thomas. She let herself be sculpted by him, and she even let herself marry Thomas because she pitied him. She was smart enough to know that she was the replacement for Anna, and for that many people would have left. However, Oskar's grandmother didn't. She stayed because she knew him for the person he really was, despite all his flaws, and continued to love him as such. She saw the generosity and nobility within the man that her sister would have married, and for that she stayed in love with him as she also stayed in love with the river.
I love what Dylan said about curiosity, "Why should we fear something we don't understand when it's the only way to birth new ideas?".
I think that Oskar's grandmother loves these bodies of water because they represent new life and change. She came across the ocean to forget about the horrors she faced as a child, just as countess others before her. She fell in love with her new life, and in a way, water brought her to it.
Water can also represent dependability. Oskar's grandmother craves dependability because of her tremendous loss. She needs something that will always be there for her (like oceans, rivers, and lakes) because her family could no longer be there for her.
Rivers are often viewed as steady (despite the disagreeing opinion of Pocahontas, "He wants me to be steady like the river, but it's not steady at all!"). However this sturdiness intrigues Oskar's grandmother as she feels her life is crumbling around her (between the loss of her family, more specifically her sister, and later her husband).
It’s funny because when I was reading this chapter, I thought of the exact same scene from the Titanic. I could picture Oskar’s grandfather as Jack and Oskar’s grandma as Rose. While I was reading this from Oskar’s grandma’s point of view it seemed that her attitude was more reminiscing and sad than anything. Personally I think that they both coped with their losses by having him sculpt her. Since he lost his words after the effects from World War II, sculpting was the only thing that he could truly remember. The sad thing is that he would sculpt her and it would look more like her sister Anna. Oskar’s grandma allowed herself to be sculpted because she wanted too, and she also because she knew it would help him. Also while I was reading this specific chapter, I kind of felt that him sculpting her served as distraction from his losses. The way that Oskar’s grandma describes the sculpting seems so sad to me, especially how they would make love afterwards but it really never meant anything when the sculpture itself would look like Anna rather than her.
I think the sculpting scene makes for one of the most poignant scenes in the book thus far. Foer presents such sadness on both sides--from Thomas trying to turn Oskar's grandmother into Anna, to her so desperately trying to be needed. While it's easy to be frustrated with Thomas in particular, it's just as impossible to hate him given his circumstances. Instead, as a reader, I just feel such a heavy sadness for the both of them.
It's also interesting to me how the two of them are trying to distance themselves from their pasts (never using German again after this point, for example), yet at the same time still clutching to all that's left of it--each other. They were forced from Dresden just as their lives were truly beginning, after all, so that stands as plenty of unfinished business, especially as far as Thomas is concerned. Unfortunately, this makes for an awful foundation for a relationship.
Oskar's grandmother collects the letters at first to compare them to the letter she got from the prisoner of war. When she starts getting a lot of letters, she becomes intrigued with the things she finds in them. She sees many similarities between all of the letters and they become special to her. Also, like Maddy said, handwritten letters were the norm for that time period. Letters are much more special than texts or emails because they are personal. There is something much more intimate to physically writing someone a letter than typing something that is on a screen. The sculpting scene was extremely awkward and heart wrenching. They both were so obviously not in love and trying to fill the hurt they had with each other. They were longing for something else but trying to make it work with each other, which won't work. This scene made it clear why their marriage ended how it did.
Oskar's grandmother loves rivers and lakes even though she has never been swimming because you don't need to do something to love it. His grandmother was probably fascinated with how the water moved and looked. She saw the beauty of water and decided not to fear it, like how life should be lived not fearing anything. The ruby bracelet is to show how much her grandfather loved her. The more rubies that there were on the bracelet the more he loved her. It also showed that he will always love her when she grows older and nothing will change that. She was not able to wear the bracelet at all because it was too large. She says “If I were to give a bracelet to you, now, I would measure your wrist twice”(79). Oskar’s grandmother wants Oskar to know that she loves him now in the present and that is all that matters. She will always love him and wants Oskar to remember that.
I think that the reason Oskar's grandmother loved water, even though she couldn't swim, is because it most likely brings a sense of excitement. The not knowing of what could happen in relation to it. Water is something she can't fully understand and we all show interest in things we don't understand. As for the sculpting scene I found it to be depressing. Oskar's grandmother loved this man who could only see Anna when he looked at her. It's also ironic in the way that they promise to never speak of the past, but the grandfather only wants to bring the past back through his sculptures.
Oskar's grandmother collects letters because she can see how people are connected. The handwriting on the letters tell their own story. It can be fascinating to think how two people that have never met could be so alike. She compares the handwriting because it helps her perhaps understand a person better. Also the word choice may help her, as opposed to writing an email or a text I think a lot more thought goes into writing a letter and that people actually care what they write down because you can't just send a *and to fix a typo or the structure of a sentence. So based on the type of handwriting and the words used in these letters she can connect with people as she collects parts of their lives, no matter how small it seems.
I had so many mixed feelings on the sculpture scene because at first I thought they were there in that moment with each other because they were tired of being alone. But then I realized that that scene actually showed how much the grandfather really loved Anna. Even with another girl laying there and him suppose to be sculpting her he still saw Anna. That's how you knew that he would never love anyone like he loved Anna. For Oskars grandmother collecting letters instead of the updated way with technology I believe had to do with the time frame. Plus I feel like the actual letters would mean a lot more. especially them being hand written it told a lot more about that person through the way they wrote or how. I think that's why she loved them so much.
The letters are important because they're about her and Oskar's grandfather. I agree with you on the sculpting story. I want to say that it was kind of creepy but I understood where he was coming from with it. His undying love for Anna is a beautiful and tragic story, but I can't tell if he's just using the grandmother as an outlet or if he actually feels something for her. He obviously chose her because she reminded him of Anna, but his motives are still uncertain.
I don't know why I found the moment with the rubies so striking, but I love that part so much. I interpreted the story of the ruby bracelet the size of a necklace in a way of that quote of "it's the thought that counts." I don't agree with that quote. Her grandfather thought that she would appreciate the size of the bracelet because of the sweet meaning behind the massive rubies. The ironic thing was that she couldn't even wear the bracelet! She claims that if she were to make a bracelet, she'd measure the wrist twice so it would definitely fit. This goes for any relationship with another human being: you can say and think the sweetest things about a person, but if your actions don't fit, then they won't appreciate it as much in the end. By taking the time to "measure twice," you'd be forced to demonstrate that thought for the person and thinking about what they would want, instead of selfishly thinking about how deep you think you are.
The letters are important because they are people, they were told to write whatever they wanted. In these letters could be someone’s life story, life changing experiences that they went through and truly spectacular stories. You can learn from others mistakes and cherish there best memories. She has all these letters forever now, when she feels down she can read one about a funny time, when she thinks she has it the worst she could read of how one overcame the worst to go to the best possible life.
The sculpting scene is simply tragic because she has exposed herself to him so vulnerably, but he doesn't see her at all, he sees her sister. She realizes this, but she is in love with him, and if that's what it takes for him to be happy and for her loneliness to be lightened, then she has no choice. I can see how alike it is to the Titanic scene because their love was also tragic. Jack dies and cannot love Rose anymore. Rose takes his last name as her own and sort of marries herself to him to hold onto their love. That kind of one-sided gesture reminds me of the narrator's grandmother's one-sided love for the narrator's grandfather.
Letters are much more personal than emails and texts. I think they are more personal because you're getting the other person's handwriting. Everyone's handwriting is very unique and can show parts of their personality. I feel like letters have the ability to express feelings better than emails and texts. With emails and texts, you just communicate through a computer system and you often lose most of the emotion that was in the words. I think the letters were so important to the grandmother because they had emotion with them. Each one was from someone she loved and she could look at them and be reminded of their love.
The message that her grandmother was trying to convey with the story of the ruby bracelet is that love can’t be a physical object. Love cannot be pushed into the size of a bracelet, it is much greater than that. Love isn’t supposed to fit you just right. It is supposed to surround you so you can feel it from every direction. it's not the perfect size because it is trying to make you uncomfortable so you always notice it. Her grandmother was saying that love is greater than a bracelet.
Oskar's grandmother received a letter that was written years earlier by a man in a Turkey work camp. She knows nothing about this man at all so she has all sorts of people to compare all the hand writings. Her idea is that a person's hand writing can tell you all you need to know about a person. Now the significance of a letter is that it shows it's age and in my eyes is a lot more person even though most of the information was shown as "XXXX" It also shows the oppression and despair of this man.
In my Opinion, letters are much more heart-felt than a quick text or email. When you put the pen to the page one must think about every word in order to not mess up the entire piece. This makes the letters more thought provoking than a backspace button. In addition, it is not certain that text messaging were even easily accessible at that time.
Another story which was mentioned was the sculpting scene. This scene makes me feel uncomfortable, because unlike the titanic movie you imagined, I thought it was going to turn into the popular "50 shades". I view it that way because of how the narrator portrays the scene. By saying things like "I quit my job so he could sculpt me" and mentioning that when he sculpted her he thought of another woman. Those statements in themselves make me think less of romantic titanic and more of creepy, mentally unstable 50 shades.
When Oscars grandma got that letter from the Russian camp prisoner, she thought that, why did she get that. Was it sent to her by mistake? This got her thinking on how much writing can provoke thought and it is the best way to really get to know someone. This is more shown in there hand writing. His grandmother collected the letters so she could see how different the hand writing and the meaning could change from person to person.
Handwritten letters will always have a special place in my heart. Oskar's grandmother became intrigued with letters ever sense she received one from the Russian prisoner. Her obsession then progressed and she grew to admire them and request them from ever person she knew. I think she liked them for the same reason I do. Handwritten letters are so personal and special and they mean so much more than a quick text or email. Oskar's grandmother became interested in learning what different people write in their letters addressed to her, and loved getting to know them through their letters.
My thoughts on the sculpting scene are very mixed like many have already stated. I find it beautiful because when you first read the beginning of it, you see how innocent and beautiful Oskar's grandmother is. You can see her falling for Oskar's grandfather immediately, almost like it is her first love all over again. As the scene progresses it takes a more tragic turn because you start to realize that Oskar's grandfather thinks he is not sculpting Oskar's grandmother, but her older sister Anna. Oskar's grandmother finally comes to this realization and I can only imagine the pain she must of felt knowing that he doesn't truly love her like she thought he did. He is still in love with her sister Anna. This scene reminds me exactly of the Titanic scene because it is awkward to watch at first, but then you realize it is beautiful and romantic, yet their are complications just like the scene in the book.
I think that the beauty of collecting letters comes from the fact that it takes time and effort to write a letter as opposed to a text or an email. Another aspect of letters that comes from the fact that the hand writing gives them more personality than typed forms of communication. The next issue is with her curiosity with the water. I think her fascination with the water kind of resembles her personality. She moved to the U.S. before she fully understood English because of her fascination with things that are unknown to her. This also explains why she married a man who had limited communication with her, because she liked things she didn't understand.
I believe her grandmother loved rivers and lakes despite never learning to swim because it was something in life she couldn't conquer and she admired their strength and beauty. It was something she could never be a part of. It was only something she could sit back on and admire and appreciate. It shows that we should do the same with life. We can't control a lot of our lives, but we should still appreciate the beauty it holds.
The whole sculpting scene of him creating Anna is truly beautiful. I think that his grandmother knows that he is sculpting to take away pain from something else. It is pretty obvious that he is a hurt soul and he isn't just sculpting her for her beauty. She knows this but doesn't really care. She cares about him and wants to help him persevere through his pain.
I can understand why Oskar's grandmother is collecting letters as opposed to texts or emails. Letters are by far the most personal form of written communication. I think that they speak a lot more to people especially through handwriting, a unique looking font that you can associate with one person. What's written on the letters is even more important. It's a window to what someone else said that you can hold onto and read whenever you please.
I definitely agree with Alex when he talks about admiring something you can't control. I definitely think that was a reason that Oskar's grandmother liked bodies of water. However, I also feel that even in fear there is sheer beauty. For example, I am not the biggest fan of heights, but the view from the third highest building in Chicago is terrifying and beautiful. Not to mention it is perfectly safe to view behind thick glass windows.
The letters that Oskar's grandmother collects will help her determine what type of man was in the Turkish labor camp that she had received a letter from. She is comparing their style, message, and content to that of the man in the Turkish labor camp and hopes that this will help her determine what kind of person the man was. Letters tend to be more personal and in my mind they tend to show more caring. With a letter not only must you write it by hand but you must also put that letter in an envelope, pay for stamps to put on the envelope, then take the letter to the post office. Letters are not sent instantly and there is no guarantee of delivery or a return letter from the person you sent it to. Oskar's grandmother's grandmother could find love in rivers and lakes because she found mystery in the water and beauty in the mystery. She found them to be very beautiful and also dangerous as if she would have fallen into the water she probably would have drowned. Her grandmother's ruby bracelet was much too big for her and left her uncomfortable as it was almost a necklace. Oskar's grandmother's grandmother's father had told her that the more rubies the more love, yet Oskar's grandmother's grandmother had told his grandmother that, "If I were to give you a bracelet to you, now, I would measure your wrist twice." Her grandmother is telling her that money and precious stones aren't what show love, it's the thought and quality of what you give someone that shows how much you care about them.
Oskar's grandmother collecting letters instead of emails or texts is very understandable. Letters are so personal. You can tell how much time and effort someone put into them simply by looking at the way they wrote it. If she was collecting emails or texts, it could easily be someone else's work just copy and pasted. The letters are important to Oskar's grandmother because she wants to see the personal side of the man from the Turkish labor camp. There is a lot of effort when it comes to trying to deliver a letter to someone considering you will have no idea if it actually sent to that person or not unless they reply.
Oskar's grandmother is trying to convey her love through the analogy of her father giving her the ruby bracelet to wear. She said that if she gave a ruby bracelet to Oskar, it would, "measure your wrist twice." Since she also notes that, "more rubies, more love," all she wants to do is to express her love towards Oskar so that he remembers it, and he does since out of all sixty-seven pages of the letter of her life, he remembers the last paragraph of her speaking of the ruby bracelet. Additionally, the over-sized bracelet also insinuates that Oskar would 'grow into' the love and as time went on he would continue to wear it. After all, people sometimes buy jewelry too big so that they can continue to wear it. Basically, she wants to show Oskar the same undying love and care that his great grandfather had for his grandmother.
Oskar's grandmother keeping physical letters instead of texts and emails is very understandable and sensible. Letters are much more personal. There is a different look to them, not just a standardized font from a text. There is a different smell to each and everyone. You can actually hold and feel the letter opposed to just looking at a computer screen. Letters are more meaningful, and you can learn much more from a person by letter than you can from a text. The letters mean more to Oskar's grandmother.
Letters compared to emails or texts are just more personal. The person isn't typing on a computer and pressing send, but handwriting a usually well thought out letter. The sculpting story is a tragic one, not only for the grandmother but also for the grandfather. The grandfather sees this beautiful girl, but at the same time he sees a completely different girl. He sees Anna, the girl’s sister that’s all he can see. His love life is trapped around Anna. The grandmother spends all this time letting this boy sculpt her and then to find out that he was sculpting his sister instead. Major letdown if you ask me.
I found the sculpting very sad because Oskar's grandmother understood that Thomas wasn't sculpting her, he was sculpting Anna. Oskar's grandmother wanted to do what she could for him, even though she knew that, in a way, she wasn't enough, and even though she knew this, she still wanted to marry him because she wanted to do everything she could. Talk about a one-sided relationship. Thomas throughout that entire time was trying to sculpt Anna, he would say that he is looking for a compromise between the two girls. Trying to find a happy-medium, but adding just a little more Anna instead. Then after Thomas sculpted her, he agreed to marry her, probably with the belief that if he can sculpt Anna, that he can also sculpt the relationship to be he and Anna.
Oskar's grandmother collects all these letters from people cause they're heart felt and have emotional feelings and attachments to them. You can easily hold on to a letter forever, but not necessarily and text message or an email. People write in a certain form that computers can't even convey, it has heart in it, somebody took time out of their day to take a piece of paper write down a beautiful message, suit it up all nice in tight in an envelope, and take it to the mailbox to be delivered. That's a lot of work so it show people took time and effort to make sure that this note got to you. Oskar's grandmother collects these letters because she wants to keep the fond memories of them, to have this way of looking back and remembering who they were by what they wrote. Oskar's grandmother tried to keep these memories so that they would never die, but always find a home in her loving way that she collected and kept them.
Emails and text messages are not close to the heart, but more as just the normal way of communication. If we receive a letter, it has a significant place in your heart meaning someone took the time to write it for you to keep. Keeping letters is similar to holding on to someone or some period in your life, that is memorable to you. The sculpting story was a tragic and depressing story that affected Oskar’s grandfather and grandmother. Every time Oskar’s grandfather looks at his grandmother, he sees the young, beautiful Anna that he fell in love with. Oskar’s grandfather sculpts his wife into being the young Anna that he wanted to still have in his life. The story is depressing, but has a place in your heart because when you do lose someone you want to be able to hold onto him or her in any way possible. I agree that the scene is similar to that of Jack and Rose of Titanic both stories have the tragic side but the journey and story is what is touching. Jack and Rose just met on the ship, but there love was still great and Oskar’s grandmother and grandfather are together in a way that his grandfather did not want to lose the love of his life, even though she is dead.
In response to the question, “What is important about letters in-general? As opposed to, say, emails or texts?” Letters are important because they are a more personal way to send a message. When writing a letter the writer’s inflection can be better understood through the changes in handwriting and even the paper itself. A hand written letter takes time and dedication to write and is not just a simple keystroke on a keyboard. A letter is also special because it’s tangible and can be reread and remembered easier than a meaningless text. A letter is also a way to remember the author who wrote them. It was written by hand and so by touching the letter you make a connection to the person that wrote it.
I agree that letters are more personal as opposed to emails and texts, but the thing that truly sets them apart is the handwriting and the raw time and emotion put into a letter. As a whole, computers and phones have made a harsher and less personal world. Letters used to be common and necessary, but now they seem like wastes of time. The technological revolution society is in the middle of has made such a thing completely obsolete. It's sad but true and a letter now just simply means more. Seeing someone's handwriting for the first time in years can make a person reach back into their minds and think of a wonderful memory. It truly is a shame that such a thing is no longer appreciated, but Oskar's grandma still appreciates the significance. She collects the letters to remember things and people more vividly and with more emotion.
The story of the ruby bracelet really is interesting. It in a way alludes to the old cliche money can't by a person's love. Her grandmother says that there were so many rubies she could hardly wear the bracelet, but the grandfather believes that more rubies shows more love, but what really would've showed more love is taking the time to find out his granddaughter's wrist size. That is why her grandmother said she would have measured her wrist twice. It was her way of saying that she loves her enough to give her the time of day unlike her grandfather did. Her grandfather believed that she was like some girls who only care about physical things like jewelry, but she instead cares about the intangible things like time and conversation and from this small snippet, it is apparent that her grandfather didn't give her these essential things.
People can go back to a text or email with much ease and very little effort. However, to save a hard copy of a letter, someone has to treat it fragile and keep better tabs on where it is located, making it much more important than digital communications. Her grandmother could love bodies of water without learning to swim just like someone can love a lion or other dangerous animal with the knowledge that it can harm you, but get joy from seeing it. In the sculpting scene, I viewed the grandmother as crazy in love, crazy enough to go pose for a man who won’t speak words to her.
People can go back to a text or email with much ease and very little effort. However, to save a hard copy of a letter, someone has to treat it fragile and keep better tabs on where it is located, making it much more important than digital communications. Her grandmother could love bodies of water without learning to swim just like someone can love a lion or other dangerous animal with the knowledge that it can harm you, but get joy from seeing it. In the sculpting scene, I viewed the grandmother as crazy in love, crazy enough to go pose for a man who won’t speak words to her.
Her grandmother could love rivers and lakes through appreciation. Like not being able to swim made them even more beautiful because they were untouchable. Most swimmers are pessimistic and fear that they’ll drown should they step into water, but she was probably an optimist who looked at things as they were instead of what they could do. I think her grandmother was trying to tell her that we don’t always understand acts of love when they’re made, but with time and growth, we can not only grow to love them and appreciate them, but to make them for ourselves. There’s beauty in a complicated act of love.
I thought of Titanic too!! It reminded me of the love stories you see and hear when the person is still in love with someone else and says their name in their sleep, or looks past you into someone they wish was there. It also reminded me of James Cameron’s Avatar, when Jake’s brother dies but they already have an Avatar so they take the next best thing which is his brother, even though he can’t do anything for the science. They both needed something else, but they were the next best thing they could get.
The time frame of this story makes me think that instead of screenshotting emails and texts, she probably collects letters. She collected them throughout her childhood so it wouldn’t be possible to save those types of things. The letters she saved could be shown to her family in the future. The grandfather always sees Anna when he sees the grandmother. It is impossible for him to get the image of Anna out of his head and he has high expectations and when his expectations aren’t met, he gets let down which leads to a faulty relationship. There is probably an insecurity of the grandmother because she thinks that she isn’t like Anna enough. So the sculpting proposal causes the relationship to be faulty.
I agree with the prompt with stating that their love was "beautiful but tragic" but more tragic. In the sense that in such a big city and they just happen to stumble upon each other, that's beautiful but everything else, not really. Oskar's grandma loved him for what she knew of him, she saw him for what she believed to be true. She used to watch Anna with him, she wanted to be Anna. That's all she wanted, it's kind of wanting to date a famous celebrity, the person is probably not at all who you really imagined them to be. But you'd still think they were everything because you had this image of them before. Then you'd realize they were not a fairytale and you're not really living the life of Jack and Rose but the book is only half way though so anything can happen.
I can definitely understand relating the sculpting story to Titanic, but for me the ruby story seems much more similar to the movie. It reminds me of when Rose received the huge necklace and couldn't wear it, because it was too much. Both of their significant others relied too much on money as a bribe for love, and it didn't make either of the women happy. Regardless, the sculpting scene definitely stuck out to me. It was uncomfortable to read, which leads me to believe that the uncomfortable mood of this story describes the rest of their relationship and marriage. It seems like they both took advantage of the other person's weaknesses and used them in order to get married and be less lonely. The selfishness behind those motivations led to an ultimately unhappy marriage.
When reading the scene, I also thought of the the Titanic scene. The only difference, other than the difference between sculpting and painting, is that Jack really loved Rose for Rose. In the meantime, the grandfather loved the grandmother as Anna. I admire the way that the grandmother selflessly loved him, even as he was broken on the inside. Even going as far as going outside her comfort zone to connect her love with his passion for art.
I think Oskar's grandmother loved lakes and rivers because it is free and flowing unlike her. Her whole life she has always wanted to other things than what people told her to do. She never wanted to marry Oskar's grandfather and wanted to do so many things that her family and friends forced her not to do. She also wanted to be like the river and let her feelings flow from her and let them guide where she goes in life. Even though she doesn't know how to swim she trusts the water to take her where she wants to go.
I agree with others who have answered how could her grandmother love rivers and lakes if she had never learned to swim. I think of it as she looks at the water and admires how she can start over again. That when nature is beauty to life, and you admire the beauty. That exactly like Luke k said, the river is her guide. Even if you don't know how to swim in the water or in other words learn how to fight against things in life that it doesn't mean she can't love the beautiful parts of it. That we don't need fear to over come everything and just follow what we trust. In her case, she trust the way of the water and it flows.
I think all of her letter collection goes back to that one letter from the Turkish labor camp. Grandma Shcell is trying to get a vast supply of letters from all sorts of people so she can deduce what kind of people write what kind of letters. She wants to be able to deduce what kind of person the Turkish labor camp captive is before she sends him a piece of herself. As for the love story through sculpture, I thought it was a very sad story from two very sad, broken people. They're the only people they have left from Dresden and they're trying so hard to make a crummy situation work. The Grandma thinks that if she can just get them to fall in love they'll both be happy and normal Americans and everything will get better, whereas the grandpa has just been left drifting through life and unable to communicate or connect with anyone. He accepts her proposal because he wants to leave his past behind him and this could be the beginning of a new chapter in his life. I don't think he was trying to sculpt Anna, it was more a work of the subconscious. With all the adjusting and touching of the younger sister's naked body he was trying to memorize it and fall in love with it, or at very least get the same base physical reaction from it that Anna gave him.
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