A very graphic, first-hand description of the atomic bomb attack on Japan. What is significant about Oskar's choice to share this with the class? How is it connected?
How does the story of Buckminster fit in on a deeper level?
Why do you think Stan pulls his hand back from Mr. Black when they are introduced?
There are some good sections that highlight the generation gap between Mr. Black and Oskar. Which ones did you notice, and how do they help build the characters or the story?
Why does Oskar insist on finding out if Agnes Black had any kids? Is Mr. Black lying about the answer? If he is, why would he do that?
What do the letters from Gary Franklin and Jane Goodall tell us about Oskar? What does this second response from Stephen Hawking tell us?
Oskar states that he sometimes thinks that the key opens everything. What has it opened so far?
What do you learn about Oskar from his session with the therapist? What do you learn about his mother from the choppy conversation that Oskar eavesdrops on?
Why does he listen to his father's message when he gets home from his therapy session?
The chapter is titled "Happiness, Happiness." Why?
32 comments:
I think the reason why Oskar gave a graphic description to the class about the atom bomb on Japan was a reference to his father. Obviously Oskar has a lot going on in his life, lots of change and hard times. The pain is building up inside and sometimes people heal, or feel better by sharing it with others, or giving others a little insight about what is going on. The pain and agony was build up, and his emotions just came spewing out into the presentation, because his couldn't stand keeping it in any longer. All the bruises he gave himself, and the loss he went through went into making that presentation. When he gave the presentation, it made him feel better almost to know that others, (the Japanese), suffered a horrible death like his dad did on the worst day 9/11.
The story of Buckminster is actually an upsetting story after realizing the deeper meaning of it. Oskar recalls when he brought his cat to school to show how cats have the ability to survive a fall from a dangerous height. There are two things that make this story sadder than it should be. One, before the story of Buckminster, Oskar plays the recording of an interview of a person’s experience with the bombing of Hiroshima firsthand. Two, Oskar mentions later on in the chapter that people jumped off of the Twin Towers when 9/11 happened. To sum everything up, the tale of Buckminster has a deeper meaning because it shows how fragile humans are. For example, a cat can fall from twenty floors and land on its feet possibly with some injuries but still alive. A human falls from twenty floors and is dead on impact. The story illustrates the fragility of humans and raises so many questions. How would things be different if humans could survive a fall from a building with only minor injuries? How would life be different for Oskar if that could happen? The story of Buckminster has a significant and deeper meaning than at first glance, which becomes more upsetting once that meaning is discovered.
Oskar shares a very detailed and gruesome report of the Hiroshima bombings in his presentation to the class to provide a glimpse of, perhaps, what it was like to be a victim of the 9/11 attacks. It is mentioned later on in the novel how desperately Oskar wants to know how his dad died, whether he jumped or burned, if he was crushed, even. This description of what it was like in the flames of Hiroshima may have provided a sickening comfort to Oskar because then he could have known what it was like for his dad, had he burned to his death. Oskar is, without a doubt, a kid who seeks knowledge. He wants to know EVERYTHING, it seems- the good, the bad, and the ugly. Knowing what it may have been like for his father to die, well, that falls under the categories of bad and ugly. In addition to that, Oskar shares the horrible reality of the Hiroshima bombings because it makes the class aware of some of the pain that he- and others involved in such awful incidents like the Hiroshima bombing and 9/11- feel.
I agree with Madelyn on why Oskar chose that story to share with his class. I think that at age 9, he has gone through SO much. Chances are, more than most will struggle with their whole lives. I don't think it was necessarily to receive sympathy, but rather bring knowledge about the pin that exists in the world. I assume it was a bit much to handle in the classroom since I even struggled reading trough it. Yes, we all have history class and learn about the world wars, but putting a face, a story to it can make it so much more realistic and comprehensible. I loved a quote by Tomoyasu during the interview: "I thought that if everyone could see what I saw, we would never have war anymore". I think that was what Oskar was going off of. He wanted his classmates to at least realize how much pain others (including himself) could feel or were feeling. In addition, during his therapy session, Oskar was told that he (the therapist) would say a word and he had to say something that came to mind in one word. It started off pretty rough but he finally got the hang of it. When the word "Hurt" was mentioned, his response was, "Realistic". To him, hurting was realistic but he knew for other students, it wasn't.
I think that the reason he keeps listening to those messages is to find closure and comfort. This specific time, all he can seem to do is find fault in the message. Why didn't he say bye? Why didn't he say he loved me? All reasonable for a kid who lost his father who 'died in the most horrible death that anyone ever could invent". So sad.
I also agree with Madelyn and Hannah about Oskar's choice of story that he shared with his class. Oskar is too young to go through what he is going through. I feel so bad for him while reading though this chapter. I think that Oskar just wants to get his feeling's shared with people about the subject. Also, Oskar's classmates can be informed on what is really going on during this time and what many families are going through after 9/11. Also, what I learned from the session with Oskar's therapist was that he is hurting but is accepting reality. I feel like Oskar isn't the person who wallow's in his sorrows, he wants to learn more about what happened. Oskar is obviously impacted by the situation but is dealing with it in a unique way.
From Oskar's session with his therapist, I picked up that Oskar doesn't really want to be at the therapist’s. He’s only there because his allowance depended on it and so he provides the Dr. Fein with indifferent answers. Oskar says that life is impossible and that he is constantly emotional. In the choppy conversation that Oskar eavesdrops on, Oskar’s mother seems to feel a bit guilty that she is moving past her husband’s death and isn't mourning like Oskar is. She is also unwilling to send Oskar to a hospital, which was suggested by Dr. Fein. In his therapy session, Dr. Fein asked Oskar what good could come from his father’s death. This obviously stuck Oskar deeply and upset him. He probably went to listen to his father’s last messages to calm himself and remind him of what happened to his father. That way, Oskar wouldn't forget the purpose of finding the lock to the key. This chapter was titled “Happiness, Happiness”, which was a topic during Oskar’s therapy session. When asked comes to mind with “happiness”, Oskar repeats the word. In the last sentence of the chapter, Oskar mentions that “it was almost Saturday, which meant I was that much closer to the lock, which was happiness”. This implies that Oskar would be happy when he figures out the mystery behind the key left by his father.
The first-hand description of the atomic bomb attack on Japan draws many similarities between two horrific events. It was used by Oskar to introduce the topic of atomic bombs and how scientists used the nuclear shadows to determine where the bomb exploded. I think that the relationship shown between Tomoyasu and her daughter Masako represent the relationship between Oskar and his mom. Masako and Tomoyasu both had a terrifying and devastating experience when the bomb went off. Tomoyasu was terrified and helplessly looking for her child. Masako was in pain from her skin and muscle melting off. Oskar may not have been physically affected by his father’s death but, it’s clear that the guilt that weighs on him is painful. One of the strongest parallels I noticed was when Masako told her mother that she took so long. Oskar in Heavier Boots yells at his mother for not picking him up from school and taking too long to get to the apartment. Masako and Oskar were both desperate for their mother in a time of need after a terrible event. Their mothers were unable to quickly reach them and feel awful.
For a kid, Oskar is in too much pain. He feels constantly burdened by all that he has been through and all that he knows. (Like when he says, "Which I know about, unfortunately.") He is pained by his father's death. He is pained by his mother's indifference to his problems/his father's death. He is bullied in school. I think that in a way, including this in his presentation helped share some kind of pain with his class, even if it wasn't his own pain.
In Oskar's therapist session, I was surprised at how the therapist acted when he said "Is there any good that can come out of this?" because I personally don't see how a kid losing a parent can be beneficial in any way. I also liked that Oskar's answer to "Emergency" was "Dad". I liked how he said his father was both the cause and solution of the emergency. To Oskar, he is the cause because he was killed in the 9/11 attacks, and that was a major emergency in Oskar's life. He used to be the solution, because whenever Oskar had a question his father always had an answer.
I think the story about Oskar's cat is sad, as he talks about cats being able to fall huge distances and being able to survive since their bodies are built to do that. It clearly ties to the 9/11 jumper stories we hear, read, and unfortunately sometimes see. Oskar, I'm sure, imagines his father jumping and wishing he could survive a fall like a cat. Oskar says he wants to know how his father died, did he burn, jump, get crushed? Oskar will never know but he constantly wishes he could know. I don't know what the atomic bomb story means, maybe it shows how severely haunted Oskar is about the whole thing. I thought maybe he just found it interesting and he's a kid who just didn't understand why it's weird to show that to a classroom full of 9 year olds.
The reason for the graphic entrance to this chapter was to relate to the tragedy of 9/11. Just like the bombing of Hiroshima the attack on the towers was unpredictable and when it happened, there was nothing that you could do to save everyone. People thought he was weird for telling that story but to me he was just telling those kids how fast things could escalated into a life threatening situation. I don't believe that the kids in Oskar's class knew that his father had been killed, but if they did I'm sure the story would have been more interesting.
The significance of showing the bombing to his class was the give a clear reference to how life changing it was to all of those people. It showed how innocent families were ripped apart for the purpose of war and how heartbreaking it was to have a loved one ripped away from you in a heartbeat without really knowing an answer why. In the same way, 9/11 had taken innocent families away from each other for no other reason than war. He was trying to connect the pain that the Hiroshima bombing brought to the pain that the 9/11 attacks brought.
I think the reason for the graphic description of the atomic bomb attack on Japan reminded Oskar of the death of his father in the 9/11 attack. It was a soft spot that really hit home to him and I think he needed to grieve. It is significant that Oskar chose to share this with the class because I really think that he needed to get his feelings out from the 9/11 attack and grieve in the way of sharing his feelings indirectly about his dad to the bomb attack. Also, Oskar's experience in the theripists office was surprising. The most surprising I think was when the theripists asked Oskar "What good can come out of this?" Wow! He is a little boy and when you loose a parent that little, it would be really hard to come up will a good outcome if your father died!
Both stories, about the Buckminster and Hiroshima, can tie into what unfortunately happened to Oskar's dad. The interview about Hiroshima is used to compare the sheer tragedy of both 9/11 and the bombing of Hiroshima, even if one was more destructive than the other they both left hundreds of thousands of innocent people forever changed in a horrific way. The way Tomoyasu felt after the death of his daughter in one of the most horrific ways, is the way Oskar felt about his dad. The story of Buckminster, so innocent yet so dark, relates to Oskar's question on how his dad died. Cats are known to be able to jump from massive heights and land with little to no damage. On 9/11 rather than being burnt to a crisp, many took the little chance of survival they had and jumped from the Twin Towers, facing almost immediate death shortly after. The key Oskar found hasn't unlock many doors, but has unlocked new friendships with a vast amount of people.
I think that Oscar chose to share the Japan bombing with his class because it reminded him of what happened to his dad. I think that he felt like he wasn't alone when he thought about the other people who lost people they loved. It also shows that the thought of losing someone to a horrible death is something that eats away at him constantly. After Oscar's meeting with his therapist it is obvious that he has a hard time communicating his feelings. From the bits and pieces of his mother's conversation it is easy to see how much she actually cares about him, even though she seems a little detached from him.
I think Oskar was really hurting when he gave such a detailed, gruesome description of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. He used it as an outlet after what had happened to his father in 9/11, a way to convey his pain. He just wants people to understand and sympathize, perhaps to alleviate his suffering. He's extremely anxious, angry, and depressed, all at the same time, and it has been building up. He used his class as an outlet.
Reading about Oskar's visit to his therapist, I learned that he hides his emotions deep inside him. It is obvious that he does not want to be there. Oskar's answers to his therapist are either short and uncaring or humorous. I think that Oskar uses humor to hide his true feelings and try to act like he is not hurting. He imagines throwing a fit when Dr. Fein asks if any good could come from his father's death, proving my thoughts to be true. During Oskar's mother's visit, Dr. Fein asked Oskar's mother to think about having Oskar hospitalized. Oskar's mother is immediately defensive and is understanding to Oskar's behavior. This shows that even though she sometimes seems distant, she loves Oskar and will never give up on him.
When Oskar gave a very graphic description, I believe he felt hurt since it reminded him what happened to his father. When he is at his therapy session you can see that he hides behind a mask, the mask that hides all his true deep emotions. Oskar tries to be funny and shows that he is happy, but in reality behind his mask he puts up in front of others he is devastated and heartbroken about his fathers death. You can see this from the way how he gets angry when his mother is having fun and not being sad like him about his fathers death. His mother truly loves him, even when she seems distant she will always care for him. She may get hurt from what he says but she won't give up, because Oskar is her son and she truly loves and cares for him.
I believe Oskar gave a very horrific and detailed description about the atomic bomb attack on Japan to let know everyone what those people and his father went through. Although I do not believe the kids in his class knew how his father died, Oskar still needed to tell them. No one should have to ever die a terrible death like that. I think by telling this story Oskar found a way to cope with his father’s death by allowing him to find out the possible ways that his father could have died. Oskar is a very curious child and he is always wanting to learn more, even about the terrible things. Later in the book Oskar says that he wants to know just how his father died so he can finally come to peace with his father's death.
It’s pretty apparent that Oskar doesn’t want to go to his therapist. He even says he’s only going because the raise in his allowance depended on him being there. Oskar is obviously dealing with a lot of emotions and doesn’t know how to handle them. I think there’s a part of Oskar that doesn’t want to deal with his feelings because he thinks that somehow that will make him forget his dad. Oskar says, “I didn’t understand why I needed help, because it seemed to me that you should wear heavy boots when you dad dies, and if you aren’t wearing heavy boots, then you need help” (200). This idea that dealing with grief and moving on from such a tragedy is a bad thing is very prevalent in his relationship with his mom. He thinks that because his mom is dealing with her grief that she is forgetting his father, which is quite far from the truth. I think Oskar has an idea of how people should deal with grief and is afraid that working through how he feels would make him forget his dad.
When Oskar shares the story of the bombing in Japan, we the one that chose to share it and I think he was able to relate to it. It is significant in the sense that Oskar lost his dad in the 9/11 attack which is the opposite of the story he shares with the class where the parent loses their child. This almost makes me wonder if Oskar would have rather if been him that was killed than his father. It is clear that Oskar always though very highly of his dad and it is extremely difficult for him without his dad here with him. Unfortunately, I don't think the class understands the message Oskar was trying to get across, that this story is similar to his own.
Oskar's father's death permeates every part of his life, and I think that's why he chose the graphic description of Hiroshima. His father's death in the 9/11 attacks has made him fearful of the destruction humanity can do, which is shown in his anxiety going onto boats and places he deems targets, or going up tall buildings. It could also be seen as how he feels about his father's death- he might have empathized with the woman who had been searching for and lost her loved one, and felt like the fallout of the bomb correlated with the fallout and the pain his father's death left in his life. I think that this chapter is titled Happiness, Happiness because it talks about the fact that Oskar is searching for the happiness his dad brought him again, and how he is incapable of finding happiness in anything else. When at his therapy session, he repeatedly answers that he doesn't know what the word happiness reminds him of, and he gets upset throughout the book when he suspects his mother is happy, because he acquaints this with moving on and forgetting his dad.
Oskar wears only white ever because when a nuclear bomb goes off, white is the color of the objects that are least affected by the blast. I think Mr. Black is lying about the sibling thing so Oskar can move on. The key Oskar has may not go to any lock that he has tried thus far, but it has unlocked the entire city to him, as well as opportunities that he wouldn’t have taken without it. I understand how Oskar gets confused and self-conscious when talking about happiness. This is all very sad. This entire chapter, this situation outside of the book. We’re all sitting here reading this, learning lessons, getting all introspective, analyzing symbolism, motifs, themes, but people will still die. From war, from hate, from everything this book is trying to educate us on. And we will forget. We will move away, stay here or whatever, we’ll move on, grow up, support wars, drop bombs, hate others, maybe even kill people. It’s sad, maybe the saddest thing ever. We try to learn but we don’t. We read books, write about change, inform others, write essays, nothing changes. It all still happens. The gory stuff in this book will probably happen again. Maybe some of us will do it. Maybe some of us will live it. Nothing really changes. Anyways, the story of Buckminster fits on a deeper level because it highlights even more brightly how much Oskar is fixated on his father’s death or what he could have done to change it. All of his efforts and mental preoccupations are cemented on it. Maybe he should put his efforts towards building a time machine or something.
The story of the atomic bomb attack on Japan is very important to Oskar. By sharing this story with the class it was almost like he was sharing his own story. In the story he told the class and in his own story, innocent lives were taken tragically. Tomoyasu lost his daughter and Oskar lost his father. They both lost someone close to them in a surprising and horrible way. Tomoyasu's interview ends with him saying "I thought if everyone could see what I saw, we would never have war anymore." Oskar can completely relates to this. I can imagine that Oskar is thinking that if anyone could feel what he is feeling, we would never have war anymore. I believe Oskar used Tomoyasu's interview to express his own feeling without having to go through the pain of telling everyone his own story.
To say the least, I had to take a break to sob when I read the message that Oskar's dad had left him shortly before his tragic demise. Here I was, sitting in the Atlanta airport getting ready to fly to Costa Rica, bawling my eyes out over Oskar's father. It was a short paragraph but I could just imagine the panic that that man was feeling. It reminded me of all the calls I had ever gotten from my parents that had gone to voicemail... Even when my dad would call to say he was on his way home from work almost every night, I remember myself being terrified. In the winter I would always be scared that the highways would be icy and that my dad would get into a car accident. I always knew that my dad was a safe driver and that he'd be okay, but my little 8-year-old brain didn't know that they did a good job keeping the highways clear from snow in the winter. I remember the one night when my dad forgot his cell phone at home so he couldn't call to say he was on his way home. I cried for two hours because I thought something had happened to my dad. In the end, he just stayed late to finish some paperwork and didn't have a way to call. I can't imagine getting such phone calls, when someone is just minutes away from death. If I were Oskar, I wouldn't be able to listen to those messages. There's no way.
The Hiroshima video Oskar shared with is class is a bit ironic. He is fascinated by the science of it, but it also killed many innocent civilians. It was a nail in the coffin for the Japanese eventual surrender, it is ties in with the plane attacks of 9/11. Oskar is fascinated with the atomic bomb that killed a lot of people, what about planes that killed a lot of people? I'm not trying to be mean, but I don't understand his thinking. Maybe he was trying to hit the sympathy effect because the other kids knew his dad died in the attacks, but he got bullied after so who knows. The letters from Gary Franklin told me that Oskar wants to work with some of his favorite role models. Since Gary Franklin asked for recommendations for a job (thinking Oskar wasn't a nine-year old kid), Oskar went to Jane Goodall for one. Obviously, she denied, but she complimented Oskar on his intelligence and perseverance.
Oskar's key has opened many things for him in his life. It has allowed him to make a great friendship with Mr. Black. He opened up Mr. Black. Brought Mr. Black back into the real world for the first time in a really long time. One other thing that it opened later in the book was the relationship with the grandfather. He got a connection with a father figure that he had needed for over eight months now. It opened up many life altering opportunities in Oskar's life that overall led him to finding where the key belongs and what it really opens, but along the way he opened up many things in his life.
The Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were (No matter how much we want to justify it) essentially terrorism acts themselves. It never seems like you are the bad guy when you are doing what you think is right for your people, however, you are the bad guy to the receiving end of your actions. I digress, Oskar's presentation was essentially an Allusion to his own pain and the things that he has witnessed. The bombings were terrorist acts as well as the events of 9/11. The very graphic presentation was possibly to show how he feels about the terrorism that has taken place here. Oskar has an underlying pain from losing his father due to terrorism. Oskar's gruesome presentation seemed as if it were a outlet for all of his anger and hurt that is built up inside of him. He releases these emotions by showing how much pain and suffering can be caused by one simple act of war. Thus, also alluding back to the pain and suffering he experiences every day.
When introduced, Stan pulls his hand back from Mr. Black, only after Oskar tells him that he lives in 6A. In an earlier chapter, Stan says that he's never seen anyone go in or out of that apartment. Believing that Mr. Black is some kind of weird hermit makes him pull his hand away.
For Oskar, the key has opened connections to many different people, including to Mr. Black, who has become a sort of father figure (or at least parental authority) in Oskar's life, as he distances himself from his mother. I don't think Oskar entirely realizes how much the key has opened, at least until a later chapter where Mr. Black "betrays" him.
From the conversation that Oskar eavesdrops on, it seems like Dr. Fein thinks that Oskar is "a danger to himself," which isn't entirely false. I don't think he or Oskar's mother knows about the bruises, but it will be interesting to see their reactions if they find out.
Before I post this, know I'm not a therapist, or a psychologist, or any of those neat things; as a result, this is only my impression, and anyone who'd like to prove me wrong, yeah, go ahead. Anyway, Oskar playing the Hiroshima recording says little; it's really the fact that he's concentrating on all the scientific factoids, while ignoring the heart of the story (that in which a bunch of people died), that says things to me. If ya'll care to me, my untrained mind thinks it's pretty blunt he's reliving his own ties to a massive humane disaster through Hiroshima, but can't come to copes with the titanic amount of death involved, skirting the edges of what really matters to him. Again, not a therapist, I just used to bring in Legos for my show and tell.
Oskar's insistence on sharing the story with the class is relative to his emotions regarding his father's death. He wants his classmates to experience death. In Oskar's therapy session we learn that Dr. Fein wants to know if Oskar is going through puberty. They also play a word association game in which Oskar's only response to the word happiness is happiness, hence the name of the chapter. when Oskar is eavesdropping we learn that Dr. fein thinks Oskar might have to e institutionalized. Oskar's mother strongly disagrees.
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