None of the characters in Jonathan
Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close are able to express
themselves fully through the medium of language. Where language fails, Foer
represents these moments through pictures, spaces, numbers, and overlapping
letters. Every character has a moment in the text where these other formal
arrangements take precedence over language. When Oskar is unable to understand
why his father had to die in the ending of the novel, he creates a flip book so
that the flying man flies backwards back up into the falling building. When the
grandfather is feeling anxious because he doesn’t have enough space or time to
say all he has to say and explain all there is to explain, the text starts to
get closer and closer and eventually overlaps so that the text cannot even be
read. When the grandmother locks herself away in the spare bedroom to write her
life story, she only hits the space bar. Her life is spaces and language cannot
express her life story the way that a collection of spaces does.
These moments are pivotal in
understanding the emotions and motivations of these three narrators. It is
interesting that this novel, an example of the power of the book, goes outside
of language to drive home certain points and make very clear the emotions and
motivations of these characters. This may be an example of where popular
literature is headed. This may also be a reflection of how, in today’s world,
people are relying less and less on language to communicate with one another.
Letters, as a form of communication, are dying out. This is reflected in the
novel in the way that all of the letters Thomas wrote to his son were not
delivered and served to take his place in the casket. The recently increasing
disregard for literature may be discussed by Foer in the context that when
dealing with a nationwide tragedy, literature is unable to full describe the
effects or soothe the sadness in those who were affected. I am still confused
though as to what the failures of language are suggesting to readers is the
proper way of dealing with tragedy.
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