One of the main plot lines of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is Oskar's quest to find what the key opens. Towards the end of the novel we learn that Oskar's "quest" was not given to him by his father, but instead was a chance coincidence. At this point we should have some resolution--we finally get to learn what the key unlocks--but Oskar declines William Black saying, "It's not that I wasn't curious. I was incredibly curious. It's that I was afraid of getting confused" (300). Oskar can finally learn the secret of the key but does not, even though he says he wants to know. This is because Oskar realizes that the key was not left by his father and so it no longer holds that sentimental value anymore. The key was one of the ways Oskar felt connected to his father and upon finding out that it was never left by him leaves him vulnerable. His coping method of using the key as a distraction from his grief and as a connection to his father is dissipated by William Black's story.
Oskar finds resolution however, by using William Black and his key as a surrogate to his father. He tells William Black about the key and his search, he also tells him about his father's death--something he's only ever told the "renter". When William Black hears Thomas Schell's final message he says he's sorry and squeezes Oskar's shoulder in an almost fatherly fashion. Oskar tries to come to terms with his own guilt--for not answering the phone and for hiding the messages--by asking William Black for forgiveness. William Black says that he forgives Oskar and Oskar feels a sort of relief by this, it is almost as if Black is standing in for his father and his forgiveness helps ease some of Oskar's grief.
The forgiveness and talk that Oskar finds when speaking to William Black is central to the changes that Oskar goes through in the novel. With this resolution, his quest is over and he has to come to terms with his father's death. While finding the true identity of the key is not the treasure hunt that Oskar wanted or even perhaps needed, he still finds resolution.
This turn to forgiveness (of the self? Of others? perhaps both?) is indeed critical, as is the importance of talk and conversation. To push this analysis further, you might think about what larger problem this might address in contemporary US culture.
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