I just finished the
book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safron Foer, and I must
say that this book took me on an emotional toll. Oskar the main character loses
his father on 9/11 when the twin towers fell. His father had an appointment
that day. Now Oskar goes on a quest to finish the last mission him and his
father created, most likely as a form of closure. He finds this key and thinks
it’s part of the mission, that it was meant for him; so he goes to find out
what the key opens. The book was a bit hard to follow with the flashbacks to
Oskar’s grandfather’s youth. The archetypes in this book helped me understand
Oskar’s role better and why all the other characters, small and big, are significant
to the book.
Oskar
has become close with the people he has met through this quest, especially Mr.
Ade Black who helped him on his quest to find the right Mr. or Mrs. Black, who
knows something about the key and what it opens. Oskar met Mr. Black when he
first started his mission but unlike the other Blacks, Mr. Black was odd and
strange he had an interesting background knowing lots of things sincere is 143
years old. Both being odd people they connected and balanced each other out and
this created a special relationship, a strong one at that. Mr. Black in a way portrayed
the Threshold Guardian. In the end of
the book on page 286 Oskar finds Mr. Blacks box of significant people and finds
his own name titled son which shows how close and meaningful their relationship
was. This would have never had happened if there wasn't a quest.
One
major archetype found in the book is the quest. Oskar set out on a quest to
find the door that unlocks to the key Oskar found in his dad’s closet. The famous
quote “It’s the journey that matters not the destination” describes the quest perfectly.
Throughout the journey Oskar made new friends that he became very close with
and discovered more about his past but when he found out where the key led too,
which was a safe box, he didn't care what was in it. He didn't want to be
confused.
Mr.
Black told Oskar “why don’t you come with me to the bank?’ ‘You’re nice but no
thank you.’ It’s not that I wasn't curious. I was incredibly curious. It’s that
I was afraid of getting confused” (p300).
The box didn't belong
to Oskar’s father it belonged to Abby Black’s ex-husband who’s been searching for
the key to the box. It’s as if Oskar and he were meant for each other but that’s
beside the point.
The
point is that an archetypal theme in this book is a quest. While it looks like
the quest is to find the door that the key unlocks, the real underlining theme
is a quest to find closure about his father’s death. Oskar doesn't know how his
father died exactly; he doesn't even have his father’s remains. All he knows
that his father was in the Twin Towers when it was hit on September 11th
2000. He wants to end the confusion of how his father died but he doesn't. In
the end he still doesn't know how his father died but he realizes that he doesn't want to know he just misses his dad.
