Social Commentary in the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Many times, human beings have no idea as to why things happen, and may spend an entire lifetime trying to search for answers in a bid to understand why they happened. A tragedy is among some of these things, and it can happen to any given person at any time. In the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, written by Jonathan Safran Foer, the social commentary entails social conditions that come as a result of tragic death and more so that of a close person such as a family member. It entails the suffering that people go through before they accept the reality of death and particularly a sudden death. While writing about Oskar Schell, the author draws upon the emotions faced after the death of his father. Oskar is nine-year-old boy and a super smart kid who seems to enjoy inventing things. However, all is not well as the death of his father Thomas, who lost his life during the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center has led to grieving. The death of his father has traumatized him and has made him feel frightened of just about everything. Moreover, Oskar feels incredibly guilty since on the morning of the attack, his father had left five voice messages, which he was aware of, and had not told anyone about and more so that he was actually in the house when his dad was leaving the messages, but was so scared that he could not answer the phone. Oscar decides to go on an expedition aimed at getting to the reason behind his father’s death, which actually makes up the rest of the plot.

This paper seeks to narrow down and discuss in depth three major aspects that are evident in the novel and how they affect the social life of people as a social commentary on the impact of death. This is achieved through trauma and guilt of characters, love and family, and finally mortality and the purpose of life.
The first form of social commentary is revealed through trauma and guilt, which has two different aspects (i.e. trauma and guilt) that when combined together bring out one perfect theme that is evident in the novel. The first example of trauma and guilt can be attributed to Oskar’s grandfather who says, “…. sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all of the lives I’m not living.” (Foer, 113). Here, he is suffering from what psychology scholars refer to as survivor guilt. This is experienced when a person who has been through a traumatic ordeal tends to think that he/she has done something wrong and as such feel guilty due to the fact that they themselves are still alive. In this case the traumatic tragedy is the Dresden bombing. As evident throughout the novel, the trauma that hit the nation as a whole goes a long way in affecting individual people who were affected by the event making the national trauma of September 11 deeply associated with individual traumas. The main nationwide disaster, which happens to be that of September 11, becomes connected with the main individual trauma, which is the death of Oskar’s dad. Oskar’s family and more so him as an individual have to go through and deal with not only the September 11 public tragedy but also with their own tragedy of losing their father, a disaster that they find difficult coming to terms with. As a social commentary on the social impact of tragic death, trauma and guilt are experienced in very many ways back in the societies and as such affecting the life of each and every member of the society. People who go through such ordeals like bombings and other tragedies as discussed in this narrative are affected in many aspects of their life. Some are rendered homeless while others are others lose their close family relatives and this may completely change the social life of such people. Therefore, they should be accorded close attention and be given a shoulder to lie on especially on such difficult situations.
Oskar himself feels very guilty because of the voice messages his father left on the morning of the tragedy. We find Oskar saying, “There were four more messages from him: one at 9: 12, one at 9:31, one at 9:46, and one at 10:04. I listened to them and listened to them again, and then before I had time to figure out what to do, or even what to think or feel, the phone started ringing. It was 10:26:47. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was him.” (Foer, 97). As a result of this guilt, he goes ahead to hide the answering machine tape that had recorded his father’s voice since he was incredibly ashamed to reveal the truth to his mother and confess that he had heard and was there when his father called but failed to pick up the phone. The guilt continues building in him as he becomes obsessed over the death of his dad and his expedition to make sure that he knew whom “Black” is, his method of attempting to deal with the guilt caused by experiencing such a devastating ordeal. Guilt, which is also among the social effects of death as detailed in Foer’s novel is a common feeling that has been experienced by most people. It affects an individual’s life as one fails to accept that something for instance a death tragedy like in Oskar’s case has happened and nothing can be done about it. Though guilt is manageable, there are cases whereby guilt in some people has gone to heightened levels to the extent of committing suicide. Of course, by the time one has reached to that extent means that their social life is completely broken. As such, such people should learn to let things go and try as much as possible to understand that they have nothing they can do in some situations such as accidents.
Grandpa is as well incredibly affected by guilt and trauma. The Dresden firebombing tragedy had continued to significantly affect him as he lost Anna, his wife who was by then pregnant. Grandpa says, “I haven’t always been silent, I used to talk and talk and talk and talk, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut, the silence overtook me like cancer.” (Foer, 44). After the occurrence, he stops talking as he has such a tremendous guilt conscience that makes him stop speaking. He is also guilty since after Grandpa he married Oskar’s grandma who was Anna’s sister, after the war, he found out that Grandma was pregnant with Oskar’s father and fled. However, while Oskar’s grandpa does not speak out loud he still communicates. He usually writes notes when he has to say something that he thinks is complex and for things he thinks are simple he uses the words no and yes, which are tattooed, on his hands. He also shows that he is troubled by guilt when he pens long letters to his sons who happen to be either be Anna’s unborn child that died in the Dresden firebombing tragedy or Oskar’s father who he abandoned. However, though he writes down the letters he never posts them. Most of the guilt feelings throughout the novel that come as a result of trauma are resolved indirectly rather directly. Guilt connects everyone in the entire book, and despite the fact that the characters may not manage to help themselves directly, they go a long way in helping each other. Though disasters or else tragedies may not have an outright resolution, guilt can be made bearable by utilizing the several indirect routes available. Withstanding, that this paper is a social commentary on the social effects of tragic death with guilt being among them, building the society as a whole can thus be presented as a solution to dealing and coping with guilt and trauma. At times some things become very difficult to handle when alone but they become manageable when they are other people to at least help in spreading the burden if at all not lessening it.
Love and family is the second aspect in the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close that reveals commentary. All the novel’s characters who tend to go around and about Oskar’s life seem to have incredibly close interrelations to the persons they love. Oskar when referring to his dad says, “He would have told me the story of the Sixth Borough, from the voice in the can at the end to the beginning, from ‘I love you’ to ‘Once upon a time.’” (Foer, 299). This indicates that Oskar’s dad loved his son to the core and vice versa. Love, compared to very many other virtues drives individuals to do some of the things they do. Death itself plays a very crucial part in love as a social virtue and this is evident as we find that one of the strongest forms of love in the story was the love for those who had died. One perfect example is Oskar’s love for his father, which propels him and encourages him in his venture around New York City, aimed at satisfying the urge of knowing what happened to him. We find Oskar recalling the good times he had with his father which is a clear indication that they had quite a strong bond.
The family tie between Oskar and his Grandma is also very close, and we see that she loves her grandson very much and vice versa. This is evident in the novel when Grandma tries to explain to Oskar that she loves him and says, “Here is the point of everything I have been trying to tell you, Oskar. It’s always necessary. I love you” (Foer, 173). Oskar feels like he can only be completely himself when he is around her, as he does not have to hide his quirks. She understands how he speaks and as such rather than ignoring him, she speaks to him in his language. The reader also finds that she takes Oskar’s weird mannerisms and habits very seriously rather than finding him ridiculous. This way the two develop routines together and have solid ties. While love brings people together and binds them, a family is an even deeper and more powerful tie. Family is one of the social conditions that play a very crucial role in the growth and development of any human being. We find Grandma and Grandpa in the novel having a relationship that in the end develops into a very different sort of love one that surpasses desire or passion. Regardless of the fact that Grandpa had angrily left Grandma on learning that she was pregnant and thus breaking the terms of their primary relation, in the end, they learn to forgive one other when grandpa goes back to live in grandma’s house but this time round not as a husband but rather as an occupant. Love and family are two important virtues that play a crucial life in the life of each and every individual. They affect not only the social life but also all aspects of life. As a matter of fact, everybody comes from a family and everyone feels proud to be associated with such regardless of their well-being. It is therefore quite important and advisable for each and every person to take these virtues with the seriousness and respect they deserve as at times they are the only things one can look up to when all other things have failed. The love of family more so is very crucial as it helps individuals to have a sense of belonging, which consequently comes with an urge and morale to forge forward in one’s endeavors.
The final aspect this paper discusses that is evident in the novel is the theme of mortality and the purpose of life. These are two vices that play a significant role in the social life of each and every person. Everyone has to die one day and as such, one has to have some purpose in life. Concerns about mortality are evident throughout the novel. Oskar’s father death sets the primary plot in motion in the novel with mortality appearing in many forms. The first example of mortality can be seen through Grandpa who experienced the Dresden firebombing that resulted in the death of his pregnant wife Anna as well as their unborn child. Grandpa says, and I quote “I was at Dresden’s train station when I lost everything for the second time.” (Foer, 56). The fact that he lost his family shows that he was faced with mortality and from that tragedy he always appreciated the purpose of living. Mortality and the manner in which people deal with the issue of death make up a huge section of the story and it as well plays a key role in the life of every person. Though the fact remains that each human is going to die one day, nobody knows where they will die or how they will die. Death is a normal part of life, however, at times it comes brutally through ways that we would not expect, ways that are beyond our imagination or expectation. It is therefore advisable to always give the best in everything and accept the fact that death is real and has to come one day. Mortality can also be seen through Oskar who is aware of death though in a different way which is through the relationship that he has with his grandma. She is somewhat old and sickly, and as such, though it does not directly affect Oskar in this part of his life, her death is always on the edge as it could occur anytime. Though we are all going to die one day as we see tragedy shaping the plot of the novel, it is always important to ‘live’ life when one can as it can take a vast variety of wonderful and joyful forms. Since we are all going to die, we are supposed to live up to something, which is the purpose of life.
All the three forms of social commentary as discussed above play a crucial role in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. We find the characters in the novel having very close family ties and love for each other. All of them also have in one way, or another faced the cruelty of death and more so death that comes in very unexpected ways such as through a tragedy. They have all gone through such trauma, and we find most of them developing guilt for losing a close loved one. We as human beings may not have the ability to evade death or know when or how one is going to die. As such, the only and most important things we can do is appreciate the wonderful things that life offers and live each and every day as it comes.
Work Cited
Foer, Jonathan S. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Penguin, 2011.