Puzzles

In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close!

-!
Kerim Yumbul & Guy Bukovsky

Style of Writing
!

Some pages are!incoherent

Written in the way people speak. People do not always
say things in the most concise ways.!
Some is written as Oskars thoughts.

Style of Writing
!

Some pages are!incoherent.

Written in the way people speak. People do not always
say things in the most concise ways.!
Some is written as Oskars thoughts.

Oskars Mind

He has a Need for Reason

Anxiety causes over-analyzation.
Depression leaves him searching for answers in everything.
Not everything in our life is a puzzle.
Unconsciously, Oskar does not want to find the lock.
Many people believe Oskar is an individual with
Aspergers syndrome.

Oskars Mind
Need for Reason
But if there isnt a reason, then why does the universe
exist at all . . . I dont mean how, but why (13)
. . . logical explanation, which is always the best kind. . .
(42)

Life is a Puzzle

Its ever changing.

Love results devastation
Ups result in downs
The only way to solve it, is to stop trying to solve it.

Life is a Puzzle

The more I found, the less I understood (10)

Without his father, Oskar had nobody to turn to when
he wants to ask why.

Significance of Central Park!

Puzzle

Why do you think Jonathan Safran Foer included the puzzle

Thomas Schell created before his death?
Do you think it had an answer?

Significance of Central Park!

Puzzle

We dont think it had a definite answer. The puzzle was a

way for Thomas to stay in touch with Oskar, but let Oskar
choose his own directions. He wanted Oskar to embrace
uncertainty.

The importance of the line not stop looking is huge.

Clues For Final Puzzle

Red Ink - led Oskar to never stop looking.!

Vase + Key - gave Oskar something to hold on to.!
Black - Metaphorical significance (next slide).!
Phone recordings - shows how Oskar is shut o.

The Blacks
Oskar fails to see them as whole people, only clues.
Uses them as a way to obsess.
Does not want to stop searching for his last connection
to his father.
He idealizes them.
White vs Black

The Blacks

White vs Black
Searching for the meaning of life & death.
Has no concrete answer.
Oskar wears white, searches for Black.

Oskar is speaking about a pitfall in his search for meaning.

What do you think is the significance of the red text?

It would have been a logical explanation, which is always

the best kind, although fortunately it isn't the only kind.
(42)

Oskar is speaking about a pitfall in his search for meaning.

What do you think is the significance of the red text?

It would have been a logical explanation, which is always

the best kind, although fortunately it isn't the only kind.
(42)

We think it is Oskar learning a life lesson from his father,

even though his father isn't around. He now understands
that not everything has a logical, concrete explanation. That
point of view on life is something that he would have not
been able to achieve on his own.

Love
Love confuses Oskar, as it is multifaceted.
He cant imagine other people as complex individuals.
Has a hard time distinguishing emotions, understanding
others
Knows how to love, but not always in the best way.

Love
When I was your age, my grandfather bought me a ruby bracelet. It was
too big for me and would slide up and down my arm. [] Its size was
supposed to be a symbol of his love. More rubies, more love. But I could
not wear it comfortably. I could not wear it at all. So here is the point
of everything I have been trying to say. If I were to give a bracelet
to you, now, I would measure your wrist twice. (79)

Love is not tangible, but it must be fitting. Love cannot

be bought.

Oskars Imagination

Has the ability to invent. !

Inventions fuelled by his emotions.!
He finds humans confusing.!
They are not always logical, therefore they are hard to
predict and understand.

Key and Lock

Oskars search for the lock is a metaphor for his search
for meaning.!
The key is his last tie to his father.!
When he discovers that the key has nothing to do with his
father he is forced to face a harsh reality.

Puzzles in Everyday Life

Oskar looks for puzzles everywhere.
There arent always puzzles to be found; Sometimes all
it takes is a dierent point of view.
Oskars revelation at the end of the novel.

Puzzles in Everyday Life

What do you think Oskar learned from his search for

the lock? How do you think his perspective on life
has changed?

Any Questions?