Hitting Rock Bottom
“I want to know everything,’ I told him, but that isn’t true anymore either.” (p. 2, Foer,
2005). The only thing Oscar, the protagonist in the book Extremely Loud and
Incredibly Close (2005), wants to know is how his father exactly died in the 9/11
tragedy. Did he jump? Did he burn to death? Did he suffocate from the smoke? While
searching on internet for possible clues Oscar finds a picture of a falling man. This
picture often returns throughout the novel, for example on pages p. 59, 62, 205 and
327-341 (Foer, 2005). This pictures take on large significance throughout the novel,
because they signify the Oskar’s coping with the death of his father.. In this essay, I
will discuss the significance of this picture by arguing the statement: The returning
image of the falling man symbolizes Oscar trying to cope with his father’s death.
First of all, the falling man symbolizes Oscar
mental situation. Oscar is suffering from post-
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which is a
mental health condition that is triggered when
somebody witnesses or experiences something
traumatic. In this case that is of course Oscar
experiencing his father’s death. This means that
Oscar is battling with severe anxiety and
uncontrollable thoughts about the event. That is
for example proven when Oscar states that he keeps reliving “the worst day” (p. 11,
Foer, 2005) or with the fact that he fears a lot of things: “Obviously, I’m incredibly
panicky about rollercoasters, but Abe convinced me to ride one with him.” (p. 147,
Foer, 2005) Here we see how...
Furthermore, his anxiety moves beyond things anyone of us could get anxious about,
such as rollercoasters, to things that should cause any anxiety at all, such as trains
or bridges. “It took me three hours and forty minutes to walk to Aaron Black,
“I want to know everything,’ I told him, but that isn’t true anymore either.” (p. 2, Foer,
2005). The only thing Oscar, the protagonist in the book Extremely Loud and
Incredibly Close (2005), wants to know is how his father exactly died in the 9/11
tragedy. Did he jump? Did he burn to death? Did he suffocate from the smoke? While
searching on internet for possible clues Oscar finds a picture of a falling man. This
picture often returns throughout the novel, for example on pages p. 59, 62, 205 and
327-341 (Foer, 2005). This pictures take on large significance throughout the novel,
because they signify the Oskar’s coping with the death of his father.. In this essay, I
will discuss the significance of this picture by arguing the statement: The returning
image of the falling man symbolizes Oscar trying to cope with his father’s death.
First of all, the falling man symbolizes Oscar
mental situation. Oscar is suffering from post-
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which is a
mental health condition that is triggered when
somebody witnesses or experiences something
traumatic. In this case that is of course Oscar
experiencing his father’s death. This means that
Oscar is battling with severe anxiety and
uncontrollable thoughts about the event. That is
for example proven when Oscar states that he keeps reliving “the worst day” (p. 11,
Foer, 2005) or with the fact that he fears a lot of things: “Obviously, I’m incredibly
panicky about rollercoasters, but Abe convinced me to ride one with him.” (p. 147,
Foer, 2005) Here we see how...
Furthermore, his anxiety moves beyond things anyone of us could get anxious about,
such as rollercoasters, to things that should cause any anxiety at all, such as trains
or bridges. “It took me three hours and forty minutes to walk to Aaron Black,
