Oskar Schell is a curious boy, who wants to know how, where, when, and why everything happens and the only person who could tell him that was his dad, Thomas Schell. Unfortunately, Thomas was one of the three thousand people who lost their lives on September 21st, 2001. After his father's funeral, Oskar finds a mysterious key in an envelope labeled Black and decides to embark on a mission to find its lock. Oskar thinks his journey will lead directly to the "x on the map", right to the all the answers he wants. But we know that, in literature, quests are not so direct, and have many different elements. Inside the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, we have the classic literary elements for a quest: | 1) Our quester: Our quester is Oskar Schell. After facing the trauma of his father's death, Oskar is looking for a way to connect with his father as he did when he was alive. 2) A place to go: Oskar decides to find every person with the last name 'Black' in New York City and ask if they know anything about his father. 3) A stated reason to go: When he was alive, Oskar's father used to give him challenging scavenger hunts. Oskar believes that the key is his father's final clue in an elaborate mystery. Oskar looks for the person who has the lock that matches the key. 4) Challenges & trials: The entire task of finding the lock takes over two years, and at some points, seems impossible to Oskar. Oskar faces a great amount of defeat, as most of the people he meets have nothing to do with the key. Oskar also faces anxiety and grief because of the loss of his father. 5) The real reason to go: We know from How to Read Literature Like a Professor that the real reason for a quest is always self-knowledge. Oskar's journey is difficult for him at times, but it is ultimately healing. His mission is his way of mourning his father's death. At the end of the novel, we learn that right before Thomas died, he called his home phone, and Oskar was there, but too afraid to answer. After completing his mission to find the lock to the key, Oskar is able to forgive himself for not answering the phone. |