1-107 Extremely Loud Responses

1. The point of view of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is first person. The story is told mostly through Oskar, who also happens to be the central character of the novel. However, the point of view occasionally shifted to his grandparent's which can make the story incredibly puzzling if you were not paying attention when the story shifted. The book itself reminds me a bit of Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut and Tuesday's with Morry combined. Oskar has the ability to become "unstuck" in time, with the storyline shifting almost aimlessly from point to point in his short life by like Billy Pilgrim in SL5 and the narrorators may change as well.
2. Oskar Schell is a nine-year old kid who is the smartest person his age ever. His emotions and reactions to events are more realistic for a nine-year old. It seems his super ego is highly developed for a person his age too. In reality he is trying to find a match to the key he discovered during his final quest from his father. Further from the surface he seems to be looking for a certain closure, and he is noticing the giant void that was left in his heart after his father died.
3. I chose to concentrate on the image on pg. 53. It is a photo of a giant wall of keys, much like the one Oskar describes at Frazer's locksmith. The keys not only represent the challenge of finding the right lock for Oskar's key, but also represent how while Oskar is on the quest for the lock he is also on the quest to be loved like he was by his father, and all the keys symbolize the almost endless varieties of relationships, and how it is hard to find the lock(the void left by Oskar's dad dying) to match each unique key, which is why Oskar is finding it difficult to let other people into his life.