Extremely Loud Incredibly Close Critical Analysis

Trauma is a very important part of one’s life DaShanne Stokes believes, “trauma doesn’t makes you weak. It makes you a survivor.” It is important to overcome trauma to understand the reality of life and sense of self. A terrifying event that a person has experienced or learned about, particularly one that is threatening can cause the individual to feel extreme fear, horror, or a sense of defencelessness. There are many ways to resolve trauma and overcome the fear linked with it. Some methods are overcoming guilt by honestly reflecting on the event, moving forward by accepting the event, and by facing fears linked with the event. For instance, Oskar was trying to avoid the guilt that he could not pick up his father’s last phone call, which kept him determined to follow his plan and to find the lock that fits the key left behind by his father. He also overcame his anxiety about public transportation and crossing long bridges by facing his

However, at certain point everyone must face the reality. The fear and reminders of the traumatic event which happened in Oskar’s life are repetitively displayed in Jonathan Foer’s novel “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”. In Oskar’s journey of finding the lock that fits the key that he found in his father’s closet, he faced and had to overcome most horrifying aspects of his fear: “A lot of the time I'd get that feeling like I was in the middle of a huge black ocean, or in deep space, but not in the fascinating way” (Foer, 2005, p.72). After the event, 9\11 “the worst day”, Oskar has many more fears like, fears of strangers, crowded places, public transportations, bridges, airplanes, and heights. Oskar’s determination about finding the lock helped him face most of his fears he crossed bridges, talked to most people named Black’s lives in New York about the key, and use public transportation because his grandfather cannot do long distance