Friday, May 27, 2011
oskarschelll@hotmail.com
Oskar tells some of the Blacks his email address. If you were to send Oskar an email, what would you tell him? Alternate option: if you were applying for J.S. Foer's NYU writing class, "Writing the Impossible," what would you tell him about your experience reading Extremely Loud?
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Dear Oskar,
ReplyDeleteAlthough I understand that dealing with the death of a loved one can be very difficult, especially for someone as young as you are, lots of time has passed since the accident and you cannot dwell on the accident for the rest of your life. Your dad would not have wanted you to be so sad for such a long time. Because your dad cared so much for you he would have wanted you to move on and have an amazing life, instead of spending so much of your precious childhood mourning over his death. Your mom understands that you have to move on eventually and she knows that your dad would have wanted her to continue to live out her life happily- that is what she is trying to do. Her happiness does not in any way mean that she has forgotten your dad.
You are a very mature child and I am sure you will be very successful when you grow up. You should stop wasting your childhood looking for this lock. Your childhood is a very special time and you only get to be a child once. Go out and do things that other children your age do. Go to the park, hang out with children your own age, get into trouble. Don't spend your whole childhood mourning the death of your father. You have to move on and think about all the good times you have to look forward to in your life.
You should also probably be more careful. Knocking on the doors of random people and going into their houses is not a very safe thing for a little boy to do in a city as big as New York. You don't even tell your mom where you are going. Traveling around one of the biggest cities in the world by yourself is very dangerous and you really should spend the time you spend looking for the lock having fun and playing with friends.
Your Pal,
Drew
Dear Oskar,
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that I want you to know is that you are never alone. You will always carry the love and memory of your father wherever you go in life and you have many people looking out for you today. Everyone faces hard times and the important thing is to learn how to carry on with your life. Bad things happen to good people and it takes a strong person to accept these challenges and become a stronger person because of them.
You might not know it Oskar, but you have a whole network of care and love surrounding you. Your mother and grandmother are going through the same recovery process that you are and it would be excellent if you all could support each other during this rebuilding time. I have another suggestion for you. You are obviously an intelligent young boy and I challenge you to funnel your creativity into a physical project. Take the inventions from your mind and transform them into a project you can work on when you’re feeling bored or lonely. Lastly, I advise you to not shut yourself off from the world. There is a place and time to mourn the loss of your father, but you should not banish yourself from enjoying life because of the things that have happened to you in the past. I can guarantee you that your father would want you to live the life of a normal, healthy young boy without being held back by his passing. He would want you to spend your time being a kid exploring the world and making new friends. I commend you for your dedication but I hope that you will find other constructive projects to keep yourself busy. In closing, if you ever need someone to talk to, feel free to email or call me, I would love the opportunity to get to know you better. I wish you luck on your search of New York, I hope that what you find at the end is worth your long journey there!
Best wishes,
Jennie
Dear Oskar,
ReplyDeleteThank God (or possible atheist substitution) that you are still alive. You may be wondering now where your life will take you. It is a worthy question to ponder. You spent years of your life searching for your father only to discover that he is gone forever. Your journey paralleled the search to recover from the impossible. You tried to fill a black whole with your father’s greatness only to realize that the deflated key served no greater significance than the neatly pressed tuxedo.
You have bruised yourself and tormented yourself long enough to endure the pain of mankind. You learned the deed of humanity and the impact one life can have on the multitudes.
You have learned to question the truth in the Sistine Chapel about whether humans really inherited the greatness of God if they do such evil.
You know so much and you understand beyond your years. The coaxing thought of your father’s games abetted the journey to come. You have expanded yourself to cover the masses of people, but you lack one thing Oskar, and that is your love of those who love you.
Do not lose those in your life that love you more than you love yourself. Only ecstatic joy will come from the realization to come. Your Grandmother, your grandfather, and your mother, turn and face them. Pour yourself into them so that the burden in your heart may be relieved and revived. Live your life anew knowing that your own desperate plea, the gaping hole in your heart where your father has been stolen, has been replaced by the years of never knowing him at all. Letter after letter, sorrow after sorrow, you heart will be healed because your brief years with him will prevail over never knowing him at all. Learn to love your own life so that new life will inherit your splendor.
Your bro,
Con Bro Chill
Dear Oskar,
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I want to commend you on all of your hard work and determination in finding the lock to fit the key you found. I am astounded by your perseverance and I am sure your father would be incredibly proud of you as well.
However, I think that your father would be even more happy if you stopped dwelling on his death. I am sure that it is hard to continue your life without your father, but I think that he would be extremely pleased to see you doing activities in his honor, or remembering the fun parts of his life, as opposed to only thinking about his untimely death. I feel nothing but sympathy, but I feel that if you remembered all of the fun times with your father, you would have lighter boots.
Also, your mother and grandmother are excellent people on whom you can rely for support. They are also dealing with the death of your father and I have found that mourning with others is less depressing than mourning alone. Although you may not think this, your mother and grandmother love you a lot, and would do anything for you. Remember that if you are getting heavy boots, maybe you should go talk to one of them and you may even feel better than before.
Finally, I just want you to know that I think you are brilliant and are wise beyond your years. You know so much, and are so intelligent, but you don't always have to invent something to let all of those facts escape you. Maybe instead of constantly inventing, you could release your emotions in other ways, like going back to Tae Kwon Do or taking up an art class, or being in a band (which would suit your tambourine perfectly). Anyways, I just want you to know that I am always here for you, right behind Stephen Hawking, if you want to talk. Do not hesitate to call me.
Your friend,
Rebecca