Reflection on "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" (novel and film)

The Purposes of Letters

Autobiographical techniques in a novel or film, help the audience have a better understanding of the character’s situations and personal thoughts. Through them, the audience can see and understand with facility the situation, and develop own arguments about the situation. Also, the audience can see how the event changed the characters’ personality, ideas, and morals, among others. In my own words, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is the story of how a young boy comes to terms with his father’s death, after the Twin Towers were terribly impacted by two airplanes.  Between the novel and the film of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, I preferred the personal insight that was provided for the reader through the autobiographical and multigenre techniques in the novel.

The reason why I preferred the personal insight that the novel provided was because it demonstrated different points of view. The first point of view presented was Oskar’s, and that can be seen when he says, “I could invent a teakettle that reads in dad’s voice…” (Foer 1). Since the novel is divided between other two points of view, the second to appear in the novel was his grandfather. His grandfather, used letters to express his thoughts, and changed the time setting for the first time. This is seen when he starts his letter by writing “To my unborn child…”; therefore, his letters are directed to Oskar’s father (Foer 16), who in Oskar’s present was already dead. The last point of view presented was of Oskar’s grandmother, and she also used letters to express herself. However, her letters were directed to Oskar, and her first letter started with, “Dear Oskar, I’m writing this to you from the airport” (Foer 75). Eventually, the reader can see that the letters that Oskar’s grandmother wrote, where written in the future when Oskar had already solved his hunt for the lock. Consequently, the point of view of the grandmother, also changed the time frame of the novel.

Like in most situations, the story line of the novel is much more complex and detailed than the film. That is due to the difference in points of view; for example, in the film the only point of view is Oskar’s. The film did have difference in time frames, and they were shown through flashbacks; however, since it only demonstrated Oskar’s point of view, the flashbacks were only of Oskar’s past situations.

Thus, from my perspective, the novel was more successful in giving the reader extensive details of the biography of each character that had a point of view. But, it was appealing that the film gave more importance to the individual life of Oskar and not to the romantic relationship of his grandparents. I believe that not giving specific details about the romantic relationship of Oskar’s grandparents was beneficial. In that way, the audience can focus more on the impact that the act of terrorism towards the Twin Towers had in many of the families affected.

Multigenre techniques were more present throughout all the novel than in the film. In the novel, the most important multigenre technique used was the presence of letters to demonstrate the points of view of Oskar’s paternal grandparents. Incorporating letters in the novel also showed the reader things that the character of Oskar didn’t know about his grandfathers. Not only that, the letters were helpful in showing the different settings such as, Oskar’s present, his grandparents’ house and background history about his grandparents. On the other hand, in the film the letters were incorporated towards the end of the story line and served as a resolution to the story. They served as a resolution because through them, Oskar finally told everyone the outcome of his final expedition and how he felt about it. Also, he finally accepted his father’s death; consequently, his emotional growth is shown. Therefore, it is noted that the multigenre technique that was used in both the film and the novel was the use of letters; however, the letters didn’t serve the same purpose.

Overall, the novel incorporated more biographical details about the characters that had a point of view in the story. Therefore, it gives the reader a chance to look multiple characters in a closer spectrum than in the film. On the other hand, it was effective for the film to use only one point of view because it narrowed the plot. Also, it gave more importance to the specific situation of Oskar and his journey in finding closure with his father’s death. However, both the film and the novel demonstrated the terrible effects that the destruction of the Twin Towers brought upon thousands of people.

*I highly suggest that if you want to know more about the Twin Towers click here.