Almost 3,000 people died during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Upwards of 20,000 people died during the firebombing of Dresden, Germany in 1945. And as many as 166,000 people lost their lives when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, also in 1945.
1945 was a very bad year.
For the people who died in these attacks… well, they're dead. But the family members they left behind have to deal with the consequences. In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Oskar, whose dad died on September 11, is trying to make some sort of sense out of tragedy and death. As a precocious and intelligent kid, but a kid nonetheless, his father's death leaves a devastating emptiness that he can't really understand. He's preoccupied with morbid ideas and images, which leave him in a constant state of anxiety and fear.
Questions About Mortality
- Do you think Oskar is obsessed with death? Does he think about death more than kids his age normally do? Is it healthy for him to be thinking about death so much?
- Why does Oskar's mom want to bury an empty coffin?
- Will Oskar ever be able to come to terms with his Dad's death? Would he really have been happier if his Mom died instead?