In order to often better connect with stories, the use of literary techniques is extremely important, as it allows the reader to personally engage with the text. Such a technique is used by the author of the novel ‘Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close’, Jonathan Safran Foer, a story about a 9-year-old New Yorker, Oskar Schell, who is seeking closure of his father’s death in the September 11 attacks. Mainly, the author capitalizes on the practice of imagery, the use of images of figures and/or objects in order to create a personal connection between the reader and the character, historiographic metafiction, the fictionalization of actual historic events and/or figures, and fragmentation, the breaking down of texts or experimentation with language. The use of these postmodern literary techniques by the author, in return, enhances the meaning of the novel, as it not only allows the reader to connect with the story and the characters on a personal level, but it also displays the trauma and the confusion people faced after the events of 9/11 through the various characters in the novel.
For example, given that the novel revolves around a 9-year-old-boy that searches all of New York in order to find any information regarding a key that once belonged to his father, the literary technique of imagery works extremely well, as there is a lot of visualization within the story. As a result, by bringing these visualizations alive through the use of pictures, the author allows the readers to personally connect with the main character, as we are literally seeing his journey evolve through his own eyes and being in that moment with him, rather than just reading the plain text. For instance, in the novel, the readers see that all the graphic images derive from Oskar’s diary called ‘Stuff That Happened to Me’, in which different types of documents exist within it – documents that help Oskar in expressing those feelings that he cannot put into words. “I pulled Stuff That Happened to Me from the space between the bed and the wall, and I flipped through it for a while” (Foer, 52). The following pages are a series of images that make it seem as if the reader is looking over the shoulder of the character, as he is flipping through the pages of his diary, thus directly witnessing what Oskar is seeing. In another instance, when Oskar drops his cat in an attempt to demonstrate “how cats reach terminal velocity by making themselves into little parachutes”, a depiction of a falling cat is displayed in the following page that exhibits the text (190-191). When Oskar references an accident that occurred in the Staten Island Ferry and describes how in his diary, he “had pictures of people who had lost their arms and legs”, in the next page that follows, a CNN news report regarding the tragedy is shown (240). In another instance, upon visiting a woman in order to find more information about the key that once belonged to his father, Oskar requests the woman whether he is able to capture a picture of her. “Can I at least take a picture of you? She said, that would be nice. But when I started focusing Grandpa’s camera, she put her hand I front of her face for some reason. I didn’t want to force her to explain herself, so I thought of a different picture I could take…” (99). What is interesting is that in the previous page, a picture of the back of the woman’s head is displayed, which indicates the ‘different picture’ Oskar chose to capture, thus brining the picture into life and allowing the reader to see the exchange between the woman and Oskar through Oskar’s eyes. As such, the use of imagery by the author really enhances the meaning of the story, in the sense that it really allows the reader to connect with the character and the story on a personal level.
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In addition, it also really captures the silences and the disorders that can result as a result of the trauma’s that the characters deal with. With historiographic metafiction, Foer captures the trauma narrative of the events of the 9/11 attacks and the Dresden bombings through the experiences of Oskar and his grandparents and shows how different individuals deal with the disturbance. Now, while these are actual events that occurred in the past, Foer fictionalizes some aspects of it, in the sense that he reiterates the past with regards to the factors that led these events to be considered as ‘historical facts’ in the novel. For instance, Oskar is traumatized as a result of the 9/11 attacks due to the death of his father in the collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC). Not only is he the only individual that is aware of the messages that his father left on the day of the attacks, but he is also overwhelmed with survival guilt, given that he chose not to pick up the phone when his father called prior to the collapse of the WTC. “I couldn’t pick up the phone. I just couldn’t do it. It rang and rang, and I couldn’t move… There was a beep. Then I heard Dad’s voice… He needed me and I couldn’t pick up” (304). Through this quote, we can how much Oskar is disturbed by the fact that he couldn’t muster enough courage to pick up the phone and see what his dad needed. Now, as Oskar states, there is overwhelming feeling of “Why did he keep asking ‘Are you there?’” (304). During the happenings of the 9/11 attacks, we can imagine those in the building calling their loved ones to leave them a final message or speak to their loved ones a final time, only for it to go to a message or no one being home. While Oskar’s case was different as he did not pick up while witnessing the call, we can imagine the trauma individuals faced and are possibly still facing upon finding out that their loved ones had call prior to their death, only for them not to be home. This exact trauma is shown through Oskar’s eyes and how that event still continues to disturb him. While Oskar attempts to find as much as information, he can regarding his father’s death through the voice messages his father has left him and his memories with his father, most of the time, Oskar is in a state of a blackout from the shock caused by these memories. For example, he refers to having “heavy boots because it reminded (him) of the lock that (he) still hadn’t found and how until (he) found it, (he) didn’t love Dad enough” (251), trying to fall asleep by impulsively counting seconds, and zipping himself up in the “sleeping bag” (6), all of which point to signs of sadness and disassociation. Towards the end of the novel, the readers are shown a sequence of pictures that seems to illuminate a man jumping to his death from the WTC building. However, what is intriguing is that whether he descends, depends on the perspective the reader is seeing the picture through. In other words, if one goes through the picture chronologically, the man descends; however, if one sees the pictures backwards, the man ascends. If the reader chooses to see the picture in the former perspective, the reader only sees death; however, if the reader sees the pictures in the latter perspective, then there is the possibility of rewriting the history and preparing for a different future. On the other hand, through the narrative standpoint of the grandparents, the readers are shown the effects that the bombings of Dresden in 1945 had on the grandparents. For example, after the bombings of Dresden, it is illustrated how the grandfather lost his ability to talk, and as such, communicates through the use of a notebook. For instance, in one occasion, when spoken to, the grandfather “(takes) out a little book and (writes), I don’t speak. I’m sorry” (81). In addition, because of the trauma that he has been through, the readers also see how the grandfather has tattooed the word ‘Yes’ on his left hand and the word ‘No’ in his right hand, as an attempt to shorten everyday conversation (82-83). This is really effective as we always see people who have been through scary events unable to speak in a clear manner or are afraid to express themselves due to the trauma they have experienced. Lastly, the readers are also taken on a journey to the grandmother’s past in an attempt to experience the events and the trauma the grandmother has been through, when the grandmother describes to Oskar the identity of his family through detailed letters. This account reveals to the readers the loss that left her broken and her relationship with the individual that abandoned her.
All in all, Foer uses the postmodern literary technique of historiographic metafiction effectively in terms of enhancing the meaning of the novel, as it allows the readers to witness historical events such as the 9/11 attacks and the Dresden bombings through the perspective of survivors, thus showcasing the different types of traumas’ that individuals deal with as a result of these events.
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