Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
People all over the United States, but especially people in New York City, came together after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, showing the strength of the human spirit and all that ins...
Narrator Point of View
The book's a first-person narration, but what's unique is that there are three first-person narrators. The story really belongs to Oskar, and he gives us a nonstop, mile-a-minute tour of his though...
Genre
With its focus on the inner world of its characters, its serious subject matter, and striking writing style, we'll call this novel Literary Fiction. Foer aims for more than just telling a story her...
Tone
We guess you get the picture. Each of the narrators is sunk in grief that pervades their narratives. Sure, we gets moments of humor from Oskar's eccentric interests and naïve observations, but for...
Writing Style
Show, Don't TellBy saying Foer's writing style is visual, we don't mean that Jonathan Safran Foer uses incredibly vivid imagery (although he does). We're talking about how he uses actual photograph...
What's Up With the Title?
Sometimes it feels like Jonathan Safran Foer is playing literary Mad Libs. Adverb: Extremely. Adjective: Excited. "Extremely excited" (7.109) "Extremely important" (7.134) "Incredibly nervous" (9.5...
What's Up With the Ending?
At the end of the book, Oskar finally finds the lock the key goes to, his Dad's secret diary is revealed, and Oskar's life changes forever.Okay, no. Oskar may have wanted to find something like tha...
Tough-o-Meter
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close has three different narrators: nine-year-old Oskar, who has a vocabulary better than most ninety-year-olds; and his Grandma and Grandpa, who both love to write a...