“Then, out of nowhere, a flock of birds flew by the window, extremely fast and incredibly close. Maybe twenty of them. Maybe more. But they also seemed like just one bird, because somehow they all knew exactly what to do. Mr. Black grabbed at his ear and made a bunch of weird sounds. He started crying− not out of happiness, I could tell, but not out of sadness, either”(Foer 165-168).
In literature, movies, and music birds are a common symbol for freedom. Even terrible bands like Lynyrd Skynrd use imagery of birds in the terrible song “Free Bird”. It is not hard to understand why birds are a symbol for freedom. As they sore through the sky they are untouchable. They are elegant. They are courageous. They are free. And it is not hard to understand why the flock of birds flying past the window was the first sound that Mr. Black heard in Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Mr. Black lived a life of solitude in his lonesome apartment 6A. The doorman Stan referred to him as a ghost. He was lifeless. He fell in love with the woman he would soon marry. He left his life as a soldier to become a husband. But when his wife died he was alone with no purpose in life. But how ironic is it that the purpose he was looking for was one floor below him in 5A.
While Oskar Schell was crossing off names on his list of Blacks he came to the next name. He met Mr. Black and immediately connected with him. They were both lost and alone and they were both in need of companionship. Mr. Black spent twenty-four years in silence. He refused to hear the world around him and turned his hearing aid off. Oskar finally convinced Mr. Black to join him on his quest to discover the secret of his father’s key. Mr. Black chose to reenter the world and experience all it had to offer, including its millions of sounds. As Oskar slowly turned the volume up on Mr. Black’s hearing-aid a flock of birds flew by.
With a renewed sense of freedom Mr. Black joined Oskar to discover a new life. The city was no longer too much for this man of one hundred and three.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Excellent job with your blog! I totally agree with your interperetation of the significance of the birds...they do symbolize freedom and traveling into the unknown. This is Oskar, traveling into uncharted territory, seeking freedom from the emotional burdens that weigh him down. Just a touch of constructive criticizm:) try to make the words more your own, so your blog doesn't read out so much like a summary. Otherwise, great analysis!
Do you think the birds near Mr. Black's window were more representative of Mr. Black's new sense of freedom or or Oskar's? Why do you think Oskar was able to connect with Mr. Black so well and why did Mr. Black finally have his hearing aid turned on again?
With the quote you used, it makes it seem that Foer is trying to say that each individual is part of another; that is the connection that Oskar and Mr. Black had. Each was able to help the other in unexpected ways, and like birds, flew away from the flock when they got to where they needed to go.
Though I most certainly have to disagree with your comments regarding Lynyrd Skynrd, you make a very good point in noting the symbolism of the birds. Mr. Black spent a great deal of time in total isolation. Oskar is able to free him from his self-imposed bonds and set him loose to once again explore the world around him.
However Natalie Marie brought up the another part of the quote you used that needs to be examined. This was not a solitary bird that flew through the sky; this was a flock. Not alone, but rather a large and united group. Oskar and Mr. Black come together out of mutual need, just as the birds that fly in our skies do. They depart on their journey together, no longer the pain-ridden solitary beings that they once were.
I agree with trapshootinggirltss, this was a good blog but it sounded too much like a summary of events in the story. I assume that everyone in this class read the book [if not, shame on them because it is absolutely amazing], so you don't need to give as much of a summary. but i felt you did an excellent job in capturing the essence of the use of birds representing freedom.
Birds and flight are ubiquitously accepted symbols of freedom. What many fail to notice, however, is the overwhelming nature of freedom, the burden of responsibilty. Though birds fly, they must always come down eventually, exhausted from the freedom of flight.
This sentiment is clearly expressed through the full-circle presentation of Mr. Black. Upon Mr. Black's first transformation (when his hearing aid was turned on, freeing him), he was overwhelmed by the sound of the birds, symbolically overpowered by the sudden sense of freedom. And so began Mr. Black's journey with Oskar...At the conclusion of the journey, when Mr. Black decides to leave Oskar, there is a reference to birds crashing into the window of the Empire State Building falling dead. Every flight must end eventually.
hello everybody could somebody explain to me why Foer uses this quote just now and not before "...extremely fast and incredibly close." and whats the purpose of it thank you very much
Post a Comment