So many questions...

In our literature circle, we discussed a lot of the questions that we had after reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. One of the main questions I had going into the discussion was the something and nothing spaces in the grandparents' house and what they symbolized. Alex had a very good idea relating to this, which I agreed with. She thought that the hallway may have been denoted a "something" place because it was a way to escape. Oskar's grandmother was certainly damaged by the fire that killed her family, and like Oskar, she may have been trying to think of ways that her family could have lived.

I brought up the phrase "Do you know what time it is," which was repeated throughout the chapter. Our group uncovered that it was used in between stories about the past and stories about the present, so it could possibly show that Oskar's grandparents were confused by time, meaning that time had no significance. I also thought that this may have had something to do with the damage that Oskar's grandfather suffered as a result of Anna's death. He may have been confused by the time because he wants to be back in the past, when he was happy with Anna.

We also wondered whether Oskar's grandmother was literally blind, or blind in a more figurative manner. Throughout the chapter, there seems to be some indication that she is physically blind, but I couldn't understand how she could have her vision in other parts of the novel. I brought up the idea once again that Oskar's grandmother has trouble communicating with people, and maybe that is what her blindness symbolizes. I related the way that she communicates with people to the way that someone speaks when they are involved in watching television and is having a simple conversation but is just not there mentally.

Our group worked well together, and we were all looking forward to the next literature circle, when we will have a lot of material to discuss.