In the reading, there was one scene that really grabbed my attention and was very touching emotionally. It was when Oskar met Abby Black.
At first she was hesitant to allow him into her home; however, she ended up caving and inviting him in. As they talked, her husband called from the other room, but as Oskar said on page 93, "she didn't pay any attention, like she didn't hear it, or didn't care." They began to discuss elephants after Oskar noticed the photograph of one on her wall. Oskar told her about how elephants remember hundreds of calls. Ones of their enemies and loved ones. Abby asked if the elephants cried when they heard the recorded calls of their dead family members. Oskar replies to her inquiry with, "I'd say they were confused." (96)
Then Abby began to cry, perhaps about the elephants desperate to find their dead loved ones or something deeper and more personal. Maybe Abby relates the elephants remembering calls to her ignoring the calls of her husband from the next room over. When Oskar brings up her husband, she cries even more, solidifying the connection between the previous conversation and her tears. She must feel like something is missing in her life. She is lacking that strong bond with her husband that the families of elephants have with each other. She feels incredibly lonely and Oskar seems to supply the company she is in need of. And even as Oskar tries to get a kiss from her, she being 48 and he being 12, she still appreciates his presence and enjoys the time she is spending with this sweet young man because he fills that unoccupied void in her life, making her feel a little less lonely for the time being.
Overall, I found this scene between Abby and Oskar to be incredibly touching, and even a little bitter-sweet.
I too found this section to be very touching. Oscar is so honest and pure that he has a great effect on people. He asks very personal questions and digs deep into people feelings. I thing that as he travels door to door to find all the people with the last name Black, he will end up having a great impact on them.
ReplyDeleteNice, Kate, I didn't make that connection between the elephants and her husband. I also think that she begins to cry after he says, "I'd say they were confused", because Oskar is so clueless to the fact that he is following the metaphorical breadcrumbs of his father,almost faking himself into believing that he will find his father when he finds out who "black" is.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very intriguing part of the story as it showed the raw emotion between two people that both seemed to have lost someone or something important in their lives. Both are like the elephants in that I believe they could sense that the other was hurting and so they reached out to one another and connected on a deeper level than the basic human connection.
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