In the section narrated by Oskar’s grandfather, I found it
compelling to read about the more abstract ways in which the author described
what it means it love someone, and the different ways we feel it and act upon
it. While sitting in the airport trying to compose a letter to his unborn child,
he says, “I’m thinking of Anna, I would give anything to think about her
again, I can only hold on to the things I want to lose...” (113). It got me
thinking about the ways we protect ourselves from risking love and getting hurt
after feeling the loss the first time around.
Another quote that got me thinking was when the grandfather
says, “I thought, it’s a shame that we have to live, but it’s a tragedy that we
get to live only one life, because if I’d had two lives, I would have spent one
of them with her” (133). It brings up the idea that there are different levels of
love. It also touches upon what we must to do to feel fulfilled and satisfied
in the short amount of time we are given. I thought this section was very
moving and I enjoyed the style it was written in.
I also thought the part about the grandfather wanting to live two lives was interesting. It showed that he still loved his wife, just not in the way that he would only want to spend his life with her. Does he just wish she was Anna?
ReplyDeleteI don't think the grandpa will ever be completely content being away from Ana. He has such an idealistic view of her that part of him will always wonder about the life he could have had with her. Even though the grandpa may have love for his wife, it is not the same type of love he feels for Ana.
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