In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Foer uses three different narrative voices to bring his story to life. The first and most important, as well as the one used to talk about current events, is that of Oskar Schell. The other two, which serve mainly to support Oskar's story and explain the past, are the voices of the boy's grandmother and grandfather. Each of these different narrators responds to the integral tragedy of the story and expresses themselves, both towards the reader and towards the other characters, in very different ways. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Oskar's grandfather, Thomas Schell Sr, is probably the most puzzling character in the book, who is truly characterized by his inability to speak and the high obvious fact that his mind is stuck in the past. His lack of human communication embodies and defines the way he expresses himself in the book. At first his story seems completely normal, but it soon becomes apparent that this complex and fluent stream of thoughts is expressed in the form of a letter to his son. This is how the reader can get an idea of ​​Thomas' thoughts. These letters are the only time he communicates his true feelings and articulates thoughts about his life. Yet, as the reader sees, he is never able to send them, and so his thoughts remain forever stuck in his head, never to be shared with another human being. In communicating with others, his diary entries are rarely longer than 5 words, meaning he is able to avoid any meaningful conversation. Even in his written “chat” with his wife, he only discusses factual information and never touches on his past or his feelings. It seems that Thomas can only accommodate one-way communications: letters to his son, never to be read; short, impersonal written commands and factual communications that do not require a response. This lack of human connection characterizes Oskar's grandfather, making him truly appear as a broken man who can't maintain a relationship with anyone in the present. This, it is revealed, is because he is a man living in his tragic past. The loss of his parents, his first love, and his son are the defining events of Thomas' life. After those childhood deaths, he closes himself off to the outside world, isolates himself from those close to him, and avoids meaning in interactions with other human beings. Even as the rest of the world moves on, Thomas lives perpetually in the past, leaving a dysfunctional shell in the present. His mind is so stuck in Dresden that he can't think about anything about the present or the future. When he returns to New York after his 40-year absence, he has no plan and is completely unable to react to his new environment. Later, after gaining some form of closure by purchasing his letters from his son's grave, he tries to leave but realizes that he is incapable of making decisions in the present, and as such is neither able to stay nor leave . His withdrawn reaction to these healing losses highlights the empty and dead character of a man who can no longer live due to his distance from the world around him. Although she has a large amount of "screen time", we seem to know the least about Oskar's grandmother. Due to her total lack of deep expression towards anyone, including the reader, and the fact that she keeps her pain inside and away from the other characters, she appears in the book almost oblivious to what is happening around her, appearing conspicuously normal under circumstances very abnormal. . Even in his personal letters to the future Oskar,.