".... I held on to the railing tight and started inventing things in my head: air bags fro skyscrapers, solar powered limousines that never had to stop moving, a fricionless yoyo..."(160)
Oskar uses inventing to help keep his mind off his dads death and help other if they were to be in that situation
"I knew I'd never be able to fall asleep, because I was so excited that the next day I'd be able to search for the lock. I started inventing like a beaver." (193) After this quote he goes on to invent a Black Box yellow pages book made of the material that airplanes are made of, a stamp that tastes like creme brulee, and a sniffing eye seeing bomb dog. It's interesting that a lot of his invention connect with the september 11 attack because they have to do with ways to escape, airplanes, ways to let people know thay are safe, etc.
This idea of inventing is vital in showing the immaturity of Oskar because it is generally believed that adults tend not to spend their time "inventing" things and instead think about what is significnt in their lives.
Oskars grandfather also invents stuff. This arises in one of the letters that is written, and he is planning his future with Anna. "I statred to invent futrure homes for us, I'd type through the night and give them to her the next day." (208) This is possibly one of the traits that runs in the family, or maybe even why Oskar likes to invent so many things. It could provide him a way of getting closer to his father, or in this case his father's father.
"... I was so excited that the next day I'd be able to search for the lock. I started inventing like a beaver." (193)
Oskar invents things to distract the thought of his dad's death and it brings him closer to his dad.
Oskar wants to figure out why his dad died. Him not knowing the reason, has caused him to start inventing and come up with solutions to problems in his head. "I want to stop inventing. If I could know how he died, exactly how he died, I wouldn't have to invent him dying inside an elevator that was stuck between floors, which happened to some people, and I wouldn't have to imagine him trying to crawl down the outside of the building, which I saw a video of one person doing on a Polish site, or trying to use a tablecloth as a parachute, like some of the people who were in Windows of the World actually did. There were so many different ways to die, and I just need to know which was his." (257)
"All i wanted was to fall asleep that night, but all i could do was invent. What about frozen planes, which could be safe from heat-seeking missiles? What about subway turnstiles that were also radiation detectors? What about incredibly long ambulances that connected every building to a hospital? What about parachutes in fanny packs? What about guns with sensors in the handles that could detect if you were angry, and if you were, they wouldn't fire, even if you were a police officer?What about Kevlar overalls?..." (258-259)
“Being with him made my brain quiet. I didn’t have to invent a thing.” [12] I love this quote because when Oskar is around him, he feels safe.
Inventing a bruising seem to go together a lot. Why is this?
I believe that when Oskar invents things, it's an escape of what's really on his mind (death of his father). Normally when people don't want to think about something or doesn't want to dwell on a certain thought, they start doing something else that requires them to put in more effort in getting their mind of that certain thing.
I think that bruising and inventions go together because Oskar is trying to invent something that would save his father. He comes up with these things so that his father would somehow be saved by them. And when he realizes that his father is dead, he gets upset and gives himself bruises because he is angry with himself for not inventing these things and feels some responsiblity. This also relates to a class discussion that we had about how when you don't have a person to blame then you blame yourself. After his father's death there is really not a thing that Oskar can blame, so he blames himself for not inventing something that would have saved his father's life.
This quote comes from when Oskar is lying in his bed, waiting for the time to come for him and his grandfather to go dig up the grave of Oskar's father. "While I lay there in bed, waiting for that time to come, I did a lot of inventing." (316)