Quotes:
"Mom said, "Honey," and I said, "Oui," and she said, "Did you give a copy of our apartment key to the mailman?" I thought it was so weird that she would mention that then, because it didn't have to do with anything, but I think she was looking for something to talk about that wasn't the obvious thing. I said, "The mailperson is a mailwoman." She nodded, but not exactly at me, and she asked if I'd given the mailwoman a key." (Foer 6)
"It didn't seem like the perfect time to mention that I had already made copies of the key for the deliverer from Pizza Hut, the UPS person, and also the nice guys from Greenpeace, so they could leave me articles on manatees and other animals that are going extinct when Stan is getting coffee." (Foer 6)
(Oskar has just accidentally broke the vase on the top shelf in his father's closet.) "I started to clean everything up, and that was when I noticed something else weird. In the middle of all the glass was a little envelope, about the size of a wireless Internet card. What the? I opened it up, and inside there was a key. What the, what the? It was a weird-looking key, obviously to something extremely important, because it was fatter and shorter than a normal key. I couldn't explain it: a fat and short key, in a blue vase, on the highest shelf in his closet."(37) Oskar feels as if he must figure out what this mystery key belongs to in order to get closer to his father.
--This IS slightly implied, but at this point Oskar can have any number of feelings. I'd say he's only curious so far.
On page 52, Oskar, thinking about the mysterious key of his dad's that he found, writes, "In bed that night, I couldn't stop thinking about the key and how every 2.777 seconds another lock was being born in New York."
-- This quote shows Oskar's maturity in the way he is able to mathematically reason and also is a symbol for the doors that can be "opened" metaphorically, with a key.
-- I think that Oskar is trying to show us his knowledge of numbers. Additionally, I think that the author is trying to show us that Oskar thinks through every topic completely. He thinks of every thing and doesn't eliminate anything that is relevant, such as locks to a car that would fit the key that he had found.
"As for the key, I put it on the string next to my apartment key and wore it like a pendant." (74) This quotation shows how Oskar feels about the importance of the key and how it connects him to his father.
"He showed me a rack that had a ton of keys on it. 'See, it's not like any of these. It's much thicker. Harder to break.' I touched all the keys that I could reach, and that made me feel OK, for some reason. [...]
'Well, hardly anyone uses keys anymore.' 'I use keys,' I told him, and I showed him my apartment key. ' I know you do,' he said." (39)
-- This dictates what the rest of the book may be about. He is now set to find the lock to the key that he has, which is much bigger and harder to break than the normal keys one comes upon.
--Seeing as to how the key is so durable and uniquely shaped, then certainly it must go to something important? This furthers Oskar's belief that this key holds relevance to something his father left behind, possibly related to their final scavenger hunt. (Link?)
-I think that Oskar's love of keys shows something about his character. Because the keys make him feel calm, it shows that finding information about his father and unlocking secrets makes him feel better.
"I said, 'I have another question.' 'Shoot.' 'Do you think I could find the company that made this key?' 'Anyone could've made it.' 'Well then, what I want to know is how can I find the lock that it opens?' 'I'm afraid I can't help you with that, any more than telling you to try it in every lock you come across.'"(39-40)
-- Oskar realizes that the he will have to find another way to figure out where the key belongs to.
-- This encourages Oscar to start contacting stores and research post offices, which in turn leads to his discovery that his father was at one of the stores he was looking through. This is his first link to his father and some unexplained questions that could be solved in the near future.
"And I said, 'Stan the doorman. Sometimes he runs around the corner for coffee and I want to be sure all of my packages get to me, so I thought, if Alicia--' 'Who?' 'The mailwoman. If she had a key, she could leave things inside our door.' 'But you can't give a key to a stranger.' " (6)
"Also, I remembered from when I used to take the subway that the conductors used keys to open and close doors, so there were those, too." (40)
I think the reason Oskar is so interested with keys is that keys open and shut doors. Some of his doors have been shut like his father dying while others are soon to be opened. He is in search for the open doors.
-- On page 53, there is a full page picture of keys. It has keys stacked upon keys. I think this could symbolize the possibilities that life holds. So many different paths to take and doors to unlock. All you need is the right key.
"I ran home and did some more research [...] it would take me about three years to go through all of them. But I couldn't survive three years without knowing [...] I would spend my Saturdays and Sundays finding all of the people named Black and learning what they knew about the key in the vase in Dad's closet. In a year and a half I would know everything" (51).
-- One of the significances of keys to Oskar seems to be the link he creates between him and his father. He views them as something that can bring him closer to the memory of his father and he believes they are something that really only him and his dad could understand.
"In the middle of all of that glass was a little envelope, about the size of a wireless Internet card. What the? I opened it up, and inside there was a key. What the, what the? It was a weird looking key, obviously to something extremely important, because it was fatter and shorter than a normal key. I couldn't explain it: a fat and short key, in a little envelope, in a blue vase, on the highest shelf in his closet." (37) <---(This quote has already been used above.)
"In the bed that night, I couldn't stop thinking about the key, and how every 2.777 seconds another lock was born in New York. I pulled Stuff that happened from the space between the bed and the wall, and I flipped through it for a while, wishing that I would finally fall asleep." (53) <---(This quote has already been used above.)
"Also, I remembered from when I used to take the subway that the conductors used keys to open and close doors, so there were those, too." (40)
--Here, Oskar tries the mysterious key at the residence of someone named Black for the first time. "I tried my key in the lock, but it didn't go in past the tip." (88) Just a few pages later, he makes his second attempt at a different house. "I tried the key, and it went in halfway, but then it stopped." (90) Keys usually operate by pushing loaded pins up to a height flush with a plug, allowing the lock to turn where once the pins had prevented it from doing so. Only a key that pushes the pins to that perfect height can open the lock. The different levels of progress made by Oskar's key suggest that he is gradually getting closer and closer to the solution.
"The week was incredibly boring, except for when I remembered the key. Even though I knew that there were 161,999,999 locks in New York that it didn't open, I still felt like it opened everything." (200) This quote shows the importance of the key to Oskar, in that the key keeps him connected to the world and that it helps him get through everyday life.
"Do you think I could find the company that made this key?" The wierd part is about this that any company could have made that key and it could take forever to figure it out.
" 'I've spend two years trying to find this key.' 'But I've spent eight months trying to find the lock.' 'Then we've been looking for each other'. I was finally able to ask the most important question of my life. 'What does it open?' " (295)
"My fathers passed away about two years ago, he said. He went in for checkup and the doctor told him he had two months to live. He died two months later. I didnt want to hear about death. It was all anyone talked about even when no one was actually talking abou it."