There is a full letter written to Oskar from his grandmother explaining the story of how she met his grandfather. (p. 75-85).
Oskar's grandmother has an imaginary renter that has lived with her since her son died (69-70).
-These passages make me wonder what kind of void Oskar's grandmother is trying to fill with the imaginary renter.
"One of the things we found were the old two-way radios [...] I thought it would be a fun way for me and Grandma to talk [...] it worked great [...] She was always waiting for me on the other end. I don't know how she knew when I'd be there. Maybe she just waited around all day" (102).
This quote is from when Oskar is playing a trick on his grandmother by hiding from her: "I followed her around from a safe distance as she started to get incredibly panicky. 'Oskar!' She was crying and touching everything[...]That night, I looked through my binoculars at her window and there was a note that said, 'Don't go away.'"(101) This quote shows that every since the death of Oskar's Dad, his grandmother has been extra protective of him because she is afraid she will lose another loved one.
It can be assumed at this point that Oskar's grandmother has been very lonely since the death of her son, Oskar's father. This loss makes Oskar and his grandmother much closer, and because of this, Oskar's grandmother is much more protective of him. An example of this protectiveness would be when Oskar's grandmother became worried when he hid from her in central park, and was then angry at him for the following days.
"But there were a lot of people that I knew better. For example, I didn't know anything about what it was like when she was a kid, or how she met Grandpa, or what their marriage was like, or why he left. If I had to write her life story, all I could say is that her husband could talk to animals, and that I should never love anything as much as she loved me." (105)
We can tell that Oskar and his Grandma have a unique relationship. It is more of a friendship than kinship. I think it's nice how acquainted they are with each other. One reason it works well is because they both benefit. Oskar can open up and tell all of his feelings to his Grandma that he wouldn't tell anyone else. Grandma also has someone to keep her company.
On pg. 106, Oskar is talking to his grandmother through the radio when he thinks he hears someones footsteps on the other line. She then denies that anyone is there. This makes me think that either she is lying about having someone at her house, or she cannot hear very well. Or maybe Oskar is imagining things and the she is telling the truth.
"Backstage, before closing night, Jimmy Snyder imitated Grandma to the rest of the cast and crew...I sat there while he made all the kids crack up. I didn't mention that she was my Grandma, and I didn't tell him to stop. Outside I was cracking up too. Inside, I was wishing that she were tucked away in a portable pocket, or that she'd also had an invisibility suit. I wished the two of us could go somewhere far away, like the Sixth Borough"(144).
"When your grandfather left me forty years ago, I erased all of his writing. I washed the words from the mirrors and the floors. I painted over the walls. I cleaned the shower curtains. I even refinished the floors. It took me as long as I had known him to get rid of all of his words. Like turning an hourglass over." (233)
"Grandma didn't come backstage to say hi before the performance the next night, or bye after, but i saw that she was there. Through the eye sockets I could see her standing in teh back of the gym, underneath the baskeball hoop. Her makeup was absorbing the lighting in a fascinating way, which made her look almost ultraviolent."(143-144)
This quote comes from when Oskar's grandmother is talking about the day they buried her son regarding her husband: "I thought he would write. Or send money. or ask for pictures of the baby, if not me. For forty years not a word. Only empty envelopes. And then, on the day of my son's funeral, two words. I'm sorry. He had come back." (233) This makes me wonder what kind of significant role Oskar's Grandfather will have in the rest of the story
In "Incredibly Close and Extremly Loud" Oskar's grandmother tells Oskars's grandfather that she is blind while they are writing each other letters. She ends up sending him nothing except the blank pages that exist in the book. She is not actually blind, but she uses the blank pages to show that her life has been empty and blank.
"planes going into buildings. Buildings falling. Planes going into buildings. Planes going into buildings. Planes going into buildings. [...] bodies falling. Staples and tape." (231)
I don't understand how the grandma/grandpa's relationship happened. They never even communicated.
Links:
white- The grandmother knits white clothing for Oskar.