Nathan Stradling
Michaelson
P.3b
October 1st, 2017
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
"Success does not lie in results, but in efforts; being the best is not so important, doing the best is all that matters." In Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Oskar goes through a large adventure to do his Father’s last given game, or Reconnaissance Expedition. Oskar had still not finished the Expedition by the time his Father had died, so throughout the book Oskar was trying to accomplish his Expedition. Three question’s must be asked: What is Success? How could it be argued Oskar had not achieved success? Did Oskar achieve success?
What is Success? Success is arguably a loose term. To achieve success is really dependent on the goal, or the general outcome, or even an accomplishment in a sub-goal/unknown desire. Many great successes were mistakes; many great successes were not the main goal or purpose of the event. Success is defined differently by everyone. Oxford Dictionary defines success as “The accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” The Problem with this is, as previously said: one can have success stemming from their actions, but not in the intended area or purpose. In Oskar’s Journey, he had many successes that were small, but all stemmed from his main goal. Oskar had successfully found what he had been digging for, getting the vase and key and starting his new adventure. Success cannot be easily defined. It arguably cannot be defined at all. Success is so relative. One man’s success can be viewed as a failure by others. A student passing a class without effort could be seen as a success to other students, but a failure to teachers. Success is fully a matter of perspective.
When it comes down to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, the question is: Was Oskar successful? There are a lot of ways to go about this question. Oskar was fairly successful, but how could it be argued that Oskar did not achieve success? The argument in favor of Oskar achieving success is harder to see than it’s counterpart. Through the majority of Oskar’s perspective in the book, he is working towards the last Reconnaissance Expedition his father had placed him on. Oskar felt this game a way to stay close to his father after death. He was determined to accomplish his goal and finish this game, for his father. The problem was, Oskar’s father gave no clues, other than the park. Oskar spent a lot of time searching in the park, but achieved nothing. He eventually found a vase with a key inside, but it wasn’t in the park. Had Oskar’s curiosity not gotten the better of him he would have noticed that this vase may not be relevant. Throughout the book, Oskar travelled around New York. He had searched...
