There are three main characters that the reader sees deal with grief in Very Loud and Incredibly Close. The first of which is the main narrator, nine-year-old Oskar Schell. Oskar is in the denial stage of grief because he is keeping his father alive by going on one last great adventure to find the story behind the key, thus keeping him alive. But of course there is no reason why Oskar should have the key. Oskar tells Mr. Black, “There are so many ways to die, and I just need to know which one was his” (Foer, 257). Notice how here he is not focusing on his father's death, but on the logic behind his father's death. At this moment, in his mind, it is not logical and therefore cannot be addressed. It also distances Oskar from death because he sees it more as a math problem than a traumatic event. He's not suggesting that he wants to know how his father died so that he knows what his last moments were. He doesn't want to know if he felt pain or if he was afraid. He doesn't even want to know, right now, why his father died; a question many of us would expect him to ask because, historically, many of us still ask ourselves it. This is not the emphasis he places on the issue. Oskar wants to know how, so that he can categorize it, understand it and move on without facing it. “Nothing is beautiful and true” (Foer, 43). Oskar tells this to his mother near the beginning of the novel, and it's a surprisingly depressing and disturbing thought for an average nine-year-old to have, let alone vocalize to such a nonchalant adult. The reader could use this quote to show how Oskar's worldview changed after his father's death. With the loss of innocence comes a dark... middle of paper... conclusion, Foer's novel, Extremely Strong and Incredibly Close, does not sugarcoat the tragedy. He faces it head-on and sensor-free, thus allowing him to maintain the historical truth. The use of the album allows the reader to see into the minds of the narrators and reveals personality traits that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. By writing from the perspective of three different narrators, Foer allowed the reader to see into the minds of people in three different stages of grief. It also focuses primarily on life after trauma, distinguishing in particular between acceptance and attachment, and provides the reader with solid advice on how to deal with the tragic consequences of trauma. Most importantly, the Schell family's story shows the reader that they are not alone and that the traumatic experience does not have to define who they will become as a person..