Extremely Sad and Incredibly Depressing discussion

Heeellooooo...
Who's here?

Hi

hi

Good, so everyone's here.

Pick a particular topic and somebody write a paragraph advocating a particular point of view and citing examples from the text to support it.

The other people: Either respond to the first person, or start your own thread if you'd like to change topic.

Okay, can someone fill me in on what happened in Dresden or where in the world Dresden is?

The Grandfather found out the grandmother was pregnant and freaked out and left. He was at the airport and then the grandmother convinced him to come back to her. Then there was an attack and people had to hide in shelters and he almost died.

That part kind of reminded me of earlier in the book when there was the interview about Hiroshima. I was also confused about that part. Who was being interviewed? It says Tomoyasu but who is that? At the end they were talking to Oskar?

I think both sides of the story were really different. I felt like her grandma indicated that he came back right before he left and had sex with her and then left immediately after that. Thats what i was thinking...

I thought that the grandfather's story ended with him leaving and her coming after him, which sort of happens, but doesn't. If that makes any sense at all.

The Hiroshima interview was played during Oskar's class. It was some sort of project they were working on. Maybe it had to do with finding someone they were looking for like Oskar and his dad?

Ohhh interesting.. I didn't think about that. I'm also confused about the grandma. Is it Anna or Anna's sister?

Does anyone think there is a parallel between Hiroshima and the devastation in Japan with the attack at the Twin Towers on September 11th?

Oh I see.. Okay. I know we talked about this last class, but why does Oskar talk to women the way he does? He always asks them if they could kiss for a bit. It's weird.

PS are we the only ones here...

The Grandma is Anna's sister... At least that's what I think because all of her stories are about how she is distant from her husband (due to the fact that her husband wants to be with Anna).

I know, I don't know why anyone else is here. I think he says what's on his mind and doesn't really factor in the social norms. I think it makes him seem more authentic. Also could be the fact that he wants to feel some sort of love and/or affection? Maybe because he thinks his mom doesn't love him anymore because in Oskar's mind she doesn't love or remember his dad.

That's a very good point. Also, Tomoyasu talks about how she (I think it's a woman) was looking for her daughter all over the place and didn't see the mushroom cloud. Oskar's dad was "looking" for him and the mom. He was trying to get ahold of them. From his messages, it didn't really seem like he knew what was going on outside, like Tomoyasu didn't know with the mushroom cloud. It sounds like he must have been trapped inside the towers.

When Oskar and his mom are talking one night about "the worst day" and him being buried, he really questions where she was on that day and why she didn't pick him up from school that day. He kept saying how she should have been there. Do you think he wanted her to be there so she could have heard the messages the dad left on the message machine? Do you think Oskar feels guilty now about replacing the phone and keeping the old one for himself to listen to his dad's messages?

I don't think Oskar feels guilty. I think he is just upset that his mother didn't put her family first in his mind. That could be wrong, but that is how I read it. Oskar may have wanted his mom at home because with her there maybe they could have saved his dad?

Do you think that the grandfather can't talk because of the traumatic experience in Dresden?

Does Thomas' dad life and experience mirror his son's? The loss of life and the explosions and smoke. All of the visuals seem to be the same, the only difference being Thomas' dad lived through the bombings.

What is the letter from Simon Goldberg mean. It is addressed to Thomas Schell. Oskar (the grandfather) is writing the original letter, so whose letter was he receiving?

ahoy corey

Hola senor. Kinda late don't you think.