In Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Foer resolves each character’s conflict, but instead of them all being separate, they all contribute to Oskar’s final resolution. The first thing resolved is the key and what it opens. Oskar had been so close to the owner of the key when he visited Abby Black, the second Black he met with. The owner of the key has also lost his father. In Edmund Black’s letter to William, it is revealed that their relationship was not all that great. The letter was formal and business-like in nature. It was distant. Oskar then follows up this story with his own last message from his father; which seemed to be almost begging for “you” to answer the phone. Through this meeting Oskar does not get any closer to his father. The key that he thought was his, actually belonged to someone else and his father gained it on accident. What Oskar did get from this exchange was that his father was finally being remembered as a good man. He looked for his dad in Mr. Black’s bio for the longest time and was still hopeful up until he pulled his own name out of the bio.
Next we have the resolution of Grandma and the renter. Once again this is all in a letter being addressed to Oskar. This is written the day after Oskar and the renter dig up his dad’s grave, so it is important to note that at the end of the book, when Oskar is back in his room, he has not received this letter. In this letter, the reader witnesses the grandma’s desire to remain together with Thomas. She says that she cannot stand to be alone and that she will do whatever it takes to remain together, even f that means staying at the airport, this in a way mirrors the lady that stays in the Empire State building. Both grandma and this lady cannot stand to return to their previous lives if the one that they loved were not there. She ends her letter with a sad story about not being able to tell her sister that she loved her the night before the bombings. She then follows that by saying, “It is always necessary.” This is a comment on how unexpected life can be and that just because things seem to be alright now, in a few moments they could drastically change. This is evident in the messages left for Oskar by his dad. In five out of six messages, his dad was calm and collected. He seemed to be fine, but in the sixth Oskar knew that something was wrong, and he never got to tell his dad that he loved him or anything because he could not answer the phone.
Lastly we get Oskar resolution with his mother and Ron. Oskar begins to give Ron a chance, even though he may be asking him extremely difficult questions, this is the most Oskar and Ron have interacted in the novel to this point. The next morning while he is trying to sneak back in, his mother and he have a talk, which results in a lot of crying by both parties. Oskar is bonding with both Ron and his mother, before he even gets his Grandma’s letter. His talks with William Black leads Oskar to be closer to his mother, as he does not want be have a similar relationship William had with his father. He wants his mom to be happy and is willing to allow her to fall in love again. This shows great character development in Oskar. He no longer restrained by his father’s death. He has found a way to live. His dad will be remembered as a good man, at least by William Black, and his mom still has a shot at love, and she knows that Oskar loves her.
