The Grandparents
1. What do you think the title means? Given that there are no events in the book that are explicitly “extremely loud” or “incredibly close”, what do you think the author meant by choosing the title?
Oskar uses those words often when he explains something.
He is extremely close with his grandmother.
2. How did the storyline of the grandparents compliment the story of Oskar and his quest?

3. Describe how you felt about each of the grandparents. How did you feel about their relationship?
Grandmother:
She is really nice and protective to Oskar. She spends much time with Oskar and she really cares about him.
Grandfather:
He is not really nice to the grandmother, but all he wants is to protect the grandmother from him. He marries her even though he is in love with her sister. Then he leaves her and then comes back after his son’s death and then he wants to leave her again.
Relationship:
It is really complicated because he is in love with somebody else, and he leaves the grandmother and comes back, twice.
4. Compare Oskar and his reaction to tragedy to the reaction of each grandparent to tragedy. How did each character react to the terrible and violent loss in their loves?
Oskar wants to stay unhappy about his dad. The grandmother is sad but she doesn’t tell Oskar that she is. The grandfather comes back after his son’s death.
5. Why do you think the author introduced the Dresden plotline of the grandparents into a book that involves the attack on the World Trade Center?
The author uses many of his own experiences from his childhood in the book. He is a Jewish and the bombing of Dresden is the extermination of the Jewish. He is drawing parallels to WTC and Dresden.