In Very Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer explores trauma and its impact on people. When faced with a devastating situation, it is human nature to look for answers in everything. For the characters of Oskar and his grandfather it is clear that guilt and sadness alter their daily lives, which they spend searching for answers. On the other hand, even as she mourns the loss of her husband, Oskar's mother is able to show incredible outward stability as she heals by helping her son on his journey. Through these and other characters, all dealing with similarly devastating situations, Foer argues that the only way to unlock true healing from pain is to accept that sometimes there is no answer. Oskar Schell is a truly unique, eccentric and conflicted 9-year-old Manhattan boy. , who lost his father in the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Understandably, this changes his life and purpose forever. He is hit with so many new questions, about his own life and his father's death. He is forced to lose his innocence at such an early age and becomes jaded, even going so far as to state that “Nothing is beautiful and true” (43). Oskar had a very special relationship with his father, who challenged him intellectually and often guided him. extraordinary “reconnaissance expeditions”. A year after his father's death, Oskar finds a key in a jar labeled "Nero" and sees it as one of these expeditions, becoming obsessed with finding any information that might help him hold on to his father's memory. There are "472 people with the name Black in New York" (51), and Oskar spends every possible moment knocking on their doors to ask if they know anything about the key and what information about his father it might unlock. But… half the paper… step away from the objective questions that are destroying it. Oskar's mother copes with the situation by helping guide her son, the most important person in his life, on his journey. He is a complex character and can only be seen through Oskar's eyes. Their relationship is difficult, but when Oskar realizes that she is truly grieving with him, and also there for him, he recognizes that “it was incredibly simple. In [his] only life, she was [his] mother and [he] was her son' (324). In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, all of the characters are dealing with pain, in one form or another. Watching their reactions and how they move forward with their lives shows that it is impossible to lead a fulfilling life while searching for answers about a lost loved one. Sometimes there is no answer and it is much more important to find love and comfort in those around you and begin to heal.