JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER An Analysis of the Novels and Selected Short Stories Diplomarbeit zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades einer Magistra der Philosophie an der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz vorgelegt von Sandra MALLI am Institut für Anglistik Begutachter: Ao. Univ. – Prof. Dr. Martin Löschnigg Graz, im Dezember 2011 CONTENTS 1 Introduction .................................................................................... 1 1.1 List of Abbreviations ................................................................................ 3 2 Everything is Illuminated .............................................................. 4 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 4 2.2 Formal Analysis ........................................................................................ 5 2.2.1 Structure ............................................................................................................... 5 2.2.2 Narrative Situations .............................................................................................. 9 2.2.2.1 Alexander Perchov – Letters ......................................................................... 9 2.2.2.2 Alexander Perchov – Narration .................................................................. 11 2.2.2.3 The History of Trachimbrod ....................................................................... 13 2.3 Character Analysis .................................................................................. 19 2.3.1 Jonathan Safran Foer .......................................................................................... 19 2.3.2 Alexander Perchov ............................................................................................. 20 2.3.3 The Grandfather ................................................................................................. 22 2.4 Everything is Illuminated as a Metafictional Novel ............................... 23 2.5 Holocaust Literature and Jewish American Literature ........................... 26 2.6 Final Remarks ......................................................................................... 28 3 Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close ....................................... 30 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 30 3.2 Formal Analysis ...................................................................................... 31 3.2.1 Structure ............................................................................................................. 31 3.2.2 Photographs and Illustrations ............................................................................. 32 3.2.3 Capitalization / Corrections ................................................................................ 39 3.2.4 Spacing and Paragraphs ..................................................................................... 40 3.2.5 Numbers ............................................................................................................. 44 3.2.6 Red Circles in WHY I‘M NOT WHERE YOU ARE 4/12/78 ........................... 45 3.2.7 Letters and Messages ......................................................................................... 46 3.3 Character Analysis .................................................................................. 47 I 3.3.1 Oskar Schell ....................................................................................................... 47 3.3.2 The Grandfather (Thomas Schell) ...................................................................... 49 3.3.3 The Grandmother ............................................................................................... 50 3.4 Conclusive Remarks ............................................................................... 51 4 Tree of Codes ................................................................................ 54 4.1 Final Statement ....................................................................................... 63 5 Selected Short Stories .................................................................. 65 5.1 Rhoda ...................................................................................................... 65 5.1.1 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 70 5.2 A Primer for the Punctuation of Heart Disease ..................................... 72 5.2.1 A Primer for the Punctuation of Heart Disease in the Context of Foer‘s Work 82 6 Once upon a Life and Something Happened – Trauma in Jonathan Safran Foer’s work ........................................................... 84 7 Conclusion ..................................................................................... 89 8 Bibliography .................................................................................... i II 1 Introduction Since 2001 the name Jonathan Safran Foer has become more and more popular and familiar to a readership all over the world. Two of his books have been turned into Hollywood movies, the latest of which will hit the box office right about now, in December 2011. Foer, only 34 years old, has become a much discussed literary figure who has not only been praised for his work but who has also met with some not so friendly criticism. He is as much loved and admired as he is hated by critics and readers, mostly because his style is somewhat out of the ordinary. Where Foer‘s first novel was mostly Jewish American holocaust literature, without unusual literary devices, his style has developed over the years, resulting in Tree of Codes, a cubistical, dada-like interpretation of Bruno Schulz‘s Street of Crocodile – a book that actually has holes in it. However, Foer does not only fascinate readers all over the world because of the stylistic gimmicks that are included in his novels but also because of the kind of stories he tells. Most of his stories share one major theme: how to overcome the most terrible experiences through love, which is a theme that always fascinates readers. Foer‘s characters are extraordinary depictions of incredible personalities, all of which are less than perfect and yet one cannot resist them. The stories Foer tells in his books are extremely gripping, hilariously funny at some points and yet unbelievably sad at others. I believe it is this mixture combined with the right ‗looks‘ (included flipbooks, colored pages, photographs and holes) that makes Foer‘s work so successful. This thesis now aims at giving an overview of Jonathan Safran Foer‘s work, focusing on his three novels Everything is Illuminated, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Tree of Codes, two selected short stories (A Primer for the Punctuation of Heart Disease and Rhoda) and an interview (Something Happened) as well as an essay Foer wrote himself (Once upon a Life). An emphasis shall be put on structural aspects, common underlying themes as well as characters. In the following chapters I will try to show that although Foer‘s style has developed enormously over the years, the underlying themes are still basically the same, as are the characters. Further I will make an attempt to illustrate that Foer‘s work is heavily 1 influenced by his life, thus proving that all of Foer‘s work autobiographical (some more and some less). The short stories have been selected because of their significance in the greater picture, Rhoda serving as a representative for characters and narrative techniques, and A Primer for the Punctuation of Heart Disease functioning as an example for the use of unusual stylistic devices. The interview titled Something Happened and Foer‘s essay Once upon a Time have been included because I consider them to be two important means to properly analyze Foer‘s work. I believe that without taking them into account, no successful and correct analysis can be done, as they present the key to why trauma, loss, memory, love and silence are such prominent themes in Foer‘s stories and novels. By analyzing the novels and short stories by Foer I also want to find out where Foer is going with literature. His style has significantly developed throughout the years and is getting more and more abstract. In an interview Foer stated that by using more and more abstract and unconventional literary devices he wants to explore the boundaries of contemporary literature, to explore what is actually possible in literature and with paper. Foer does not believe in definitions, his novels (especially his latest one) cannot simply be attributed to one specific genre. They are partly holocaust literature, certainly Jewish American literature, without doubt metafictional, somehow a collage, a picture book and finally an object d‘ art. Taking into consideration that Foer is only 34 years old, he has already made an incredibly leap towards the ‗final frontier‘ of contemporary literature. Despite his (recent) success, there are also many critical voices who claim that with his love for the unusual and his daring style Foer is risking his literary career. Finally, I will therefore try to find a reason for Foer‘s willingness to ‗risk‘ his writing career and his need to explore the boundaries of contemporary literature. 2 1.1 List of Abbreviations The following abbreviations are used in this thesis: Everything is Illuminated EI Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close ELIC Tree of Codes TC Rhoda R 3 2 Everything is Illuminated 2.1 Introduction Everything is Illuminated