Chapter 5

            Chapter 5 continues with Oskar narrating his story.  He is currently searching for someone with the last name “Black” who can help him figure out what the key inside the envelope means.  At the beginning of his decision to go to each address where the last name is “Black”, he decides that he “would be as secretive about [his] mission as [he] could at home, and as honest about it as [he] could outside home, because that’s what was necessary” (page 87).  This decision leads him to lie to a number of people, but he decides that he is not going to lie unless he absolutely had to.  This may seem like a smaller detail in the book but it becomes significant in the fact that Oskar proceeds to count all of his lies as he tells them.  At one point during the chapter he is up to 35 lies, with still many “Blacks” to go. 

            Visiting all of these people is a huge challenge for Oskar because of many of his fears.  He is afraid to use public transportation, so he has to walk everywhere he goes.  He also is afraid of walking over bridges, which presents a challenge in itself.  However, he has a coping mechanism that he uses to keep some of his fears at bay.  He has a tambourine that he shakes whenever he feels afraid and in his words, “I shook my tambourine the whole time, because it helped me remember that even though I was going through different neighborhoods, I was still me” (page 88).  He visits two different people with the last name “Black” in this chapter.  The first one is a bit rude at first but later is a bit nicer.  However, when he offers for Oskar to come up so he can take a look at the key, Oskar says he cannot because it isn’t safe to be on the 9^th floor of the building because it is high up and it alludes to the fact that he father died from falling from a high distance.  Mr. Black said that he would come down but he is hooked up to a bunch of machines.  Oskar left his business card under the door and left.  I find this interaction very interesting because later in the chapter he mentions taking 72 stairs up to his grandma’s apartment, which would be quite a few floors up.  So what is the difference? Is it because A. Black’s place is new while Grandma’s is familiar?  Or maybe since he has been to Grandma’s place before his dad died, it isn’t associated with being the same level of danger? 

            The second Black that he visited was a woman who Oskar thought knew something about the key even though she said she didn’t.  The interesting thing about this particular woman is the connection that Oskar seemed to have with her.  She seemed to calm him and she answered all of his questions, even when he was really blunt.  Oskar thought she was really beautiful and, to my surprise, asked her if they could kiss for a while.  She appropriately said no, and throughout the whole meeting between her and Oskar, we learn that she seems to be having some marital issues with her husband, which I hope we learn more about in the coming chapters because it peaked my interest. 

            Overall, it has been an interesting chapter with different developments.  Some other things we learn in the chapter are that Oskar has a really good connection to his grandmother and that the renter that lives with her is still an intriguing mystery. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to add them below.

            Thank you,

Olivia