Chapter 15

"I wish I had known that I wasn't going to see Mr. Black again when we shook hands that afternoon. I wouldn't have let go. Or I would have forced him to keep searching with me. Or I would have told him how Dad called when I was home. But I didn't know, just like I didn't know it was the last time Dad would ever tuck me in, because you never know" (286).

When I read this quote, it immediately reminded me of a quote from the last chapter we read.

"That night was the first time your mother and I made love since I returned, and the last time we ever made love, it didn't feel like the last time, I'd kissed Anna for the last time, seen my parents for the last time, spoken for the last time, why didn't I learn to treat everything like it was the last time" (281).

Oskar and his grandfather struggle with loss. They are both trying to recover from the losses they have faced. Maybe this is why they have been spending a lot of time together each night under the street lamp, because they can relate to one another.

Writing letters has been a common theme among almost every character in the novel and especially with the ones trying to get over loss. Two more examples of this show up in this chapter. Oskar's many letters that he wrote to his hero, Stephen Hawking, finally get a genuine response. Also William Black's father, Edmund Black, writes letters to everyone he knew right before his death. But what I am wondering why is writing letters so important?