Chapter 14 "Why I'm Not Where You Are 9/11/03" 1 (A1)
At the beginning of the chapter, Oskar’s grandfather (who is narrating this chapter / writing this letter) returns to the grandmother. She doesn’t want to see him, but also puts a note on the window to him that says, “Don’t go away” (267). Where have we seen this exact note before this?
Oskar thought it was a note for him after he pretended to go missing.
In the airport, the customs officers notice that the grandfather has a lot of luggage for someone with “nothing to declare” (268). What is in all these pieces of luggage?
Letters to his son he never sent
Oskar’s grandfather calls the grandmother from the airport, but obviously doesn’t speak. How does he try to communicate with her over the phone?
Types numbers into phone that correlate to letters
The night before 9/11, Oskar's father tells him a story about
'The Sixth Borough'
What is Oskar's last word to his father?
How many years has the grandfather been away from America?
40 years
Oskar’s grandmother tells the grandfather that she “can forgive [him] for leaving, but not for ____________” (274).
coming back
Oskar’s grandfather decides he will sculpt the grandmother, so he goes to the art store. He says, “I tested every sample, I wrote my name in blue pen and in green oil stick, in orange crayon and in charcoal” (275). Oskar was in this art store before and saw all these signatures. What did Oskar assume about these signatures that we now know was a false assumption?
He assumed it was his father's name (Thomas Schell Jr., not Sr.)
Oskar is dismayed to find out he's been searching for the lock longer than it took to build the entire framework for what building?
The Empire State Building
On what day does Thomas Senior return? (The answer is not an actual date but rather a reference to something that happens on that day.)
The day of Thomas Junior's funeral
Oskar’s grandfather says that, when he came through the airport from Germany back to the United States of America, the customs officer takes his passport and asks the reason for his visit. He writes, “to mourn” but then crosses that out and writes, “to __________” (268).
Try to live
Oskar’s grandmother asks the grandfather, “if he didn’t tell you he was your son, how did you know?”, to which the grandfather responds, “ I knew because _____________” (278).
he was my son
What is the REAL reason A.R. Black stops looking for the lock with Oskar?
A.R. Black confronts Oskar's grandfather but then felt that felt he (the grandfather) should accompany Oskar, instead
Thomas Junior wasn't supposed to be in the Twin Towers on 9/11. Why was he there?
A meeting
Who lives in the Empire State Building on the 86th floor?
Ruth
In Germany, how did Oskar’s grandfather first discover 9/11 had happened?
Televisions at Dresden Train Station (Germany)
Oskar’s father received one letter from Oskar’s grandfather, and he reread it over and over, always marking it with his red pen. Because of that one letter he received, he decided he wanted to go meet his father. He goes to Germany to do so, but when Oskar’s grandfather opens the door, Oskar’s father does not tell him he is his son. Instead, he tells him he is “a ___________________” (277).
journalist
The grandfather starts following Oskar all over the city, and when he goes to the house on Staten Island (Georgia Black’s house) after Oskar and A.R. Black leave, Georgia says, “ What a strange family you are” (278). With whom else in the family has Georgia Black spoken (on the phone)?
Oskar's mother
The grandmother says she noticed she was bleeding on her arm where she'd been scratching without realizing it, that her daughter-in-law told her she loved her for the first time, and that Oskar tried to look into his mother's eyes but couldn't. She says these were the indicators for each character that they__________
Knew Thomas Jr. had died in the 9/11 attacks
What profession did Ruth Black's husband have?
Door-to-door salesman
When Oskar’s grandfather is outside the electronics store, all the TVs except one are showing the 9/11 news. What is the one other tv showing?
A nature show (a lion eating a flamingo)
When Oskar’s grandfather first arrives at the grandmother’s apartment and asks the doorman to give the letter to “Mrs. Schell”, why does the doorman tell him “There is no Mrs. Schell” (274)?
She had gone back to her maiden name (Shmidt)
Whom does Oskar’s grandfather thinks he sees in a bookstore in New York? After the grandfather writes, “I don’t speak” and “I’m sorry”, this person hugs the grandfather and leaves the bookstore (279).
Simon Goldberg (Anna's father's friend back in Germany)
Oskar remembers a story in the NY Times the morning of 9/11 and it's the same story the grandmother is watching on television when the first plane hit the first tower on 9/11. It's a news story about
A missing girl
Which famous person's letter does Oskar repeatedly re-read?
Stephen Hawking