Content Warning: This guide contains descriptions of self-harm and war-related violence.

Oskar Schell is an extremely precocious nine-year-old living in Manhattan, New York. His father has recently died in the 9/11 attacks, and he is struggling to process this sudden loss. He introduces himself and his personality by explaining some of his raisons d’être (reasons for being), including entomology (the study of insects) and making his mother happy. Oskar has a fierce imagination and is always presenting “what if” scenarios, like inserting a microphone into everyone’s chest so their hearts can be heard, or imagining a limousine so long that it doesn’t even need to drive.

Memories of his father are centered around their time together and their shared love of learning and the Beatles. Oskar’s father did not hold back from sharing what he knew with his son, and he invented stories that Oskar asked to hear again and again. One such story involved a forgotten sixth borough of New York, and this was the last story his father told him before he died. Oskar’s father also used to send him on “Reconnaissance Expeditions” (8) in which Oskar would be tasked with finding something out in the world.