25 pages • 50 minutes read
Éric-Emmanuel SchmittA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics.
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
The 14th chapter is a letter to God from Granny Rose after Oscar dies. Oscar passes away while his parents and Granny Rose step away to have a cup of coffee. Granny Rose attributes this timing to Oscar sparing others from having to see him die.
Granny Rose thanks God for introducing her to Oscar, the only person to call her Granny Rose. None of the wrestling stories she told Oscar are true, but under Oscar’s influence, Granny Rose is amusing, laughing, happy, and more inclined to believe in God herself. She finishes her letter informing God that Oscar had left a little sign next to his bed for the past three days that reads “Only God is allowed to wake me” (88).
Granny Rose’s letter serves as the resolution of the story’s plot, revealing that Oscar has died and that her wrestling stories had all been fictional. Oscar’s death itself is not described from anyone’s perspective, keeping the focus off dying and instead on reflections of life. By the end of the story, Oscar and the adults have come to accept his inevitable passing, the tension between Oscar and his parents has cleared, and Oscar has developed a relationship with God.
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By Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt
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