25 pages • 50 minutes read
Éric-Emmanuel SchmittOscar and the Lady in Pink
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2002A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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Fear Is Paralyzing
Death is the root of the major conflicts in the story. Oscar is only 10 years old and facing death while the adults around him flounder with how to broach the subject. They avoid talking to Oscar directly about death, which only intensifies the conflict for him. He wants to know whether he is going to get better, and the adults are afraid to tell him the truth because it means death is inevitable.
Oscar explains to Granny Rose, “I’m not really afraid of the unknown. It’s just I don’t want to lose the things I do know” (53). Oscar knows that he is dying, so death is no longer an unknown for him. He’s accepted that he’s going to die but is still struggling to come to terms with what that means. When Oscar resolves the conflict with his parents and learns to look back on life with appreciation, his death comes more as closure than tragedy.
Death is not a term listed in the Medical Dictionary, which leads Oscar to categorize it as something that affects everyone rather than a medical problem to be solved. The realization that death is an inevitability in life makes it less frightening for Oscar. It also helps Oscar understand that Dr. Dusseldorf is upset because he failed to cure Oscar, so Oscar absolves him of his guilt.
Fear of death permeates the beginning of the story, turning the mood gloomy and creating tension between characters. When Oscar’s parents are confronted with his inevitable death, they’re incapable of controlling their emotions. This keeps them from visiting their son because they don’t want him to see them so upset. Oscar recognizes that his parents fear death and realizes that they fear Oscar knowing about his own death: “And that’s when I realized that my parents were both cowards. Worse than that: they were cowards who thought I was a coward” (17). It’s not until characters come to accept the inevitability of death that fear is replaced with happiness, even as Oscar’s life reaches its end.
Avoidance Prevents Acceptance
The story opens at a turning point for Oscar’s health, and none of the adults are comfortable telling Oscar that he is going to die. Oscar summarizes how discussion of death is avoided at the hospital: “If you say ‘die’ in hospital, no one hears it. You can guarantee there’ll be a pause and then they’ll talk about something else” (8). The possibility of Oscar not recovering has been avoided throughout his treatments thus far. Now that death is inevitable, the adults struggle to face that reality. Instead, they avoid the topic, not realizing how frustrating and confusing this avoidance is for Oscar.
Oscar knows the adults are acting strange, but he doesn’t understand why. He thinks his parents and doctors want to avoid him because he’s sick and unpleasant, but Granny Rose explains that it’s really his death they want to avoid. She recognizes that his parents are trying to deflect his suffering and their own. She also recognizes that “no one can avoid suffering. Not God, not you. Not your parents and not me” (51), which is why she doesn’t avoid the subject of death with Oscar.
Granny Rose suggests that Oscar can choose to be afraid of death and try to avoid it, or he can choose not to be afraid. As Granny Rose lays it out for Oscar, it’s really up to him how he’d like to approach the inevitable end of his life: either fearing or accepting it.
Oscar realizes and accepts the inevitability of his death when Granny Rose is given only 12 days to visit him; “I hadn’t realised, before, just how badly I needed help. I hadn’t realised, before, just how ill I was” (25). Coming to accept his fate paves the way for Oscar to make the most of his remaining time by focusing on his letters to God rather than on death itself.
Development of Individual Christian Faith
Each book in Schmitt’s Cycle of the Invisible series emphasizes aspects of a particular faith or thought tradition; this story explores tenants of Christianity. God and prayer are introduced early in the story with Oscar insisting that his parents believe in Father Christmas but not in God, whereas he believes in neither. Granny Rose acknowledges Oscar’s lack of belief and guides him in the initial steps of his faith journey by encouraging him to give God a try.
Oscar’s visit to the hospital chapel is a significant step in his faith journey. Oscar has been waiting for God to visit him, but Granny Rose shows Oscar that he’ll learn more by going to God himself. Oscar is shocked at the images of Christ on the cross—skinny “with wounds all over the place” and “bleeding from the thorns”—and he questions why anyone would put their faith in someone so weak (50). Because he is new to Christian faith, Oscar mistakes physical suffering for weakness. Once he understands God as someone who has suffered, Oscar gains a better understanding of God’s role. In Christianity, God is not worshipped for representing brute physical strength. When Oscar visits the chapel and sees the image of Christ on the cross, he gains a new understanding of why people feel close to God: because suffering is something—like life and death—that can’t be avoided.
After visiting the chapel, Oscar initially asks God “to arrange for Peggy Blue’s operation to go well,” then corrects himself to properly acknowledge God’s role in the situation: “Operations aren’t mind things, it may not be one of your lines” (55). Granny Rose taught him that God pays “mind visits” (24), so his correction demonstrates his developing knowledge of Christian faith. As Oscar gets more comfortable writing to God, his requests range from asking God to pay him a visit, to wishing for he and Peggy to be together, to hoping others recognize the beauty and presence of God. Oscar’s recognition that his initial requests are outside the realm of what God does through prayer showcases his newfound understanding of faith.
God finally visits when Oscar is feeling alone and angry after Peggy goes home from the hospital. He openly expresses his frustration with God when he writes, “I don’t like you any more today” (80). This moment of honesty is critical in Oscar’s relationship with God, as it paves the way for him to embrace God’s beauty the next morning. Expressing his anger rather than trying to contain it allows Oscar the emotional relief necessary to recognize God’s indefatigability as “the one who never gets tired, always at his work” (82). Oscar relates to God as someone who suffers, and he learns to see God as a constant force of renewal when he experiences the beauty of the dawn following the loss of his love. Oscar then thanks God for his constant work and wishes for others in his life to share in his newfound understanding—the hallmark of a genuine convert.
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By Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt
