A lot of the time I'd get that feeling like I was in the middle of a huge black ocean, or in deep space, but not in the fascinating way. It's just that everything was incredibly far away from me. It was worst at night. I started inventing things, and then I couldn't stop, like beavers, which I know about. People think they cut down trees so they can build dams, but in reality it's because their teeth never stop growing, and if they didn't constantly file them down by cutting through all of those trees, their teeth would start to grow into their own faces, which would kill them. That's how my brain was.
In "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," the protagonist expresses feelings of isolation and despair, likening his emotional state to being lost in a vast, dark ocean or deep space. These sensations are most intense at night, highlighting his sense of distance from the world around him. This profound loneliness drives him to create and invent, much like beavers that incessantly chew on trees to manage their constantly growing teeth.
The comparison to beavers reveals a deeper metaphor about coping mechanisms and the relentless nature of his thoughts. Just as beavers must continuously act to survive, the protagonist feels compelled to keep inventing to stave off the overwhelming feelings of disconnection. This imagery illustrates the struggle of navigating inner turmoil and finding a way to cope with the overwhelming solitude he experiences.
