Extremely Lound & Incredibly Close: Response One

At the end of "Heavier Boots," I have mixed thoughts about Oskar.  On one hand, I believe that he did an extraordinarily terrible thing by wishing death upon his own mother.  Nobody, under any circumstances, should wish death onto another human being.  Well, that is my belief, anyway.  On the other hand, Oskar is only nine-years-old, and he still lacks impulse control, as expected for someone of that age.  The problem I have with that is that, for the most part, Oskar acts much, much more maturely than most nine-year-olds.  In fact, I would venture to say that he acts more maturely than many adults, yet most adults have better impulse control.  When I want to criticize him for not being better, I have to remind myself that he is still a young kid, going through a really difficult time in his life.  Everyone is entitled to his or her moments of extreme anger, and it is certainly expected of someone of Oskar's age and situation.  So at the same time, I feel a large amount of sympathy for him, as I know that he only said what he did in the heat of the moment, and he truly feels horrible about what he said.