Talk of the Town

Since I was so young when it happened, I remember very little about 9/11. Most of my knowledge of the event comes from what I have learned over the years in school, from the Presidents’ speeches, and from stories like these ones. I found these essays interesting because they are so vastly different.

John Updike’s essay focused mostly on his emotional response to the destruction of the World Trade Center. He talks about how it seemed unreal-- almost like a dream. The way he writes seems surreal and dream-like as well-- explaining how the tower “fell straight down like an elevator,” and how the sky was pure blue, save for the huge cloud of smoke coming from the site of the crash. Everything seemed like a nightmare that could be fixed by waking up. But then he came to realize that it could not be fixed. America would never fully recover from this hit. We would always remember that there is risk in freedom.

Susan Sontag’s article was a much more political response to the events of 9/11. She argues that America had this coming to us because of the bombings and attacks we have led in Iraq. She states that rather than this being an attack on civilization, liberty, humanity, or the free world, this was an attack on the power of our country. It was a retaliation rather than an unjustified invasion. She also criticizes the leaders of our country for hiding the truth from the public and feeding on peoples’ emotions. She says the leaders try to manipulate peoples’ responses to keep them from finding out the truth of the attacks. Sontag wants us to learn for ourselves about the attacks, rather than blindly trusting the government.

I thought both of these essays gave good perspectives to the events of 9/11. Updike’s essay was a more personal experience that gave me insight into what 9/11 was like, and Sontag’s essay reminded me to learn more about what happens in our country and think for myself, instead of trusting what our countries leaders say without a second thought.