Talk of the Town

September 11, 2001 is a day that we shall never forget. It's a day that brought Americans closer. It's a day that our children and our children's children will study about in their history classes for years. You can find many stories about the tragedy; from fire fighters, who saved hundreds when the planes hit and the towers collapsed, and other stories from people thousands miles away, who only witnessed the grand towers falling as their local news replayed the tragic scene over and over again.

John Updike and Susan Sontag, both share their own reactions to the 9/11 attacks. The two share radically different views on 9/11. I enjoyed reading both sides of the story; and really loved the vivid descriptions that both authors used to describe what they saw, and how they felt. I will admit that I do find my self agreeing more with Updike's view of 9/11. Updike saw the twin towers fall while he was surrounded by his family, in a tenth-floor apartment in Brooklyn Heights. He continues to explain the sight of the towers falling while he was with his family. 'And then, within an hour, as my wife and I watched from the Brooklyn building's roof, the south tower dropped from the screen of our view, it fell straight down like an elevator, with a tinkling shiver and a groan of concussion distinct across the mile of air. We knew we had just witnessed thousands of deaths; we clung to each other as if we ourselves were falling.' Updike shows the feelings that many Americans felt at the time. The very feelings that can make millions of Amercian's get back up after being pushed down.

Sontag had different views, equally as important, but different. Many would argue that Sontag is a heartless person. That she has no compassion for her own country. I disagree, as I read threw her writings, I realized that she does love this country. What she doesn't love how we are choosing to use our power. I understand how she feels, America, recently it seems, has been run by politicians who only tell us what we want to hear, not what we need. She states 'Our leaders are bent on convincing us that everything is O.K. America is not afraid. Our spirit is unbroken, although this was a day that will live in infamy and America is now at war. But everything is not O.K. And this was not Pearl Harbor. We have a robotic President who assures us that America still stands tall.' I, again, must agree and disagree with this statement. At the time that is what we needed to hear from our leaders. America was in shambles, we were thrust apart from one another. What America needed at that time was to know that we were going to be O.K. But I think the charade that our leaders put on went to long. The war raged on for over 10 years. At the time her writings were published, Sontag's views did not share the same views of many Americans; but as the war raged on, many more might agree with her now.

They both bring into focus the fear that millions of Americans felt; weeks, months and years later. This fear brought America to another war, was the war necessary? That's a question that can and has left many politicians blue in the face as they argue with one another. Did it make us safer and stronger? Yes, I believe the war, at that time, is what kept America strong. Yes, it should have ended sooner; but for those first few years it brought us closer. Closer then America has been since that tragic day of September 11, 2001; a day that we shall never forget.