John Updike and Susan Sontag's articles in "Talk of the Town" (which consists of numerous other articles by other writers on the same subject) cover the 9/11 terrorist attacks and what they have meant to us as American citizens.
John, as someone who was there to witness the destruction, gives a first-hand account of the shock of the situation. Accustomed to just sitting at home, listening to stories of the unstoppable American war machine just like nearly every other American, the sight of seeing the fight brought to our shores is a terrifying and unshakeable feeling, yet still somewhat remote and optimistic, like it's just another episode on that tv show we call the news, like everything's not as it seems, like there's still a way for us to pull through. And as the towers crumple and collapse, the haunting realization hits us that this is reality. But at the end, he emphasizes that while this is an alien concept to us, it's not one we're incapable of facing. Life may be getting more difficult (and dangerous) for us, but we're still a strong and unified group of people, and even if our government fails us, the wrath of an entire civilization is something to behold.
Susan takes a closer look at the politics of the situation. She criticizes our head political figures for trying to coddle us into thinking that this is nothing more than a noble crusade against heartless, cowardly rats instead of recognizing this war for what it is: a war, where we fight those who have a vendetta against everything that the superpower that is America stands for. She goes on to say that if we are to be a true, strong democracy, then we need to truly comprehend what is going on; we need to know exactly what our government is doing, what the consequences of their actions are, and how those consequences affect us.
These were both pretty compelling essays, and I feel like I agree with both of them. Ever since Pearl Harbor sparked our involvement in WWII, we really hadn't had any kind of major, public attack of such a magnitude on our shores. And while I can understand the concept of wanting to keep order, it should never be done at the expense of the people.
I agree, Shea. Updike and Sontag wrote about the same topic, but covered it completely different. Updike talked about shock, awe, and recovery while Sontag was more focused on how the government reacted to the situation at hand.
ReplyDeleteI think that Updike took a better approach to writing his essay than Sontag did. The way he put his point across hit readers on an emotional level; giving descriptive details of the attack was really effective. The way Sontag wrote her essay sort of made her seem really bitter about life. She may have made good points, but they were hard to focus on because of how negative she was.
ReplyDeleteYou are right that both authors wrote strong essays on the same general topic, but they were almost completely different topics at the same time. Updike wrote about the emotion that the day had caused and the effects it had on the U.S. Sontag's article on the other hand, played on the emotion in order to further a strong opinion against the government as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI really like your views on Susan Sontag. I personally criticized her for being scournful towards the government at a crucial and serious time in our country's past, but at the same time she does make some very good points that should be taken into consideration. She is absolutely correct about how we are "fueling the fire" for war.
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