Sunday, November 9, 2014

His Experience

Art Spiegelman has a very interesting perspective of 9/11. He was there, many writers have shared their ideas, and feelings of what happened to this Nation but I truly believe that for those that were there it's different. The things he talks about, the images he displays give an understanding. This wasn't just about those people in the towers, or the people running in as hero's it's about the everyday people. The children still in school unaware but only blocks away, it's about the parents rushing to get their child, filled with fear and anxiety about the life of their own child being so close to something so terrifying. Spiegelman's comics have always said something to me, his ability to not only tell a large story in the development of the Twin Towers and their collapse but to tell about his individual experience and how he felt. He makes something incredibly vast so personal and I absorb it everytime. The image of the frame work of the tower was mesmerizing and his story about how this image that he clearly saw, that stood before him was never captured and how for him it was the most important image to share. I loved it and I wished there was an image in real life of the towers this way. 

I'm conflicted writing this now, Eleanor wrote such a beautiful, moving post about her experience during 9/11 and I feel for her. And I know that for us that weren't close to the impact we reacted differently. There was this fear, and feeling of insecurity but we didn't live in it. We didn't smell it everyday. We don't have to question the health of our family member based on their proximity to the crash site. It's hard for me even to understand. The complexity of an event like this isn't something we can easily absorb. I remember 9/11 and I remember the day Osama Bin Laden died, I was woken in the middle of the night. My boyfriend's (now husband's) best friend was blowing up our phones, he just kept calling and when I answered he said to turn on the TV and wake up Dylan. I didn't know how to feel, the same as when I was only 9. I was unsure what to think about all this and I remember thinking back to that day. Thinking back and feeling that same uncertainty. I don't think we're meant to ever understand things like this. I don't think when tragedies happen we are supposed to be able to understand them to the fullest. That's probably one of the most difficult aspects, that we still don't understand. Even if we had all the fact, if it was a conspiracy, if it was something bigger I just don't think it'll ever be something we can say we get. Death isn't something we really ever understand. I don't think we are supposed to. Idk I'm rambling now but this assignment is one of deep reflection and it's hard to gather your thoughts on something so painful. I guess it's just hard to know what to say because there isn't really anything you can ever say to make it better or to change things. The world changed after 9/11. People, a nation and it's art; everything changed. Was that change for the better? Was it for the worse? Are we the "Greatest Country in the World anymore? Or are we a shadow of that former glory?

1 comment:

  1. Kayla,
    "It's hard for me even to understand. The complexity of an event like this isn't something we can easily absorb." Isn't this what literature is for? To help us understand and absorb? This is something I think fiction is actually better at in many ways than non-fiction. I think Spiegelman's image of the framework of the tower is a perfect example of this. It works on a symbolic level that non-fiction images of that day simply can't.
    ~MS

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