Philippe Petit definitely must be one of the most driven men in history.  His entire life from the point he saw the construction of the towers in a paper in the dentist office, to his achievement of walking across the towers, was consumed by the desire to just do it.  It is impressive how much practice he had done on other great public places knowing just what the consequences would be such as getting arrested.  The sad thing is that he could not do it alone and he essentially just used all of his friends throughout the entire process.  His girlfriend had even mentioned that she had to put her own dreams aside while she was in the relationship.  She had to help him realize his own dream before hers and then after the success and fulfillment of that dream he left her for someone else.

This was not only what happened to her but also to all of his closest friends.  All of them had contributed to Petit’s success and realization of his dream but all were essentially abandoned after the completion of his dream.  While he was granted amnesty for his act that was considered to be illegal, his friends were all kicked out of the United States and were not allowed to come back.  Petit did not even do anything to make amends with his friends.  It truly was sad to watch one of his long time friends start to cry during the documentary, because of the memories that are all now almost faded.  A big part of his life was to be able to help his friend accomplish his dream and then once it was done it was all over for him, the friendship and this big role.

I also can not imagine how Philippe reacted at the end of it all.  I understand he still performs publicly his art of tightroping but there is nothing else to really strive for.  After accomplishing such an immense dream, what else is there really to do in life?  It seems he has made peace with it but I can not imagine how he would be able to view his life in the same way as he did before his walk between the towers.