Let us take a break from our busy schedules to take a moment to reflect and discuss the tragic day that changed our beloved New York forever. September 11, 2001. I remember going to school, going about my day as usual. Then I took my bus and walked home. As I entered through the door my mother, brother and grandmother were glued to the television screen. When they told me what happened, I was utterly befuddled. I don’t think I really understood what had happened until I saw the images and eventually went to New York City in person.
It’s quite daunting how one day, in a mere hours, a whole city can be shaken. Since I was so young there isn’t much I can say about how my perceptions of New York changed then. Although, based off the experience Professor Healey told us in class it is evident that people were completely changed by the event. I think for many of us it was a wake up call. The fact is that there are twisted individuals out there who see us as their enemies and will do whatever it takes to hurt us. I think after 9/11 people saw New York as a much more vulnerable and sadly, destructible place. After all compare the last decade to the times before 9/11. The amount of airport, train, subway security that has increased is insane. The motto that can be find all around New York, even on your metro cards, “See something, say something.”
I think the whole country was traumatized up by the event, after all New York City was not the only target. However, it definitely is more meaningful to the people of New York City. It was our city that was attacked, our families that were destroyed. New Yorkers had to stare in disbelief as the towers collapsed to rubble, while the rest of the country saw it in their television screens. Moreover, for non-New Yorkers the Twin Towers were just an iconic image however, for actual New Yorkers they had to go on with their commutes to the city and stare at an empty space where the towers used to stand.
To a certain extent yes. I think through art artists can portray their personal reactions to a traumatic event like 9/11. For instance, when I read Mercy Seat I didn’t have a meaningful connection to 9/11. Instead I was just reading a story, set at the time of 9/11 and experienced the characters reaction/perspective on it. However, I had a much more meaningful connection with Fahrenheit 9/11 but that’s only because of the way Moore portrayed the film. The fact that he used images and movies of the towers falling is what made it meaningful. When I visually saw those scenes it was as if I was there, I felt what the people there felt. I cried and suffered with them.
