It is remarkable that two numbers can have such an impact in the minds of a New Yorker. Nine-elleven. It is a number that no one can mistake or erase from their memories, no matter how hard they may try. It is a number that holds extreme significance in American society, as well as importance around the world. It is a number that many people associate with different ranges of emotions, from fear to pain to compassion to anger. The World Trade Center attack was more than just a number though. It was an event that destroyed the naivety of the city to the outside world. 9/11 was a wake up call.
Ringing phones bombarded my house the day of 9/11. Everyone was concerned for my mom, who worked downtown on Wall Street during the time. Luckily for me and everyone who knew her, my mom was late to work that day. She was just about to head into the city when she quickly turned on the T.V. and flipped on the news to look at traffic reports. What she saw instead was something that would change he perception of New York for the rest of her life. She remembers the day so vividly; her panic, calling her friends who were working across the street from the Towers, seeing the second plane crash into the building and in that moment the phone line going dead. She remembers the confusion surrounding how she should grapple the issue of explaining the event to my brother and I, who were 7 and 5 respectively. She remembers not going to work for 3 weeks afterwards and loosing a whole firm that she worked with to the attacks. Every single person in the company dead. She remembers the smell of burning rubble and the feeling of her burning eyes; from both the debris in the air and the tears she cried.
My perception of the event was extremely different. On that day I remember a strange feeling among the teachers in the school. There was a certain tense vibe about them, one that I never got from my calm second grade teacher. I remember being upset that I wasn’t allowed to play outside during recess that day, and not understanding why. I was so disappointed and cursed whatever reason stopped me from my playtime. I remember, selfishly, that I was happy that my mom wasn’t going to work for three weeks. I loved it when stayed home, and I remember during those weeks wishing something else would come up so that my mom would never have to work again and she could spend all her time with me. I was happy and unconcerned.
We both looked at the event of 9/11 through different lenses. One from the perspective of a mature adult and the other of an innocent child. Over the course of the past couple of weeks we have read and observed works of art from these two vastly different points of view. The Peace Quilt and parts of the novel of Extremely Loud and Incredibly close reflects the innocence yet complex emotions revolving around 9/11 from a child’s perspective. On the other hand, The Mercy Seat and the film Fahrenheit 9/11 both involve the morality and politics surrounding the day, ideas that involve a more mature audience. Both are significant and play a role in the portrayal of the event. The works of art we viewed all had a way of taking the trauma of 9/11 and making it personal or meaningful. They all served a purpose and reflection on the event, a way of expressing the varying changing feelings after the catastrophe. The most important fact is that the emotions in all the works of art are legitimate. They are a response to the attack and therefore are appropriate ways of coping, shaping, and recovering from the event. In order to move on and heal, people need to write, draw and express in any way they possibly can. Art is a necessary part of the process and includes portraying the event in ways that are meaningful to every individual.
Since 9/11 there seems to have been a growing wariness throughout the City, as well as the country. The World Trade Center attack was so impact full because in a sense it is the first time the U.S. was completely vulnerable and unaware. Before, the City was a place of life and vitality, somewhere that had never been in fear of attacks or “terrorism.” Since then, people are more aware of the who they are sitting next to on the bus. They keep their cellphones with them at all times. They dare not to take liquids on a plane or look the flight attendant in the eye for too long, for fear that they might be “suspicious looking.” On that day, the ignorance and bliss of America was destroyed. Now war is all we seem to read about and the economy is all we complain about. The perception of the world around us and our image of the United States to foreign countries was questioned. Maybe we aren’t so great after all? Why would another group of people be so bitter towards us…all we want is democracy, right? How could the U.S. have been so blind to the threats and not have taken any action to prevent this attack? The eyes of the American public are now opened.
I think the attack of 9/11 holds different significance to individuals based on how they were connected to the attack, rather than where they were located. For example, a person living on the Upper West Side could have been more removed from the event than a person living in Mississippi who had a brother that worked in the Towers. Meaningfulness is all relative. Obviously, those who live in New York City have a greater likelihood of being more intertwined with The World Trade Center attacks just because of where they live and who they know, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that people from outside weren’t effected as well, on another level. The 9/11 attacks effected individuals around the world in different ways. Whether it be their mentality of traveling to other countries or foreign policies or having to witness your parent’s death, 9/11 was traumatic and effected everyone in a certain way.
