A tightrope walker, on top of the world trade center in New York City arises an interest in the city’s pedestrians as everyone stops to find a suitable view to witness either the death of this brave man or the success of a skilled athlete. Let The Great World Spin’s author, Colum McCann, brings the reader to a wild day in New York City in its prologue. The actual story though, takes place in Dublin, Ireland as the narrator recounts his childhood with his brother, Corrigan. As their parents pass away and both brothers grow up, they eventually meet again in Bronx, New York where this specific location has altered both of their lives and developed their characters in one way or another.
The prologue allows the reader to become a viewer of the man walking the tightrope. Instantly, I feel as if I am in New York watching this figure stand on top of the world trade center wondering if he is going to fall and die or live and become a huge success. However, as the story of Corrigan and his brother unfolds, I feel more emotionally connected to the narrator rather than Corrigan. He is seen as the more innocent brother trying to help Corrigan out. This is also expressed when he moves to New York and starts locking Corrigan’s apartment door as a method of helping Corrigan clean up his life. Corrigan’s drinking and smoking is what mainly repulses me, however, through this I am also able to see that he is just a human trying to cope with his absentee father and tough life. When he grows up and moves to New York it is clear that he genuinely wants to help others, perhaps at a cost to himself. For example, he wants to help the hookers by leaving his apartment unlocked but he also gets hurt. I feel sympathetic towards him because of his generosity even if it is not portrayed in such a clean manner. I would like to believe that I am a little religious, and it is mainly in this form that I can relate to Corrigan the most. Finally, his love for Adelita arises an internal conflict in Corrigan between their love and his vows as a monk show that he falls into temptation and must resists as much as he can due to his faith reveals the type of man he is. This is what makes his death incredibly unsettling to me.
