Blog Post 7 and 8

Part 1

Judge Soderberg’s monologue and Man on the Wire both spoke on the topic of crime. They are both about contrasting types of crime, however, with different perspectives on the topic. Soderberg speaks of rape, theft, murder, and other crimes that we may regard as horrific or even “dirty.” Phillipe Petit’s crime, however, may be regarded by people as a form of art, a crime which possesses a beauty in its rush of adrenaline. People have even called it a form of art. Even those both talk about crime, Petit’s in considered a form of art, while the types Soderberg talks about are perceived by society as awful.

Part 2

The meeting between Soderberg and Jazzlyn and Tillie and the meeting between Soderberg and Petit held more significance than I first thought they did. At first, I thought Soderberg was just a side character we wouldn’t hear from again. But after his monologue and his meetings, I realized that they played an important role in setting up for future connections. Soderberg displayed a sort of care or pity for both parties. He displayed that he felt bad for both Tillie and Jazzlyn, and that even though their crimes were disgusting they were still humans and that their love for each other was unbreakable. For Petit, Soderberg understood the need Petit felt to walk the towers,. He didn’t want to jail him for something that didn’t harm anyone so he created what he thought was a very clever sentence.

Part 3

The prologue described Petit’s walk between the towers. A task that even he believed to be impossible, yet he dared to try anyway. In the scene, crowds of people stopped on their way to work to watch the walk. After the prologue, however,  I wasn’t sure how the story of the tightrope walker tied in. For the longest time, the book only spoke of Corrigan, Jazzlyn, Tillie, and other more prevalent characters. Then it happened. One by one, almost every person’s story in the book began to mention something related to the tightrope walk or even the walk itself. Throughout the book, we are given views of almost the entirety of New York, its common stereotypes, boroughs, people, and ways of life through the perspectives of people across the city. At the end, it is all tied together when Claire is dying and Jaslyn feels the “world spinning.” To me, this encapsulates the feelings I got from the entire book as it described New York in such a beautiful fashion.

The part that unsettled me the most was the one where Ciaran and Lara met. I thought that Ciaran would be enraged, that the funeral would be ruined, or that they may even start fighting. Their relationship was rocky at first, but they eventually became lovers. I don’t know what disturbed me more, the moment when they first met and I thought they would fight or the moment they fell in love. Who falls in love with the person who killed (kind of killed) their brother? I guess love makes you do crazy things.

The bridge I enjoyed the most was Gloria and Jazzlyn’s kids. From the beginning of Claire’s story, it was apparent that Gloria was not as well-off as the rest. I felt that she was one of the most caring, loving people, however, and I was hoping to hear how she was doing before the book ended. My wishes came true when I read that she was caring for Jazlyn’s kids. I believe that the kids were in good hands, which left me relieved since I was scared that they would be left in the hands of abusive people when they got taken away. In the end, this was my favorite bridge because it left me feeling warm on the inside, like everything was going to be alright.